TwelvestonePhotography

Bitching about the cost of camera repair starting in 3... 2... 1...


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arigato
 
2010-03-12

Seriously, the wheel on my dslr that allows me to manually adjust my aperture and shutter speed and zoom has been acting pretty funky the last few years. No big, I can still shoot on auto settings and swithc AV/TV. But I'm in the good camera store in town and just to check I leave the thing with them to see how much it will cost to fix.

A week later, I get a call... $385.

15 bucks more than it would cost to buy a brand fucking new one on eBay (it is an older camera after all) .

Seriously, how the fuck is this even justified? One moving part and a single circuit.

I have film cameras that are over 40 years old that work JUST FINE and have yet to have a digital camera that lasts me a single decade. It's all such a fucking crock.

Kirra
 
2010-03-12

Planned obsolescence?

Seriously though, sorry to hear that. It's never cool to pay almost as much to get something running again as to buy a brand new one.

arigato
 
2010-03-12

It's actually more to get it repaired than to buy a new one.

rogue_designer
 
2010-03-12

Biggest problem is, they are no longer making them in parts that can be ordered or found. It's usually replacing entire modules. And they really don't make it easy for shops to get those (nor are most places trained to work on the electronics).

Planned obsolescence. Especially on the lower models. Fucking sucks.

arigato
 
2010-03-12

Yeah, that's what I figured - really what's likely wrong with it is just the circuit but the entire wheel and circuit assembly needs to be replaced because it's a replacement unit, not just a part... on a 7 year old camera. It's nutty.

What I really want is one of the old 60's Pentax bodies rejigged for digital. Fully manual, no AF, no lcd screen - just a sensor and a card slot instead of film winders. That would be awesome.

rogue_designer
 
2010-03-12

Originally posted by: arigato

What I really want is one of the old 60's Pentax bodies rejigged for digital. Fully manual, no AF, no lcd screen - just a sensor and a card slot instead of film winders. That would be awesome.

I would LOVE that. That's basically the Leica M9, simpler... and therefor 3x more expensive.

Sigh.

arigato
 
2010-03-12

I bet it would last longer than 7 years, though... But actually about 8x more expensive. k

rogue_designer
 
2010-03-12

8x more expensive than yours... I was thinking of priced against fullframe mid-range bodies.

arigato
 
2010-03-12

or compared to an Asahi Pentax from the 60's (that still works great), about 200x the price. k

rogue_designer
 
2010-03-12

k

Seriously, if I could cram a 5D mk II sensor into my old Canon F1N's (maybe the best manual slr I have ever used) I would be in heaven. I don't need anything else in a digital small format camera.

I'd probably still keep using my film Leicas. I love film, despite its inconvenience.

arigato
 
2010-03-16

I'm kind of surprised nobody's figured out the tech for a sensor/ card combo that slots into a standard film spool compartment. They're standard sizes, after all... there's usb record players, you'd think there would be a market for OLD SKOOL folk who want to use their OLD SKOOL cameras.

The more I think about it, the more I'm amazed it doesn't exist... or does it?

rogue_designer
 
2010-03-17

They tried "digital film" for a while... Vaporware currently.

Edit: SiliconFilmhttp://www.velocityreviews.com/forums/t410653-most-persistent-vaporware-siliconfilm-a-minor-update.html

Candy Beard
 
2010-03-17

I agree, ari. Don't know what it's not there. :shrug:

rogue_designer
 
2010-03-17

[cynic]More money to be made in foisting new crappy bodies on us every other year. [/cynic]

Candy Beard
 
2010-03-17

Yeah, but for some 3rd party guy ...

arigato
 
2010-03-18

Considering someone went through the trouble to invent every other stupid and complicated thing out there it's kind of surprising nobody's gotten around to inventing this.

rogue_designer
 
2010-03-18

Major independent sensor manufacturers are Dalsa, Kodak and Sony. I think you'd have to convince them it's a good idea.

I think it is. But I don't know what the market segment is, or what kind of price point you could get - and getting the sensors at a good price, when your competition is Nik/Canon makes it rough.

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TwelvestonePhotography

Bitching about the cost of camera repair starting in 3... 2... 1...