Can it be fixed?

Question

I took my digital camera to the beach and it accidently got covered in sand..there is now sand in the lens, and the shutter won't close! the battery still works but I want to know if there is any point in taking this to a camera repair, or will that cost more than buying a new one?

Answer 1

most good photo shops would be able to help you with where to take it for repair....although, if its a cheap camera, like 150-200$ camera, ii would just replace it.
you could also try useing canned air. you know, the stuff you get at an office supply store to clean of the keyboard....no matter what, dont wipe the lense....they scatch very easily. good luck

Answer 2

There aren't any happy options I think.

Yes you can take the camera into a repair place to have it cleaned and once that's done there's a reasonable chance that it will work fine again. But ... there's no guarantee that it will keep working fine. If they miss a few specs of sand in the cleaning process the lens may easily jam again.

The cost can be minimal, perhaps a hundred dollars if it's a model that is easy to take apart and reassemble to perhaps about two hundred dollars if it's a more complicated repair job.

I'd start with going to a camera store or a repair depot and getting an estimate. They may tell you that it's not worth fixing in which case the matter is settled or they may give you an estimate that's not too bad.

You can try to clear the sand yourself too with some canned air but that's not going to get rid of any that ended up inside the camera. For that you have to take the camera apart and that can be very risky if you don't know what you're doing or you haven't the tools needed.

If you do try to clean it yourself with canned air, do not clean the lens until you've completely blown away all particles. Sand is extremely abrasive and the coatings that are put on lenses are very delicate and easily scratched. Worse still, some camera manufacturers use plastic lenses instead of glass ones to cut costs. The plastic lenses are even more sensitive to scratches than the glass ones.

Whether it's worth fixing is a tough question. A rule of thumb is that if it costs more than half the value of the camera it's not worth fixing. What's the value of the camera? Go to e-bay and see what your camera model is selling for on the used market. That will give you an idea.

Additionally it depends also on how old the camera is and how many pictures you've done. If it's more than a couple of years old and/or you've done a few thousand pictures, it also may not be worth fixing. At this stage it's moving towards the end of its life so even if you fix it now, a year from now you may have to fix it again.

Have a look at the new camera market too to see what it would cost to replace the camera with another one of comparable quality and freatures. Sometimes if you replace the camera you have you'll find it costs about as much to fix it as it does to buy it. On the other hand if you look at what you initially paid for the camera and look at the market in that price range, you'll most likely find a lot of cameras that are a lot more functional than the one you presently have. This might also help you decide whether to replace it or have it fixed.

Finally, there is the question of overall quality. If that model has a history of being highly reliable it might be desirable to have it repaired. But if it's only average in terms of overall reliability, odds are that you're definitely better off replacing it.

I'm sorry to not have anything definitive to tell you, but I'm sure that you can appreciate that the fix versus replace equation is quite complex and often includes emotional attachment to the camera too. At least now you have a few things to think about now that may help you decide.

I hope that helps a little.

Answer 3

Unfortunately your camera has probably become a paperweight.

Blowing compressed air inside a camera is not something I'd do. It would probably do more harm than good.

As others have suggested you can take it in for an estimate but its likely to cost more to repair than its worth.

After you buy your new camera, visit these sites:

cameraarmor.com
bonicadive.com

Decide which company offers the most protection at the best price and then buy the cover and keep your camera safe.

If your new camera accepts filters, invest in a Skylight 1A (uncoated) or 1B (coated) or a HAZE/UV filter. Either of these filters will protect the front element of your lens. If it doesn't accept filters there is probably an adapter offered that will let you use filters.