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View Full Version : Repair my camera or buy a new one?


PKIDelirium
2007-10-29, 16:35
:(

My trusty Canon A610 that I got in February 2006 suffered a critical injury last night at Kings Island's Halloween Haunt. I had it in my jacket pocket while riding The Beast, and I forgot to flip the LCD around to protect it like I always do. The next time I got the camera out, this is what the screen looked like, and still does look like:

http://img151.imageshack.us/img151/1236/imgp1675oa8bo4.jpg

:grumble: I almost dropped a F-bomb right there on the Stunt Track station platform...

Anyway, I got on eBay a little while ago and found, for $25, a dead A610 with a broken lens, but a fully functional screen.

So the question is, should I drop the $25 (plus $10 shipping) and attempt a repair, or just write it off and buy a new camera, listing this one on eBay to sell for parts?

turtle
2007-10-29, 16:51
I'd just replace the camera if it was me. I'd keep using it until I saved up about $300 for a new one.

PKIDelirium
2007-10-29, 21:50
That's the problem: I CAN'T keep using it, as the screen is completely shot. Viewfinders on P&S cameras suck badly, and I wouldn't be able to use anything but Automatic mode.

:\

The unexpected expense of a new camera would be a little "ouch" right now, but I still might do it. I really like this camera though, so the cheap repair is tempting.

scratt
2007-10-29, 21:59
Go for it.. It's going to be fiddly and you might not pull it off, but for $25 why the hell not try!

Over here I'd source the parts and take it to a little man in one of the malls, but not without having a look to see if I could do it myself first..

When you strip the camera down, get a large sheet of paper and tape each set of screws to the paper and make a note of where you got them from. That's what I do when I strip down a Mac.

You may be lucky and it's simply a ribbon connector with some gnarly routing you have to contend with. It might be worth doing a quick hunt online to see if there is any site like MacFixit which has a step through guide, for your camera, or a similar one.

Another option is to see if the guy selling his broken camera wants to buy yours and fix his, thus giving you a saving on a new one...

Majost
2007-10-29, 22:01
When you strip the camera down, get a large sheet of paper and tape each set of screws to the paper and make a note of where you got them from. That's what I do when I strip down a Mac.

Better yet: an ice cube tray with a notepad that documents each 'cube' :)

PKIDelirium
2007-10-29, 22:32
Go for it.. It's going to be fiddly and you might not pull it off, but for $25 why the hell not try!

Over here I'd source the parts and take it to a little man in one of the malls, but not without having a look to see if I could do it myself first..

When you strip the camera down, get a large sheet of paper and tape each set of screws to the paper and make a note of where you got them from. That's what I do when I strip down a Mac.

You may be lucky and it's simply a ribbon connector with some gnarly routing you have to contend with. It might be worth doing a quick hunt online to see if there is any site like MacFixit which has a step through guide, for your camera, or a similar one.

Another option is to see if the guy selling his broken camera wants to buy yours and fix his, thus giving you a saving on a new one...

Yeah, that's what I'm thinking. If it fails, I can always stick them both on eBay for parts and make a few bucks.

I'm doing some exploratory surgery right now to see what kind of work I'm looking at, and using the paper/tape method to track the screws.

We'll see how this goes. The dead one on eBay also comes with a dead A80 that I could also resell for parts since I have no need for it. If all goes well, I'll have my camera working again, have the dead one on hand if I ever need more parts, and have an extra one to resell for parts.

scratt
2007-10-29, 22:37
Good luck... And remember post your results and some pictures here! ;)

murbot
2007-10-30, 12:32
:grumble: I almost dropped a F-bomb right there on the Stunt Track station platform...

You got so mad that you almost swore?

You badass.

:D

Freewell
2007-10-30, 14:06
Be sure to take pictures (with your camera phone of course) as you go, so we can be duly impressed or laugh appropriately!

;) :p

Taskiss
2007-10-30, 14:11
I always use my camera to take pics of the thing I'm working on with a pic of the appropriate screw/fastener after I remove it 'cause it keeps it in order, then play it backwards ... but I'm thinking you're a camera shy of doing that...

Good luck, Mr. Phelps.

PKIDelirium
2007-10-31, 01:16
Alright, here we go.

Last night (Monday night) I did the exploratory surgery on it. Turns out that thanks to the A610 having the swiveling screen, it will be a fairly easy job. I took all the covers off and unfastened the busted LCD unit from the swivel hinge.

http://www.donaldflint.com/photo/2007/october30-camera1.jpg

http://www.donaldflint.com/photo/2007/october30-camera2.jpg

Photos taken with my old, obsolete Pentax Optio that I dug out.

I'm dealing with three connections between the LCD unit and the camera. Two small plugs, and one single wire that appears to be a solder connection. It seems to be an easy repair, now I just need to win that dead one on eBay to get the screen...

scratt
2007-10-31, 01:20
Looks very promising. Thanks for sharing the info, and good luck in the auction.. :)

Wyatt
2007-10-31, 07:48
You got so mad that you almost swore?

You badass.

:D
:lol:

turtle
2007-10-31, 11:19
Well, I didn't realize you were the kind to tear things apart. I think you've made a right choice on this one. The good part is you can use the viewfinder if you really need the camera. :)

PKIDelirium
2007-10-31, 11:52
You got so mad that you almost swore?

You badass.

:D

:lol: :D

Capella
2007-10-31, 14:06
It's great that you should be able to repair it. Best of luck on the auction, and keep us posted.

PKIDelirium
2007-11-01, 13:09
Shit. The parts camera on eBay jumped from $25 to $60. Looks like this will be delayed while I watch the others that are on eBay right now.

There are several cheap ones right now, I'm messaging the sellers now to make sure the LCD panels are good.

PKIDelirium
2007-11-08, 18:58
Well I blew it on two parts camera yesterday on eBay, lost out to someone's excessively high max bid for both of them. One more is ending tomorrow, and another Saturday, so I'm not out of options yet. Anyway...

Today: Second Surgery.

My soldering iron arrived in the mail today, so it was time to disconnect the remaining connection between the camera and the dead screen.

Pre-Op:
http://www.donaldflint.com/photo/2007/november8-camerapreop.jpg

Post-Op:
http://www.donaldflint.com/photo/2007/november8-camerapostop.jpg

Everything went well. Only took a couple seconds of contact between the iron tip and the solder to free the wire, and the wire came out undamaged. Looking good.

turtle
2007-11-08, 22:50
Great work on that. Looks like you're gonna be better off making the change rather than getting a new camera. I guess that depends on the cost of a parts camera though.

Have you look into getting just and LCD?

PKIDelirium
2007-11-08, 23:20
I did look into that, but an LCD is $60 plus shipping. If I play my cards right in the bidding, I should be able to get a parts camera for $20 plus shipping, and then I'd have the rest of the good parts of that camera should I need them later on.

turtle
2007-11-08, 23:37
Cool.

scratt
2007-11-08, 23:52
Thanks for the update.. Looking good indeed. Fingers crossed for eBay.

PKIDelirium
2007-11-19, 14:46
FINALLY!

I just won a broken A610 on eBay for parts. Lens is screwed but the screen is good, and that's all I need.

$18.70 and $6 for shipping, so just under $25 total. Not bad, not bad at all.

Wyatt
2007-11-19, 15:22
Well done, PKI. Keep us updated.

turtle
2007-11-19, 17:11
Yeah, I'm looking forward to seeing your fixed now. :)

PKIDelirium
2007-11-26, 14:26
The parts camera has arrived. I'm starting the disassembly now to remove the screen. Pics later.

turtle
2007-11-26, 14:33
:)

I'm looking forward to hearing the good report. It's it just fun to do things like that? Maybe it's just cuz I'm a geek though. :\

PKIDelirium
2007-11-26, 15:15
Extraction completed. To keep the parts camera intact, I reassembled it using the broken screen. I'm going to pack it away should I need anything else from it at some point.

I'm going to go straight to the surgery now. Report once I'm finished...

PKIDelirium
2007-11-26, 15:36
Plugs and soldering complete. I'm letting it cool a few minutes before reassembling the case.

After I made the plug connections, I couldn't resist. I grabbed my batteries and put them in, and turned it on. IT LIVES! This was before I'd connected the soldered wire, and it worked. I wish I knew for sure what that wire is.

Resoldering it sucked. I don't have a solder sucker or a braid, so I actually reused the existing solder. Using tweezers to guide the wire, I melted the solder, held the iron on it and pushed the wire tip all the way in.

Connections are made, now I'm going to go reassemble.

PKIDelirium
2007-11-26, 16:04
DONE! Photos in a while.

Bryson
2007-11-26, 16:07
Cool! This thread needed a "beep...beep...beep...beep" soundtrack.

PKIDelirium
2007-11-26, 19:45
Warning: Long photo post!

http://donaldflint.com/photo/2007/november26-partscam1.jpg
Donor camera ready for surgery.

http://donaldflint.com/photo/2007/november26-partscam2.jpg
Note the lens, this sucker's dead.

http://donaldflint.com/photo/2007/november26-partscam3.jpg
I had an audience. Spoiled brat.

http://donaldflint.com/photo/2007/november26-partscam4.jpg
Plugs disconnected. Ready for desoldering and removal of good screen.

http://donaldflint.com/photo/2007/november26-partscam5.jpg
Screen removed.

http://donaldflint.com/photo/2007/november26-partscam6.jpg
Donor camera reassembled for storage. I stuck the broken screen in it.

http://donaldflint.com/photo/2007/november26-camrepair1.jpg
Ready for final surgery...

http://donaldflint.com/photo/2007/november26-camrepair2.jpg
Plugs connected.

http://donaldflint.com/photo/2007/november26-camrepair3.jpg
I couldn't resist. IT LIVES!

http://donaldflint.com/photo/2007/november26-camrepair4.jpg
Sweet. Okay now that I've had my fun, time to finish the attachment surgery.

http://donaldflint.com/photo/2007/november26-camrepair5.jpg
Ready to solder.

http://donaldflint.com/photo/2007/november26-camrepair6.jpg
Solder complete. Ready for final assembly.

PKIDelirium
2007-11-26, 19:46
http://img116.imageshack.us/img116/1234/picture1305ga8.png

:grumble:

http://donaldflint.com/photo/2007/november26-camrepair7.jpg
Done!

http://donaldflint.com/photo/2007/november26-camrepair8.jpg
Back to normal.

DMBand0026
2007-11-26, 19:46
Nice work. Way to save yourself some money :)

Xaqtly
2007-11-26, 19:56
That's awesome, I wish I were more of a DIY'er. Nice job.

turtle
2007-11-26, 20:04
Yeah, great work. :)

Wyatt
2007-11-26, 20:11
Damn, nice work PKI. Thanks for posting pics. :)

Brad
2007-11-26, 20:13
http://donaldflint.com/photo/2007/november26-partscam3.jpg
I had an audience. Spoiled brat.

Moar cute overload pics, plz. Kthx.

turtle
2007-11-26, 20:24
...
After I made the plug connections, I couldn't resist. I grabbed my batteries and put them in, and turned it on. IT LIVES! This was before I'd connected the soldered wire, and it worked. I wish I knew for sure what that wire is.
...

I'm pretty certain that is only the ground. Most likely never needed, but you wouldn't want to operate without it. I know you've already connected it and all, but thought you might like to know.

Windswept
2007-11-26, 20:25
Back to normal.
Wow. Cool! I am truly impressed. :)

Hey, you could actually start a little side business providing that exact service for unfortunate camera owners. I'm serious. What do you think? :)

Moar cute overload pics, plz. Kthx.
:lol:

:p

;)

Capella
2007-11-26, 20:57
Awesome! I'm glad it worked out well.

Aww, cute squirrel. Squirrel audiences are okay- except when you're having sex, then they're just annoying.