I've dropped it and banged it plenty before, but today, I finally did it. I had replaced the full shoulder strap with a hand strap from Ritz. Somehow, as I picked it up off the edge of the road where I left it (for a formation at my school) the strap came undone and it fell four feet onto the edge of the curb striking it with the back left corner bottom of the chassis. It then bounced twice more. The metal was gouged slightly, and as I stared forlorn, I turned it on, took a shot, and with satisfaction in it's operation headed to photo class.
Here, I turn it on, took another test shot, and turn on the screen. The screen did not turn on. All of the inactive controls, I discovered(the yellow buttons), were dead. The depth-of-field preview button was also inoperable. Now I was relegated to a film-camera type experience. Even more depressed, I took a few more shots and checked the memory card- the pictures were there, and that worked.
After five test shots it locked up however. Now after every shot it locks until I restart it. I called Penn Camera (a shop near me) and described the damage, and was told I had likely destroyed a circuit board. The cost of repair would likely be around $300-400. No biggie, I was about to sell my S80 for that much. The worst cost however: 4-6 weeks. I have a lot in 4-6 weeks.
Oh well. I am likely going to borrow my dad's D70s for the time being, but it's still a big bummer. |
