I work at a camera shop (Delaware Camera, or Cameraspot.com), and just yesterday a gentleman came in with a Canon whose LCD screen had gone black. The way it works is that we have to send out cameras to the manufacturer for repair. Issues like that are often loose wires, or worse, broken solder points on the internal cards-- think of the motherboard on your computer, only tiny. There's not really a chance that someone at home could just fix it, or that it'll get better on its own. My store charges $20-$50 to send out cameras for repair; the manufacturer will charge $60-120 on top of that to actually perform the repair. Most of that expense is labor. Something as simple as replacing the battery door when there's an obvious mechanical defect and obviously no other issue with the camera is $60. The only time this is cheaper is if the camera was brand new and under warranty. Most of the cameras people bring in, even decent cameras, can be replaced with better cameras for under $200. So it rapidly becomes not cost-effective to repair.
As I said, the likelihood that the issues your camera are having are something that can be repaired cheaply is slim to none. There is most likely a problem with something electronic.
Cameras these days are just like every other consumer good: built to last for approximately 2 years, 4 if you're both lucky and careful. Then they break and it's cheaper to buy new than repair, so you throw it out and get a new one. That's how all of the manufacturers of all of the consumer electronics out there make their living. Even cars are designed like this now. Clothes are like this. Shoes are like this. You don't repair anything because labor is the most expensive component of everything, so you build it as cheaply as possible so you can sell it cheap enough to sell another one when it breaks.
Breaks my heart, but there's no options, really. I make all my own clothes now, or get them secondhand, but I can't just... make my own cameras. Even shoes are too complicated for me. So instead I sell glorified disposable cameras for a living. It's disheartening.
I hope I'm wrong and someone else fixes your camera by a miracle, because I love to read all your pretty updates of beautiful things you've made. :(
Most of the cameras people bring in, even decent cameras, can be replaced with better cameras for under $200. So it rapidly becomes not cost-effective to repair.
As I said, the likelihood that the issues your camera are having are something that can be repaired cheaply is slim to none. There is most likely a problem with something electronic.
Cameras these days are just like every other consumer good: built to last for approximately 2 years, 4 if you're both lucky and careful. Then they break and it's cheaper to buy new than repair, so you throw it out and get a new one. That's how all of the manufacturers of all of the consumer electronics out there make their living. Even cars are designed like this now. Clothes are like this. Shoes are like this. You don't repair anything because labor is the most expensive component of everything, so you build it as cheaply as possible so you can sell it cheap enough to sell another one when it breaks.
Breaks my heart, but there's no options, really. I make all my own clothes now, or get them secondhand, but I can't just... make my own cameras. Even shoes are too complicated for me. So instead I sell glorified disposable cameras for a living. It's disheartening.
I hope I'm wrong and someone else fixes your camera by a miracle, because I love to read all your pretty updates of beautiful things you've made. :(
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