Installation, Maintenance, and Repair · Holland code RCI

Camera and Photographic Equipment Repairers

Repair and adjust cameras and photographic equipment, including commercial video and motion picture camera equipment.

Also called: Camera Repair Technician, Camera Repairman, Camera Technician, Repair Technician, Photo Equipment Technician, Photo Technologist, Photographic Equipment Repair Technician, Photographic Equipment Technician.

O*NET 49-9061.00

At a glance

US median annual pay: $52,720; Middle half earn $41,630 to $66,070. BLS OEWS, May 2025.
Most common education: High School Diploma or the equivalent (such as a GED); 32% of workers surveyed by O*NET report this level.
Preparation needed: Job Zone 3 of 5; Medium preparation. Zone 1 is little or none; zone 5 is graduate-level.

What the work involves

The tasks workers in this occupation rate as most important, from the O*NET survey.

Adjust cameras, photographic mechanisms, or equipment such as range and view finders, shutters, light meters, or lens systems, using hand tools.
Disassemble equipment to gain access to defect, using hand tools.
Test equipment performance, focus of lens system, diaphragm alignment, lens mounts, or film transport, using precision gauges.
Clean and lubricate cameras and polish camera lenses, using cleaning materials and work aids.
Install electrical assemblies and wiring in aircraft camera housings and memory cards or film in cameras, following blueprints and using hand tools and soldering equipment.
Requisition parts or materials.
Calibrate and verify accuracy of light meters, shutter diaphragm operation, or lens carriers, using timing instruments.
Examine cameras, equipment, processed film, or laboratory reports to diagnose malfunction, using work aids and specifications.

Skills and knowledge it leans on

Skills

Critical Thinking3.5 / 5
Reading Comprehension3.1 / 5
Active Listening3.1 / 5
Speaking3.0 / 5
Active Learning3.0 / 5
Monitoring2.9 / 5

Knowledge areas

Mechanical3.9 / 5
Computers and Electronics3.7 / 5
Customer and Personal Service3.6 / 5
English Language3.5 / 5
Engineering and Technology3.3 / 5
Administrative2.8 / 5

Importance ratings on O*NET’s 1 to 5 scale. Higher means the occupation depends on it more.

Who tends to enjoy it

How strongly this occupation draws on each of the six Holland interest types, which is the same profile the career interests test compares you against.

Realistic99
Investigative28
Artistic16
Social3
Enterprising0
Conventional64

The same work abroad

Other countries classify jobs differently, so these are the closest matches through the international ISCO-08 standard, not exact equivalents.

European occupation titles (ESCO)

optical technician · DE Augenoptiktechniker/Augenoptiktechnikerin · FR technicien en optique/technicienne en optique
camera operator · DE Kameraschwenker/Kameraschwenkerin · FR opérateur de prise de vues/opératrice de prise de vues
optical instrument assembler · DE Feinoptiker/Feinoptikerin · FR monteur régleur d’instruments d’optique/monteuse régleuse d’instruments d’optique
optical instrument repairer · DE Feinwerkmechaniker/Feinwerkmechanikerin · FR réparateur d’instruments d’optique/réparatrice d’instruments d’optique
sports equipment repair technician · DE Sportartikel-Servicetechniker/Sportartikel-Servicetechnikerin · FR technicien en réparation d’articles de sport/technicienne en réparation d’articles de sport
consumer electronics repair technician · DE Kundendiensttechniker - Unterhaltungselektronik/Kundendiensttechnikerin - Unterhaltungselektronik · FR réparateur de biens de consommation électroniques/réparatrice de biens de consommation électroniques

Closest UK occupation groups (SOC 2020)

Precision instrument makers and repairers (5224)15,800 employed
Dispensing opticians (3211)9,200 employed
Computer system and equipment installers and servicers (5244)41,000 employed

Employment is the UK Annual Population Survey for April 2025 to March 2026, all workers in the group, which can be broader than this one occupation.

Pay across Europe, for the whole group

Median annual earnings of all employees in “Craft and related trades workers”. This is the broad ISCO group this occupation falls in, not the occupation itself, so treat it as context for the wage level, not as a salary for this job.

Median annual earnings, Craft and related trades workers, by country
Country	Median pay
Belgium	€40,086
Germany	€38,638
Austria	€38,194
Sweden	€37,856
Netherlands	€37,077
Ireland	€36,098
France	€27,145
Italy	€26,488
Spain	€22,817
Portugal	€11,142
Poland	€10,099

Eurostat Structure of Earnings Survey, businesses with ten or more employees outside public administration, in euro and not adjusted for the cost of living. Reference years differ between sources: the US, Japan and Europe figures on this page come from different survey years, so compare them as rough levels, not to the euro or yen.

Exposure to AI

This occupation sits in the middle third of the 774 occupations scored, with an exposure score of +0.05. The scores are standardized across those occupations, so 0 is the average and a score of 1 is about one standard deviation above it.

Our note on reading it: the dataset links AI applications to the abilities that occupations require, so the score reflects overlap between the two. It is a comparison between occupations, not a forecast about jobs. It does not say whether exposure means tasks are replaced or workers get more done with the tools, and it says little about one employer or one role.

Source: Felten, E., Raj, M., & Seamans, R. (2021). Occupational, industry, and geographic exposure to artificial intelligence: A novel dataset and its potential uses. Strategic Management Journal, 42(12), 2195-2217. Matched to this page by 6-digit SOC code (49-9061).

Is it a fit for you?

Interest is one input, alongside ability, pay and what is hiring near you. The career interests test takes about thirteen minutes and ranks occupations by how closely their profile matches yours.

Take the career interests test