Cameras, again
So the Nikon Coolpix S4 lasted 2 months, almost exactly. It appears that the aperture (iris) is stuck at "pinhole" - not all the way shut, so it's been possible to take some pictures with second-long exposures, in daylight - not, in practice, actually useful.
I've asked around on dpreview in particular, to see if there are suggestions; this camera was the only one that came close to what I wanted (the only compromises were size and lens-ring, and having the 10x lens made the latter OK, as you can probably see from some of the pictures I've gotten out of it) but if it's this fragile, I'm not sure I want a second one.
One alternative (only 5x zoom, but "pistol grip" style) is the Sanyo Xacti CA6 which is about the same size, and can shoot 6MP stills while shooting video. However, it doesn't ship until some time in August, and I'll already be out of the country again...
edit 2006-07-25: gave in and got a second one, which I will treat more carefully, while looking into warranty and repair options for the first one. Turns out that taking pictures is important to me after all...
I've asked around on dpreview in particular, to see if there are suggestions; this camera was the only one that came close to what I wanted (the only compromises were size and lens-ring, and having the 10x lens made the latter OK, as you can probably see from some of the pictures I've gotten out of it) but if it's this fragile, I'm not sure I want a second one.
One alternative (only 5x zoom, but "pistol grip" style) is the Sanyo Xacti CA6 which is about the same size, and can shoot 6MP stills while shooting video. However, it doesn't ship until some time in August, and I'll already be out of the country again...
edit 2006-07-25: gave in and got a second one, which I will treat more carefully, while looking into warranty and repair options for the first one. Turns out that taking pictures is important to me after all...