fix my camera

One thousand cheers to Canon (and Van Cam Service) for their crazy-good customer service! They were great to deal with and went out of their way to get my camera fixed FAST (4 days! I was told it would take about 3 weeks, but they rushed it), AND they didn’t just fix the problem I brought it in for, they fixed something I didn’t even know was wrong (with the circuit board), replaced a recalled connector, cleaned it thoroughly, and extended my warranty. I think I’ll send them a thank-you card. Woot!

This is really such a simple thing to do, that I keep putting off because it MIGHT cost me money.

I got this great camera for Christmas from the office and broke it a week later and it’s been sitting in a pile while I take crappy pictures with my crappy webcam camera. And the store is right down the street from work. The very least I could do is at least bring it to the store to see if they’ll fix it under warranty.

Okay… it’s in my agenda (again) to do for this week.

But now I’m committing publically to it as well.

Groan. I should have done this months ago, right after I found the paperwork. I keep putting it off, and the warranty sands are flying through the hourglass. I was going to finally take it in Saturday, but they closed early. I’ll try to do it THIS WEEK!

I feel like I’m about to drop off my right thumb.


* UPDATE *

A few hours later and I’m back from a bus expedition out to the camera place. They said it could take 3 weeks, but it’s good that I brought it in because that particular problem usually gets worse until the power won’t go on at all.

3 weeks?! AAAAAAAAAAAAAARRGGHHH!! I feel anxious – like I’ve left my purse somewhere. Or my pants. The guy was really nice and winkingly suggested calling the middlemen after a week, that gentle harassment sometimes moves things along quicker. I hope so…

it was going to cost the same to buy a new one as it would to fix the old one, so i replaced it. i now have a working camera again. yay me!

i want to fix my camera asap

So this morning I tried to fix my camera… tried being the operative word… it took me 4 hours, 2 band-aids, and 5 electrical shocks, but I finally came to my senses and gave this one up. Apparently electronic repair is not my strong suit.

First I got out a couple crescent wrenches. (I thought I could twist it into place)

Next I used my wall. (Yes my WALL) since my 1st plan failed I thought I could pound it into place. Well needless to say, that failed.

My 3rd and final plan was to take it apart and fix it from the inside. I got a couple tiny screwdrivers, one of those flat screwdrivers, and a little ice-pick looking thing. I ended up stripping most of the screws due to massive amounts of trial and error. I gave up on the screws and used the flat head to pry it all apart (I figure it was already broken what’s the harm?) that actually worked for the most part. There was just this one part that was being stubborn so I thought I could use the ice pick to break it off. See I was under the idea that the case was plastic, turns out it was a rather sturdy metal. Well I hit it full force and the ice pick just slid off and stabbed me in the palm.

I had to take a 15-minuet break at this point to wait for the bleeding to stop. When I went back to it I got it down to the electrical parts. I was attempting to unscrew the flat green part (idk what its called, but the thing with all the wires and chips) when I started to get shocked. Idk what caused it but my fingers still feel tingly…

So basically I failed. Massively.

I’ve tried not to get too frantic about this, but I’ve actually been pretty stressed about not being able to find the camera paperwork I needed to have it fixed.

Today I braved the final search spot: the storage room, chock full of precariously balanced boxes. Within about 20 minutes I’d found the box containing everything, right down to the plastic bag from the shop and the business card of the guy that sold me the camera, and most importantly the receipt for the camera and the extended warranty.
(W H E W !)

I promptly phoned the number on the card, talked to the manager who gave me the number of the warranty folks who gave me the address of the place to take it. I managed to just squeak in, it expires in a couple of months.

I’m so, so relieved.

The problem is with the power button. It still works, but it’s pushed in a bit on one side, making it harder to turn on and grab a quick shot.

I need to dig up my extended warranty (whew!) and go by the camera store. The only problem is, I don’t want to give up my camera for the time it’ll take to repair it.

its done and dusted. well my mum sent it awy to be fixed so that nice of her. and it will get back to me which is quite timely as mine was stolen! gasp!

apparntly my camera is unfixable…i bouight it overseas so the warranty os only good o/s and its a lens prob so will cost a fortune. plus the postage, plus return postage.. i think ih ave to buya new one. sad face. i love my camera. and its not even a year old. really sad face.