Digital Camera Support and Repair

Can you repair it yourself?

noreply@blogger.com (Digital Camera Repair) — Thu, 16 Jul 2009 02:20:00 +0000

Possessing a high-end and sophisticated gadget like digital camera can be a pride in itself, but repairing it can be daunting. A digital camera is an electronic device with many delicate circuits inside it. Adequate knowledge about the delicate device is essential for the technician for repairing who must handle the device with extra care. It needs specialized testing equipment to diagnosis the very problem. That is, perhaps, the reason why affordable digital camera repair is hard to find.

There are some minor defects in your digital camera that you can fix yourself. Of course, that depends on the type or the model of camera that you are using. Here, another noteworthy thing is you should have precise idea about what exactly is wrong with it.

Things You Can Fix Yourself:

The common problem that can be detected and fixed without much hassle is the digital camera lens. Most of the time it is due to careless handling or improper setting that the lens ceases to function leaving you baffled over the matter. Most of the time, it is due to the improper alignment of the lens. You will encounter system error messages on the LCD. In such circumstances the camera is not able to focus and the result is worse pictures. You can simply realign the lens or reset the zoom barrel guide pins and you will find your digital camera working as usual.

There are some other minor and common problems such as broken battery cover, broken hinges on memory card doors, cracked LCDs, etc. But if you are not sure about the problem, it is wise not to handle it. Rather you can take your digital camera to an authorized repairing center.

However, before visiting any repairing center or technician you must take check certain common things. There may be some minor problems that you can identify yourself such as:

1 - Sometimes, it is very likely that you might have hit the wrong button or have changed the menu for which the device does not work properly.

2 - If the battery of your digital camera is running out of power, it is most likely that the digital cameras will not work. Ensure if thing improves when a fully charged cell is inserted into the digital camera.

3 - Sometimes, it is necessary to reset the camera through the menu or by removing the battery for 24 hours.

4 - The camera may not turn on if the memory card is full.

These common problems can not be really considered as a serious problem for the digital camera. But a novice user of the gadget may find it difficult them troubleshoot.

Selecting Repairing Service Station:

If the small efforts are not enough to fix your camera, visit an authorized service station. The technician in the service station should have experience of fixing several brands and models of digital camera.

Look for a business that offers Canon Nikon Sony digital camera repair

Moreover, both the user and the technician should have the ability to distinguish between marginal repair and quality repair. A little bit of confusion in this regard may cause damage to your precious digital camera.

Each model of digital cameras requires special tools to fix the errors and reliable service centers have these specialized tools and skilled technicians to properly service and safeguard the digital camera. Efficient diagnosis and repairing of digital camera depends largely upon specialized tests, appropriate equipments and expert technician.

The high-end and sophisticated device like digital camera requires a lot of concern and careful handling which is of paramount importance for longevity of the digital camera. However, the repair process of digital camera also needs the same amount of care and attention. You need to have adequate knowledge of handling digital camera to avoid any kind of trouble.

If possible gather information from the Internet about handling and repairing. A digital camera is a valuable possession and worth caring.

- Guest writer.

noreply@blogger.com (Digital Camera Repair) — Thu, 16 Jul 2009 01:20:00 +0000

The way things are these days, it's not surprising that people are careful about the money they spend. While in times past, having the best of everything may have been important, that's not so much the case anymore. These days, it's more important to get good value for your money when you do decide to spend it. Especially on tech gadgets, as it can cost a lot of money if you ever need to repair your digital camera.

Well, I think we've established the importance of your money, even when looking for digital cameras. You can, of course apply this thinking to whatever your purchasing, but for this article, looks focus primarily on getting a good digital camera.

If there is one thing constant with our world, it is that things are forever changing. Especially in the world of tech gadgets. While digital cameras may not be considered a "gadget" by some, they are in fact still influenced by this same rapid rate of change.

For the gadget geeks, this is fascinating time to be living in. The constant change, new features, and cool functionality is like a drug to them. I must admit to get caught up in it sometimes myself. Trying to keep pace for the average consumer, is not always as much fun.

The typical digital camera consumer, however, doesn't really have time for all this cool stuff though. They're more interested in the practical side of cameras. What they want to know, is can the camera I'm buying do what I need it to do. All the technical speak can just be ignored.

While camera manufacturers are more than thrilled to be introducing new models to their already bloated camera product lines, it's really unnecessary. While digital technology has brought some nice features to the average photographer, what makes a good camera really hasn't changed much over the years. A good lens, solid construction, and buttons that are easy to use.

They've never had so many reasons to release so many new models with so many new bells and whistles. Mind you, some of them are great, but some features are just plain useless. Or if not useless, then probably so buried amongst all the other menu features that most users never know they're there let alone use them.

While the bad news, may be that technology is overwhelming for the average consumer, the good news, is that you can use that same advanced technology to make your buying decision easier. I'm talking about all the wonderful shopping and comparison websites, that can make buying your next camera an easy experience.

Not only will they compare prices, but you can query these tools by feature as well. You can ask for example for the top rated Canon SLR cameras with 10 megapixels, a wide angle lens, in the 600-900 dollar range. These kind of tools can significantly shorten your search time, and alert you to some really good bargains in one fell swoop.

Once you have your camera, if you ever do need digital camera repair or parts we all know the best place to go!

- Guest writer: Chris C.

Sony H2 and H5 shutter button problems

noreply@blogger.com (Digital Camera Repair) — Sat, 11 Jul 2009 10:42:00 +0000

I'm not going to make this a huge discussion about the Sony Cyber-shot DSC-H series shutter button because if you found this, you already know what the topic is all about!

I own a small but growing digital camera repair business in Burnsville MN and whenever a customer calls and starts to tell me that they have a Sony DSC-H2 or H5 camera, I always know what they will say next: "... and my shutter button is broken off", without fail.

Thankfully for the people who are able to find our site, we have a few options available for them. We sell the complete Sony shutter button part including the chrome 'collar' or 'ring' that is still on the camera after the shutter button breaks off, we also have a Sony shutter button repair kit for much less that contains the button, spring and locking clip and lastly we have a Sony shutter button repair service where they can send us their camera and we will repair it and ship it back within a few short days of receiving it.

As for pricing, the repair kit is the least expensive at $22, the complete shutter button assembly is $38, and the repair package where we install it and ship you the camera back is only $50.

We have complete instructions for the PROPER WAY to do the repair the Sony shutter button on one of our blog sites, www.mydigihelp.com as well as our new site about the Sony DSC-H Series Shutter button problem: HseriesShutterButton.com

The repair done properly takes at least 30 minutes or more. If you do not want to tear down your camera yourself to install the part, we will be happy to do it for you!

I started this business with a simple idea: I can help people repair their cameras instead of throwing them away, and I can make it into a growing business if I make just $10 off EVERYBODY instead of $100 off a few people here and there. Our competition will charge you $100 or more for the same repairs we offer.... I can't charge people that much and feel good about it, it's just the way I am.

If we can help with your Sony Cyber-shot DSC-H1, H2, H5, H7, H9, H10 or other shutter button repair, LCD screen repair, or even lens repair we would be happy to help!

Thomas Drayton,
Owner - Darntoothysam.com

Top Camera Repair Problems

noreply@blogger.com (Digital Camera Repair) — Sun, 05 Jul 2009 14:14:00 +0000

Why is this a top 4 list and not a top 10 list like everybody loves
so much? Answer: Because I am trying to give usable, honest information
here about a subject that I actually know about. If this were a top 10
list there is no way I could give you any useable information, there
wouldn't be enough time. Many people probably won't read my "book"
below for that reason, it's too long. Que sera, sera.

We live
in a throw-away society, it's a simple fact. You buy that brand new
fancy digital camera with all the bells and whistles for $400, and in 6
months to 1 year it's worth maybe half that, and then the unthinkable
happens: you drop it and it breaks. The LCD is cracked, or the lens is
jammed; what do you do? You head back to the store with your poor
little camera and the guy behind the counter (that knows nothing about
cameras except for what's written on the box, and even less about
camera repair) tells you it's not worth it to fix it and you should
toss it in the trash. You feel ripped off and mad at the camera
manufacturer and you toss it out and buy a new one made by somebody
else.

There are alternatives, there are ALWAYS alternatives to
every problem. Honest! Yes, it may cost $100 to fix your camera, and
yes you can buy that camera in the bubble pack on the shelf at W**l
M**t (they don't pay my bills... I don't advertise their name, sorry)
for less than $100, but what kind of quality do you honestly expect
from a $100 camera? Not very good quality I hope, because you're not
going to get it.

Ok, get on with the list, right?

#1 - Broken/cracked LCD screen.

It was hard for me to choose what to put in #1 and #2, but I stuck with
LCD for #1 because it's so easy to break your LCD that you don't even
have to touch the camera to do it!

Canon SD450 w/broken LCD screen

The
LCD (Liquid Crystal Display) is the view screen on the back of the
camera that lets you see menus, playback pictures etc. The LCD is very
thin, very fragile, and on many many cameras completely UNPROTECTED!
Look at the back of your camera, is the screen recessed slightly or is
the back of the camera flat and smooth? If it's flat you have a
protective 'window' or 'glass' over the LCD to help prevent damage and
breakage. If it's not flat, you have nothing protecting your LCD and
should put a good LCD screen protector on the camera and NOT those thin, flimsy 'saran wrap' plastic film screen protectors, they are worthless.

A Quality LCD protector = NOT Saran Wrap (TM)

- Don't leave your camera in your car in summer or winter. Extreme heat
can cause expansion of the liquid in the LCD and cause it to 'crack',
and on the other side of things extreme cold can cause it to freeze!

- Don't put anything up against the LCD in your camera bag, it will
bang against the LCD and crack it (yes, even if it has a window over
it, it will break!)
- Don't put your camera in your back pocket and then sit down!
- Don't put your camera in your front pocket and then roll over on it.
- ... Just don't put your camera in your pants pocket please. =)

Ok, so it's broken, what do you do now?

- The manufacturer will just site impact damage and will refuse the
repair even if the camera wasn't dropped etc. You can try, and I wish
you luck, but they probably won't fix it.
- Look for a defective
camera on e***y (hey they don't pay me to advertise for them...) and
make one good camera from the two if you are handy.
- Look for an
actual camera repair business and not somebody that will send it to the
manufacturer and tell you it's $200 and 4-6 weeks to repair. (IF they
tell you this, they are NOT repairing your camera for you, they are
sending it to the manufacturer, guaranteed)

Many LCD screens
are very easy to install and you can do it yourself and all you need is
a small screwdriver. Other LCD's are very difficult to install, and
even professionals don't like to do them! I can't tell you Brand ....
is the best and Brand ... is the worst, it's really not like that.
Certain SERIES of cameras have 1 or 2 models that are difficult to work
on, yet the rest of them are fairly straight forward. You need to
decide for yourself if you want to open your camera and try the repair
yourself or not.

How is an LCD replaced?
With most Canon camera LCD screens
for example (using them as the example because they have the largest
market share) all you do is disconnect the ribbon cable for the LCD and
the backlight (the light that shines through the LCD and allows you to
see what is on the screen) and then install the new LCD. Some come with
the backlight attached, some do not. Some backlights need to be
soldered to the mainboard of the camera, some do not.
- Be careful
to not touch the flash capacitor contacts! You WILL zap yourself if you
do, and it will HURT a bit. You will probably throw your camera across
the room when it happens. (Yeah, I've done it, I've been repairing
cameras for 5 years now so....) We have 'flash capacitor dischargers'
and use them every time we open a camera.

#2 - Lens Error; Broken, Jammed, Stuck, Missing or Black Spots on Images
Ok, camera lens repair
is as common as LCD repair, but it's #2 on my list because it's harder
to repair and there are so many different types of lens problems
whereas a broken LCD is a broken LCD no matter how you look at it.

Canon SD800 Jammed Lens

- Do not leave the batteries in your camera in the camera bag. The
power button can be pressed accidentally causing the lens to extend and
get jammed because it cannot open properly inside the bag.
- Try not to drop the camera with the lens extended.
- Don't ever pull or twist on a lens that is not working 100% properly, you will just break it.

I would have to write a book to fully explain lens problems fully
(hmm.. maybe a good idea!) so I will try and keep it simple and
informative.

The lens is made up of many different parts... Let's start with the several pieces of glass referred to as the lens elements.

The outer lens element is prone to being scratched and scuffed, and
usually has a special coating on it that you DO NOT want to clean off
with isopropyl alcohol (rubbing alcohol), or Windex or something
similar. It's not the end of the world, and don't worry about it if
it's missing. Just keep the lens clean (why are there fingerprints on
your lens anyway??) and scratch free.
The inner-most lens element
is responsible for the fine focus and resides directly in front of the
CCD. When you press the shutter button half way down to focus, this
part moves forwards and backwards till it's in the correct position and
your image is in focus. You won't be messing with this part of the
lens... unless you feel like removing the lens from the camera and then
tearing down the lens to get at it's 'guts'. It's kinda fun the first
time, but uh... I wish you luck getting it back together properly. The
tearing apart stuff is fun, the putting it back together is a drag!

The lens has two small motors with their own gears that connect to the
two main parts of the lens. The larger motor drives the lens barrel in
and out when zooming. The smaller motor drives the fine focus element
mentioned above and controls the focus. If you get ONE GRAIN of sand in
these gears, they will jam and the lens will "error out" as we like to
say. Open it up and clean it out if you like, but it's not easy.
Typically the main motor of the lens has 5-6 different gears that must
be set and aligned properly to function. But hey, your lens is already
jammed, why not see how it works, right?

Then there is the
CCD, "charge-coupled device" which translates the light that enters the
lens into a digital signal that the camera can record.
There was
a very large CCD recall by Sony over the past few years that covers
many manufacturers and not just Sony, as Sony provided the CCDs to many
others for their cameras. The defective CCD's cause the camera to take
solid black photos, or purple/pink "dripping paint" photos, or they
have repeating white horizontal or verticle lines on the images. If
your camera does this, call the manufacturer and tell them you want a
repair under the CCD recall no matter how old your camera is! IF it's
on the list, you might get your camera repaired for free.

Got
spots on your images that get bigger and smaller as you zoom in and
out? Most likely there is a spec of dust on your CCD. You will need to
remove the lens and then remove the CCD from the back of the lens and
clean it off. Don't lose the gasket that goes around the CCD, don't get
any other dirt inside the lens and don't leave any fingerprints! Tall
order I know, sorry, I'm demanding. =)

Let's see... what else?
Your lens is part way out, stuck at an angle becuase the camera was
dropped while turned on. Now please read that carefully; the lens must
be stuck part way out or all the way out, and one section of the lens
MUST be stuck at an angle. The lens must not move freely at all for
this section to apply, and you may follow this advice AT YOUR OWN RISK.
The following repair trick works, but I am not repsonsible for your
actions or anything you do to your camera.

Ok, it's stuck at
an angle. Hold the camera with the angled part of the lens resting
against the edge of a table, and the rest of the camera hanging over
the side. Do not place the camera facing down with the "Canon Zoom
Lens..." chrome ring section flat on the table. The rounded edge of the
lens must be what makes contact here. Now... here is the tricky part...
press the angled part of the lens back into alignment by pushing down
on the lens on the edge of the table. Put your fingers on the LENS
below the angled part to support it and press firmly but still gently
(how do I do that? I don't know.. you just do it) and the lens will
either POP!! back into place and work perfectly or it won't budge and
no harm will be done, -OR- one of the "guide pins" that run inside a
small track in the lens barrel will break off and you have just
destroyed the lens.
I told you it was at your own risk!! Camera repair is fun... right?

Ok, how are we feeling about lenses? I think we have covered most of the basic problems, shall we move on?

#3 Broken Doors, Busted Tabs and Frustrating Design
So your battery door broke off and is gone.

Your battery door has broken tabs on it and no longer holds closed
tightly so the batteries don't make contact and the camera won't turn
on.
Your battery door is removeable on your SLR so you can add on
a grip with extra batteries... and where exactly did you put it down?
The tiny little piece of plastic on your CF (Compact Flash memory card) door broke off and your camera won't turn on!

Don't pay $50 for one of these!

Oh
man... how many cameras out there will not turn on because your memory
card door is open, or the battery door is open, even though there
really seems to be no reason for it? It's frustrating... these flimsy
little battery doors made from a tiny glob of plastic are ultra thin
and snap like a dry twig, (Canon SD750 battery door..
don't get me started!) making your camera useless. What were they
thinking when they designed this?? Did ANYBODY test this thing? Did
anybody stop for one second and ask what the reason was behind it?

I could work for ANY major digital camera company and tell them exactly
what is wrong with the design of any new camera they release and save
them hundreds of thousands of dollars in warranty repairs and upset
customers! Think they would hire me? No way; I don't have an
Engineering Degree or a PHd is Physics so what do I know, right?

Well I know plenty having fixed THOUSANDS of cameras over the past 5+
years, I know what is wrong with your camera if it is a certain model
before you even tell me.
Sony H2 or H5? Broken shutter button.
Canon SD850? Jammed lens Canon SD750? Broken battery door... I'm not
going to list dozens of cameras here, that's not what this is about.

What do you do with your camera when one small piece of plastic is
broken or missing? You paid hundreds for it and once again the guy at
the store tells you "Throw it in the trash, this one is better, it goes
to 11." (A little movie humor there, hey it's 1:30am I'm entitled) Tell
that guy at the store a resounding "NO!" and walk out. Go home, get on
the computer and get surfing.

Back we go to e**y... search for your model number and "door" or "parts" and voila, look at what you find!

---> As a side note here (I'm kinda proud of this so bear with me) I
was the first and only digital camera parts store in the world on e**y.
I bought cameras by the 100's and repaired what I could and then parted
out the rest. I sold all those annoying little parts that you cannot buy anywhere
for dirt cheap! $10 for a battery door and all you do to install it is
twist it into place... and that "geek" at the store told you it would
be $175 to send it in to Canon or Sony and have them do it for you...

So you don't find your door or part there, keep looking, don't give up
yet. Don't want to repair it yourself, no problem, there are places
that will do it for you. Hopefully you will find one with decent
prices; don't pay anyone $50 to install a battery door for you...
please.
(Google: affordable digital camera repair... I hold 7 out of the 10 listings on Google page one!! But enough about me...)

Broken battery doors and memory card doors are very common. I think we
would see a lot more customers asking for them if only they knew they
could actually repair it and get their camera back working for less
than $25-30! It really is that cheap, with many doors for only $15-20.

#4 No Power, My Camera Died!
- I don't know what happened, it just stopped working and won't turn on.
- I dropped it, (I dropped it in water) and it won't turn on.
- My kids... (well, you know how that one ends)

Ok, so it won't power; doesn't mean it's a complete loss. If the camera
blew the fuse then you can solder on a new fuse, you can remove the old
fuse and bridge the connection leaving the camera without a fuse (not
recommended) or you can replace the entire board that the fuse is on.

Fuses are normally just a few dollars, and if you can solder really
well, you can probably replace it. Can't solder? Don't bother.
Replacing the board isn't hard, but getting the board for a decent
price is unless you go used and you never know what you're getting with
a used board or lens, but it's better than nothing.

Exposure
to liquid is a camera killer. I hate to say it, but if this is the
issue with your camera, I would have to tell you that the camera is a
goner. I want to help you repair it, but corrosion is bad, real bad.
Water gets everywhere and causes damage to everything. It clouds up the
backlight so your LCD screen has weird shadows on it, it fogs up the
lens so you can't take pictures, it shorts out boards and flashes and
is basically the nemesis of all things digital camera. Please do not
get your camera wet. Thanks.

Argh! What did my kids do this
time? The camera won't work anymore, what's wrong with it? Could be our
friend the fuse again as above, or could be a "door indicator switch"
that tells the camera to turn off when the door is opened. If the
switch is damaged the camera will not turn on even when the door is
closed.

You can check this by opening your battery door or
memory card door and looking for the switch, it's not hard to see. On
Canon Powershot SD series cameras there is one under the battery door
beside the memory card slot. See it? Is it broken, jammed up, or totaly
broken off? You can try "tricking" the camera into thinking the door is
always closed by jamming down the switch, or bridging the connection
with a drop of solder. If the camera is under warranty do not do this,
try getting them to fix it... though they proabaly will not, and will
just fall back on the old "physical damage" thing again. Can't fix the
switch, have to replace the board, only real solution to the problem.

It's not corrosion, it's not the door switch, and it still won't turn
on; so what's wrong? Honestly, it's difficult to say without $100,000
equipment that I just don't have. The lens can be defective for
whatever reason and causing the camera to short out. There are certain
models where a bad LCD will cause the camera to not power. Could be the
flash, could be a screw touching the PCB or the frame inside the camera
and is causing it to short... Electricity is weird and does weird
things.

Right about now you are probably wondering if this
book will ever come to an end. No, it won't, because there are so many
different things that can and do go wrong with digital camera repair that there really isn't a way to list them all. Will my post ever end? Yes, it will thankfully enough.

I do hope that I have been able to shed some light on the mysterious
subject of digital camera repair, and if I have helped you to fix your
camera I would love to hear about it! I enjoy this business because I
know how important a camera is to a person; you want to be able to
record the events of your life and they only happen once. Once that
time has come and gone you cannot get it back, but with a photograph
you can be transported back to that place and time any time you choose.
If I can help you with that... to be a small part of so many peoples
lives in such an important way is an amazing thing and gives me a "warm
fuzzy".

As always I thank you, dear reader, for your time and for allowing me to be part of your life.

Thomas Drayton,
www.DarnToothySam.com

Canon SD series lens cover repair

noreply@blogger.com (Digital Camera Repair) — Sat, 20 Jun 2009 23:39:00 +0000

Many people have asked about repairing their front covers/flaps on
their Canon PowerShot SD series cameras, so I’ve written up some
instructions. I have added photos!! Each link is a helpful photo of an
actual repair I did on a customer camera. Please let others know if you
found this article helpful.

The barrier kit on most Canon PowerShot SD series cameras is a
little tricky but not impossible to replace yourself. All you need is
some patience, a steady hand and a small tipped screwdriver. We use
dental picks, they work great!

Here are the parts in the kit. The pink bubble wrap is my anti-static workspace!

To start, you will need to turn on the camera and extend the lens,
then open the battery door to turn off the camera and keep the lens
out. This allows you to easily work on the lens barrier assembly. The yellow arrow points to where the next part is to be inserted.

The first part that goes in is the barrel drive ring;
it has a small part sticking down into the lens. The image linked here
shows the drive ring installed and the arrows point to where the spring
connects (top arrow) and the barrier plate or flat is inserted (bottom
arrow). Some cameras don’t have one, so if there isn’t one in your kit
then your camera doesn’t need it. Make sure it rotates slightly once it
has been inserted, otherwise its not in properly and will jam the lens.

Next are the springs and flaps. Put one spring on each of the flaps,
there are little tabs to hold them on. They are TINY, they are hard to
hold and if you drop it… lets just say DON’T drop it on the carpet, ok?
We do have just the springs available for purchase, but please try not
to lose them.

Gently put the flap in the hole with the spring laying towards the post that the free end will mount on; then with something with a very small tip (we use dental picks!) gently grab the loop of the spring and stick it on its post

Do this with the flaps in the open position, they will stay in place if you get them seated properly.
If everything pops off, just start again. Try not to stretch out the
springs, they need to remain tight for the assembly to work properly.

Then gently put on the barrier cover, it’s a flat plastic ring.
There are tabs on the barrier cover, they match up with little slots on
the lens and it locks into place. Be gentle, don’t force anything too
hard or you will break it and the parts will not hold it place.

Not it’s time to test your skills! Put in the battery (cross your
fingers) and press the power button! Did it work? Did it go *SPROING!*
and all the parts flew across the room? Yeah I hope not, but I’ve been
there myself so you’re not alone.

Once you have it working smoothly:

Next put the dual sided tape on the barrier cover.
VERY IMPORTANT: Peel the tape off the yellow backing paper but DO NOT
remove the paper from the side that is cut to match the shape of the
tape!! Removing the small paper part will cause the tape to fold up on
itself and stick together. Bye bye tape!

The tabs fold over the edge, don’t let them stick out or the lens
cover won’t fit and the lens will jam. The arrow in the image above
shows the tape tabs folded down in the correct spot. The tape lines up
with one tab at about the 11 o’clock position, then fold the tabs over
and press them in so they don’t stick out.

Now put on your chrome or black lens cap, line up the cap with the small indentation at the bottom, you’ll see how it goes on easily.

Fire up the camera again and admire your handywork! Congratulations
you repaired your camera yourself for $20 and the good old Geek Squad
told you it would be $200 and take 3-4 weeks to repair.

Hmm… I think I’m seeing the beginning of something big here! =) Hope this helps you repair your camera!

Thomas Drayton,

Owner; http://www.darntoothysam.com

Digital Camera Basic Repair and Preventative Maintenance - Day 2

noreply@blogger.com (Digital Camera Repair) — Fri, 04 Jan 2008 19:20:00 +0000

Yesterday on MyDigiHelp I discussed the importance of protecting your battery door, and how to avoid breaking the little buggers.
Today we will cover probably the most frustrating and, sometimes, costly mistakes one could make - Breaking an LCD screen.
The basic part of the digital camera LCD assembly is 2 parts- the LCD and the backlight.
The LCD is the Liquid Crystal Display that the camera uses to display saved images (both basic digital cameras and SLR type cameras display this) and live view (oftentimes in place of a viewfinder[this is only on point and shoot digital cameras and very high end SLR bodies])
The back light is the little part on the back side of the LCD that illuminates and is how we see a lighted image on the LCD screen. If the backlight goes out, the LCD usually will still work, but it will display the image naturally and be very dark.
It is fairly obvious when an LCD goes bad, usually it has the actual crystal leaking into the housing, and the display is not shown, with rainbow colored blotches all over the LCD. The LCD could also have nothing but a white screen shown. Generally this is either a bad LCD, or sometimes, the ribbon cable that connects the LCD to the camera mainboard has dislodged slightly (this is a good thing because this can a lot of times be fixed!)

Now, some preventative steps towards LCD protection -
Buy a screen protector. Not a little scratch pad that prevents scratches on the LCD. Those are mostly cosmetic and will do nothing against impact damage to the LCD or camera.
We at DarnToothySam.com sell a variety of 1/8" thick acrylic glass LCD screen protectors. These are very sturdy, and we've never had one break or shatter on us. They are also very cheap, about $10 from our store. Whenever we do an LCD replacement, we always offer to sell an LCD protector with our repair.
Do NOT throw your camera without a case into your purse, or jacket. Pressure on the front or back of a camera can cause a cracked screen. Slim body Kodak cameras are very notorious for this, and their LCDs are almost prohibitive in price. Always have a case, and protect the camera.

If you have broken your LCD, there are several services available for you. DarnToothySam.com offers both a part and/or replacement service for an LCD.
You can find the repair service here - http://www.darntoothysam.com/servlet/the-Digital-Camera-Repair-Service-cln-Canon/Categories?sfs=bb6c8ef0 and the
parts service here - http://www.darntoothysam.com/servlet/the-Digital-Camera-Parts-cln-Canon/Categories?sfs=bb6c8ef0.
Self install of an LCD is fairly easy, and we will cover that in later sessions. Our repair services usually are a quick turn around and we can get your camera back to you in due time!

Keep on protecting those digital cameras, and taking great pictures!
Eric @ MyDigiHelp.com and DarnToothySam.com

Happy New Years!

noreply@blogger.com (Digital Camera Repair) — Thu, 03 Jan 2008 16:45:00 +0000

Here we are now, 2008. This is going to be a year of innovations, of much change. I feel it is going to be a real renaissance online!
But as promised, here is the first of a 8 part series of self help and advice on simple, yet effective ways of preventing problems, fixing minor inconveniences and extending the life of your digital camera.
Today we will talk about the battery doors and memory card doors. Our parent site, DarnToothySam.com sells a lot of battery doors and memory card doors, daily. Typically they come from Canon cameras.
There are some very easy and conscious things consumers can do to keep their battery door and memory card doors from breaking.

When inserting the battery or memory card into the camera, watch which direction you are putting the battery or memory card in. Many times it feels that the battery or memory card is inserted or seated properly (especially on older Kodak models) but it is in backwards. If you try to close the door at that point, a lot of times of the door will catch or hit the card or battery and snap off.

Keep in mind these are very fragile plastic pieces, many times the only way they stay on is with several small tabs of plastic. If your battery door needs to slide to open (Many Kodak models are this way), be careful they are lined up properly and not at an angle. Any stress on the battery door or memory card door tabs will cause a stress fracture and the tabs with break.
If the tabs break on the door, you should be fine, BUT if they break on the camera, you probably will need to look into buying a new case to replace the tabs.

Here is a link to DarnToothySam's Digital Camera Parts store, with the battery doors already searched for!

Lastly, and this should be pretty obvious, just be conscious and self-aware of taking care of your camera. This goes for all things, from LCD screens, to battery doors, to lenses. Dropping a camera, or getting it wet is a quick way to ruin, or have costly repairs installed. Just be careful and happy shooting :)

-Eric @ MyDigiHelp.com, DarnToothySam.com

Merry Christmas from MyDigiHelp.com!

noreply@blogger.com (Digital Camera Repair) — Tue, 25 Dec 2007 18:00:00 +0000

Merry Christmas to all our readers and customers! We here at MyDigiHelp.com and DarnToothySam.com wish the very best to everyone's families, friends and loved ones. This is a time for peace, forgiveness and rebuilding, and we hope everyone takes advantage of it!
Until Thursday, enjoy the food, relax and drive safely!

-Eric @ MyDigiHelp.com, DarnToothySam.com and BAMreview.blogspot.com

noreply@blogger.com (Digital Camera Repair) — Fri, 21 Dec 2007 18:27:00 +0000

Well this will be the last blog post from MyDigiHelp until sometime next week. That being said, enjoy the holiday seasons, drive safely if you need to commute, and enjoy the time spent with your families and loved ones!
If, over the holidays, you find yourself with a broken LCD, or a broken battery door, and need parts, we will have many in stock to suit your needs!

A couple tips to help get you through the season, mostly common sense, but valid nonetheless, keep your cameras, laptops and other devices towards the center of the table, away from the edge where they can be dropped and broken.
Small pets can wreak havoc on your devices, they love to chew cables, which is always bad.
Water/spill damage is very hard to fix, many times it will ruin electronics completely, so watch the spills!

Again, enjoy the holidays, and have a safe, and fun weekend!!! See you after the break!

-Eric @ MyDigiHelp.com and DarnToothySam.com

Happy Holidays!

noreply@blogger.com (Digital Camera Repair) — Thu, 20 Dec 2007 15:18:00 +0000

First off, happy holidays from all of us at Mydigihelp.com and Darntoothysam.com! Drive carefully, eat lots of good food and enjoy the time spend with your families.
That being said we at Mydigihelp.com know every year millions of digital cameras, laptops and other electronic devices are being bought, and probably a portion of them are being broken.
Things spill, in the hustle and bustle they get knocked off, or off a table, or just plain break. Fear not!! If the holiday shopping season has you tight on money, you just happen to love the camera you own, or are just not ready to get a new camera, and want to fix the camera that has been broken, we will give a one to 2 week series of posts about simple fixes, solutions and resources if there is no other recourse than to have the camera fixed.
So keep reading and hopefully learn something coming out of the Holiday season!

-Eric @ MyDigiHelp.com and DarnToothySam.com

New Beginnings for MyDigiHelp.com!

noreply@blogger.com (Digital Camera Repair) — Wed, 19 Dec 2007 17:26:00 +0000

Welcome friends to the MyDigiHelp.com blogs! We at MyDigiHelp are dedicated to providing the best experience possible for consumers to make informed decisions regarding digital cameras, laptop and desktop computers and consumer electronics.
We have been involved with digital cameras, laptops and more since 1999. Our parent site www.DarnToothySam.com has been involved with digital camera parts, digital camera repair as well as laptops and more!
We were started as ourselves and our customers realized there were not many centralized places on the internet that were easy to access and gave informative, mature responses to people with questions about consumer electronics, nor a good answer base for people to share their knowledge and experience with!
Visit our forums at forums.mydigihelp.com to post questions, find answers and build a community with!
Thank you from all of us from MyDigiHelp.com and DarnToothySam.com for your support, advice and help over the years! This site is as much as yours as it is ours!

Big-Box Retailers. Benefit or Detriment to small businesses?

noreply@blogger.com (Digital Camera Repair) — Mon, 08 Oct 2007 16:05:00 +0000

We’ve all said this at one time or another - “Aww crap, I need xxxxx, lets go down to the Wal-Mart and get it.” And we do, we get in the car, travel to the local 24 hour Wal-Mart and buy what we need, and while we are there, perhaps we get something extra.

This type of convenience has become more and more popular as big-box retailers (Wal-Mart, Target, and others like it) have become more and more influencial. In the documentary “Wal-Mart: The High Cost of Low Prices”, they mentioned that Wal-Mart contributes more than 2% to the Gross National Product (GDP) of the US alone! Obviously they are here to stay, and for good reason. When Wal-Mart alone services over 100 million customers (1/3 the population of the US!), there is a deeply ingrained ethos to shop and continue to shop at big-box retailers.

When it comes to the ever changing and liquid market of electronics, where there are usually two huge product line releases each year, there is a vast trend towards more powerful and cheaper electronic devices. Two years ago a 4 megapixel camera cost around $200, and that was with a 3x optical zoom. Now, Kodak has an 8 MP camera with a 5x digital camera for under $250 and the market continues to advance in such directions.

The problem comes when small businesses start to sell either digital cameras or digital camera parts. Many consumers have the mentality of why buy a 40 dollar part for a 3 year old digital camera when one can buy a brand new camera for around $200 or so. More and more electronics are becoming throw away disposable devices. Whatever happened to quality?

I knew someone with a VCR they bought in 1986. They finally replaced it in 1998. 12 years! Try to get that out of a $30 DVD player from Wal-Mart now adays. The trend has become one of a throw away market, and that is concerning that consumers allow retailers to get away with this.

The good news is with so many devices flooding and penetrating the market, in the end there will be an influx of parts for the consumers who would prefer to repair their devices. Plus there is a lot of knowledge to be learned from fixing your own device, and a sense of satisfaction as well!

-Eric @ http://www.darntoothysam.com

Digital Cameras and You

noreply@blogger.com (Digital Camera Repair) — Mon, 08 Oct 2007 16:04:00 +0000

I’ve used various models of digital cameras, from point and shoot series, to the SLR type body series. My personal preference for cameras are the SLR/SLR-Type cameras. They have a wider range of features, and uses, are far more versatile and offer more flexibility than their point and shoot cousins. The downside of this category of cameras is they are slightly harder to use, more expensive and have more potential for failure. One thing I’ve noticed is that people are sometimes very afraid to try new things, especially in the electronics market. I’ve seen people look at digital cameras and say, “No way, too complicated for me!” This is understandable, but when it comes to digital cameras, they are just that! Digital! There is no film, and with that great advantage, means that the user can snap photos all day long, and delete the ones they do not like. This in turn leads to a savings of many hundreds of dollars over the camera’s lifetime (One-time use film vs. reusable media card!) and the potential for great creativity! In situations where the user might not want to snap a photo on a film camera, one can take photos on a digital camera, and might discover some detail, or new perspective on photography he or she would have otherwise missed!

The birth of the digital camera age has come and gone. The age of the film camera is in its elderly days. There is still much use for film cameras in the professional field, and as of right now, digital cameras are still a couple of years away from achieving the quality of professional grade 35mm film. However, it is quite hard to tell the difference as of right now, and for the average consumer, there is no reason to wait if you have not bought a digital camera, or to not upgrade of your digital camera is becomming well aged.

There is still a market for digital camera parts however, and if you have a digital camera you just do not want to get rid of, or really like the interface or functionality of, there are several stores online that are available to you! eBay is a wonderful tool in finding parts for some of the older cameras.

Till next time, keep on snapping those photos and enjoying the wonders of digital technology!

-Eric @ http://www.darntoothysam.com

Welcome

noreply@blogger.com (Digital Camera Repair) — Sat, 22 Sep 2007 22:47:00 +0000

Well... soon as we get this figured out, we will post camera reviews and recommendations as well as repair tips and tricks! We repair digital cameras for a living, let us know if there is anything we can help you with!