Wednesday, April 16, 2008

Broken camera and Sea Otter

Sea Otter starts tomorrow, I have a press pass, and my camera stopped working today. I turned it on and ... nothing happened. I replaced the batteries, tried again and... nothing.

This camera is a newish Canon PowerShot 570 IS. I'm not a pro photographer, but I still own a Canon EOS film body and lenses. Still, I'd rather not pay for processing and printing, and I like to upload images to Flickr quickly.

Any suggestions? I'm kind of stuck and kind of broke right now. Help me Obi Wan, you're my only hope.

Oh, will anybody else be at Sea Otter? Should I do the Friday night alleycat?
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13 comments:

  1. AnonymousApril 16, 2008 at 2:48 PM

    Hi there,

    Other than obvious things (batteries OK, batteries clean, memory card seated correctly, etc), make sure the shutter or cover over the lens is not jammed half-open. That quite often causes the camera to stop working. Good luck!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Yokota FritzApril 16, 2008 at 2:59 PM

    Thanks Anon. I'll look at that again, but not even "image viewing mode" is coming on, unfortunately.

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  3. kwcApril 16, 2008 at 3:22 PM

    Used Canon Rebels should probably start going really cheap right now with everyone upgrading to the new Rebel Xsi. If you hurry, you might be able to get one off of Craigslist before Sea Otter.

    I could possibly get an original Rebel out to you as a loaner, but its currently on loan to a friend in Sunnyvale. It's pretty klunky, at least by my current standards ;).

    ReplyDelete
  4. JenniferApril 16, 2008 at 3:32 PM

    Do they still sell those "disposable" digital cameras at box retailers with photo departments? You might have to pay them to get the pics off the memory card, but I can't imagine that costing more than a dollar or two.

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  5. Yokota FritzApril 16, 2008 at 3:37 PM

    Ken, would $300 be a good price for the digital Rebel (unknown model)?

    I'm seeing a lot of EOS Rebel film cameras on Craigslist for up to $200, and then I see EOS Elans (my model) for less than $200.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Warren TApril 16, 2008 at 5:28 PM

    Perhaps spit in the back and whack it on a table? ... Probably not. Have you checked Canon's web site for support?

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  7. bikesgonewildApril 16, 2008 at 6:26 PM

    ...panda fur...check for panda fur...all those closeup shots you've got, that could be the culprit...

    ...btw, you're welcome to use my kodak brownie...

    ReplyDelete
  8. kwcApril 16, 2008 at 8:09 PM

    $300 is good if its an XT or XTi, mediocre if its an original. Given the lack of a model, its probably an original

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  9. 295busApril 16, 2008 at 8:13 PM

    I have the exact same camera. Mine died too. Admittedly it suffered a knock a few hours before it died. But my other, older Canon has survived much worse. (I think the new Canons have a plastic case and the old ones were metal).

    Any chance it's under warranty? They were pretty good about fixing mine.

    One thing to consider--a camera that would have been top notch two years ago might be $50 at Fry's now. When you get a "real" camera again turn it over to kids or throw it in the bike bag for blog pix or whatever.

    Good luck!

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  10. dolanApril 16, 2008 at 9:07 PM

    Try a last minute rental from Keeble and Shuchat in Palo Alto -- they rent high end DSLRs and lenses for days.

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  11. MichaelWendellApril 17, 2008 at 5:41 AM

    if you don't want to buy a digital camera in a hurry, shoot film.

    you can get film developed quickly at the target on the north end of monterey, right off highway 1, and they can give you a CD with the images so you can upload to flickr. there's also a costco there which will do the same for less money.

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  12. Yokota FritzApril 17, 2008 at 7:42 AM

    Thanks for the tips all. I'll probably bring my film body. I think my Canon P&S might be under warranty still, but I'll need to dig that information up.

    ReplyDelete
  13. bobbybMay 12, 2008 at 12:23 PM

    If the camera wont turned, you can still remove the memory card and plug it into a card reader. Most new computers come with a built in card reader these days. If you send the camera to a camera repair service center they might be able figure out what is wrong with it

    ReplyDelete

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