Is my Camera worth fixing?

Question

I have an Olympus is3000 slr, cost about £1000 8 years ago. Is it worth fixing at an additional cost of £100-£200, or should I forget it and buy a new camera?

Answer 1

Hey - I had one of those!

Great lens, and great zoom for the time, but you can get a lot better than that now. You will probably need to go for a full new outfit. That was one hell of a camera, Olympus haven't come close since. If you are looking for the same performace and control from a digital camera you will need a quality outfit, something like the Canon Eos30D (new one!) if you can afford. If not, the 350D (which I use now) is a good compromise. Both are WELL better than the is3000 ever was. Whatever you do, good luck!

Answer 2

Ask yourself a simple question. Are you happy with the quality of pictures it produces? If so, then £100-£200 will be better spent on keeping it going than on a newer camera. If not, then now is the time to upgrade - you should still get something for your camera on eBay.

Your £1000 camera should have been designed well - don't waste a similar investment on something that will last no longer.
New cameras have far more things that can go wrong, and are not designed to be readily fixable - their design lifetime is probably how long your repaired camera would last, so such a comparison is valid. Digital technology is also not yet mature - all these megapixel ratings are actually interpolated from single colour sensors, so a 6MP camera will only have 2 million red sensors and so on. 35mm film resolution is comparible with the best consumer digital SLRs, but film is a more forgiving medium and not prone to, for example, blue banding against high-contrast edges. Plus you have the negatives as a permanent record - computers crash, CD-ROMs decay over time, but negatives last many decades.

If you're tempted by the options digital gives you, I recommend sticking with film for its superior quality and longevity, but investing in a good film scanner. Maybe by the next time your camera needs repair, digital will have caught up. Personally I'm considering upgrading to medium format film - 60+ real uncompressed megapixels per shot (that's over 180 "equivalent megapixels" the way they currently count them). Digital is fine for snaps and reportage, but for serious use you still need film unless you have £5,000 or more! Having made the investment 8 years ago, continue to reap the benefits now.

Answer 3

Nightrider and Chris M have said it all for me. Only addition would be to suggest claiming on insurance. My wife has a bad track record with cameras, having lost or written off three in fifteen years. Insurance paid pretty much full original value for them, although they did look at what replacement in present market would cost.

There is one for sale on EBay -got 8 days to go and no bids yet (see link) so worth watching to see what the second hand value is -might be cheaper than repairing yours! You could ask Jessops what they would give you for it in p/x for a new camera and get some idea what the market value is.

The first camera my wife broke she dropped when the rubbishy shoulder strap came loose. We still have this broken Ricoh SLR body, but replaced it with a more modern Ricoh SLR so we could re-use the lenses. Ironically, we never felt that the new one gave such good pictures.

She lost an old Minolta compact which I loved and it's replacement (Olympus mju zoom) also wasn't as good. I lost it years later and our new digital camera (Ricoh Caplio) just ain't giving us the exposures we want -very inconsistent indoors.

So you might find that you are happier with your old camera than a new one. Read the reviews at Ciao.

Good Luck!

Answer 4

Foggataboutit. I was in a similar situation with my Minolta. Excellent camera. I had so many accessories and I spent close $2000 all told.

What did I do recently. Chucked it for $150 at a camera retailer and bought a digital SLR, Nikon D70s.

I will never look back to regular SLRs. They are such pain.

So, take it from my experience. Just swallow the pride, get rid of it and buy a d-SLR. You will be happy you did.

Answer 5

The comments about a camera being out of date because it is 8 years old are nonsense. I regularly use a 45 year old Nikon F which takes outstanding pictures, does not depreciate and does not even need batteries.

However, in your case, I think that if it is going to cost that much to repair it is not worth it. It has a lot of complex electronics which can get troublesome, especially if it gets wet. If you can get it repaired cheaply then do, otherwise consider getting a good SLR

Answer 6

Thats one of the best SLRs that got out in the market and people treasure it for best balance and overall design. I would suggest to get it fixed, if you are happy with its capabilities but if you seriously want some additional features then you can buy a new one. A new more capable SLR would cost around 400 pounds.

Answer 7

Sell The Olympus is3000 on ebay. Get a new digital camera that will fit in your pocket. The Olympus is3000 is too big and it leave an impression in your pocket look like a semiauto.

Answer 8

There are a lot of benefits to having a film SLR there is a lot more you can do and the quality is so much better than digital. I have a 12.6 mega pixel and film is still so much better. SLR's Film Cameras are not out dated unlike someone Else's opinion

Answer 9

There are so many new ones out there, it will depend on how good it is, is it digital....?

Some people like to keep things for a long time, not because of how much it cost them, but just the value of it to one....If it has done you good, and you know that you can really make use of it after you spend money on it to fix, then why not!

Answer 10

I think it's a priceless collectible. Get it fixed. I could sell that for about 400 euro, in Germany. So you'll get a pretty big slice of cash back. And if you consider the 8 years period that you have used it, the camera payed fir itself by now.