Topic: Digital Cameras

[Garden Manager]

For those of you who have had individual cameras for a long time and only replaced them when they went wrong, i was wondering what the first signs were that all was not well with the camera, and what finaly finished the camera off. Worn out controls, battery problems, poor images (then no images perhaps?) or something else.

I am starting to wonder if my Fuji Finepix camera that i have had for around 6 years may be starting to go wrong. All was fine when i used it last friday, then it was borrowed and used for indoor/nightime shots (user had some problems with flash settings, due more to inexpereince with camera than the camera's fault). Then today i wanted to take a few photos of the garden, something i have done loads of times before and started having problems. Basicaly image quality is poor, all washed out in normal march sunlight (better when overcast), seems to need flash regardess of light and when i do get a half decent image it had the appearance of a scanned 35mm print when veiwed on the PC.

I am not really asking for help, i just wanted to compare notes with others who may have had the same thing happen. if the thing's going wrong its going wrong i suppose. cant really think that waiting for better light conditions will help since i hve taken much better pictures than today in the middel of winter on dullish days. Even photos thaken with my previous, less sophisticated camera taken around this time of year were better.

[mat]

Just a thought...just check whether the person who borrowed your camera didn't accidentally change any settings.  Maybe check whether exposure compensation and image quality settings have been changed.

My old digi camera started failing in other ways - exposure wasn't always correct, but this was down to lens, not the camera (it was an SLR) and I decided that at 5 years old for the camera (and 15+ for the lenses) I could get a far better model and replaced the lot.  Other digi cameras I (or relatives) have had, have failed in a variety of ways - exposure, buttons, flash, etc

At 6 years old, your digi camera has done well.  My first was bought in 1997, my 2nd in 2003, then my current in 2008.

[BarriedaleNick]

There should be some form of reset option somewhere in the menu so as Mat says if the settings have been changed it could explain the poor quality..
I have had several digital cameras and I still have most of them or I gave them to the thrift shop..
I found I really liked taking pics so I kept upgrading..
6 years use is not so bad for a digicam and the new cameras these days are so much better than they used to be..

[dtw]

The only digital camera that I had that packed up was a fuji finepix, it failed to recognise any memory cards, saying they weren't formatted and refused to format them.

If you still have any old memory cards, they are selling for quite a lot on ebay at the moment.
I sold a 64Mb smartmedia card for £17 the other day. Even 16Mb ones sell for £4-£5.
(make sure you have international postage, as 'foreigners' are prepared to pay extra).
The best days for selling are sunday and monday.

[jimtheworzel]

iv had VIVITAR cameras in the past, they all died after a few months
my vedict  " CRAP "

[jimtheworzel]

If you still have any old memory cards, they are selling for quite a lot on ebay at the moment.
I sold a 64Mb smartmedia card for £17 the other day. Even 16Mb ones sell for £4-£5.
(make sure you have international postage, as 'foreigners' are prepared to pay extra).
The best days for selling are sunday and monday.

Dont you mean  GB not  MB

[dtw]

No, it's definitely Mb.
They are from very early digital cameras.

Here's a link to ones recently sold on ebay...

http://completed.shop.ebay.co.uk/i.html?_nkw=64mb+smartmedia&_in_kw=1&_ex_kw=&_sacat=See-All-Categories&_okw=64mb+smartmedia&_oexkw=&_adv=1&LH_Complete=1&_udlo=&_udhi=&_samilow=&_samihi=&_sadis=200&_fpos=Postcode&LH_SALE_CURRENCY=0&_sop=12&_dmd=1&_ipg=50&_rdc=1

[Garden Manager]

Thanks for replies. I thought of the settings first. I have reset them and tried the camera since. Bit better but still not what it was. Looking again at the images i took that told me i had a problem, it seems that very pale colours/surfaces and glass and other reflective surfaces cause the biggest deterioration in image quality any things like overcast sky has a purple tinge to it. bright but normal sunshine (from behind the camera) is also a problem, causing the image to almost whiteout.

The camera was pretty high spec at the time (April 2005). A Fuji Finepix F455. About the size of a playing card, it has optical and digital zoom, takes photos up to 5.2 MP (although i rarely used this setting), came witha 128mb XD card, later upgraded to 512mb. Also USB rechargeable, which was one of its best features IMO. No messing about with AA or AAA batteries.

As you say at 6 years i have had a good run with it and i realise just how far the tech has come in the past 6 years. Just a nuisance having to replace it thats all just at a time when i am going to want to use a camera more. I always have difficulties deciding what make and model to go for with any technology these days. Have had same problem in recent months with a desktop PC and currently my MP3 player which recently went wrong. Oh and before that i had to change my car! Going through a spate of having to replace things lately.

[lincsyokel2]

Modern electronic consumer goods have a planned lifetime of 3 years tops. Srsly. The expect you to replace it at most every 3 years.

They dont make 'em like they used to.

Ive got an acoustic guitar i used to play round folk clubs, it was 30 years old when i bought it in 1970.