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Is My Camera Dying?


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Clue #1: Lately, my camera will sometimes fail to transfer all of my photos onto my computer and I will have to restart the process. (It's not the battery! That's fully charged.)

 

Clue #2: Today almost all the buttons stopped functioning. Conveniently the power and shutter buttons still work. But the button that toggles between viewing and picture taking does nothing. The scroll knob that changes settings does nothing. The menu button does nothing. The arrow button does nothing. The delete button does nothing. I thought maybe a setting got changed but I can't access anything!

 

When I discovered this I was sure I'd find an empty memory stick when I checked when I got home, but it actually is still taking photos. However, as I said, the setting wheel does nothing so it will not take videos anymore.

 

It's a 3 year old Sony Cybershot DSC-W70.

 

Last year I used to think I'd be happy if something happened to this camera (usually thought that when I let my daughters use it!) because I was about ready to want a new one. But financially right now is a bad time to want a camera. The EHD I got for my birthday in November was also supposed to be my Xmas present and Valentines present. Maybe it's already time for an early Mother's Day gift.

 

Sigh :(

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That stinks, Michelle. I would definitely call Sony, maybe they can help you troubleshoot some issues. My camera did recently, too. Luckily dh has one from work that I am borrowing until I can replace mine.

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Thinking I would take it to a camera repair shop too - and also call Sony and see what they say - I have had to mail mine to them on two different occasions and they fixed the problems and sent it right back to me - only took about ten days - OR maybe it IS time for an early Mother's Day present? Hmmmmmmmmmm

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Hi Michele!

 

One thing you could try is to reload the firmware for the camera. It could have gotten corrupted in some way.

 

You will need to locate the firmware update from the Sony website and download it. (you may need to unzip it).

 

Then, copy the firmware to a smartcard. If you cant copy it directly to a card, plug the camera into the computer and copy it to the card that way. Its much like copying to another disc drive.

 

Once copied, put the card with the firmware into the camera and restart the camera. See if that has any effect. Its a long shot, but at least its worth a try. If all else fails, then contact Sony, or better still, drop lots of hints about Mothers Day!

 

HTH

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Thanks everyone, and extra thanks Dave. I contacted Sony via email and got a message referring me to a help article at their website that said something about checking that the battery is charged (of course it is!) and that I might be able to "reset" the camera. I had already found something in their help section about resetting, but I don't see any such buttons on my camera.

 

I had a very good day anyway with friends and fun, without taking pictures. I may take it to a camera shop.

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It sounds like maybe your battery is no longer holding as much of a charge as it used to, even though it is "full". My camera did that once and after replacing the battery everything was just fine. A search on Amazon shows a replacement battery for your camera is about $10.

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So, even if the battery graphic on the LCD shows full, it might not be? We are considering buying, and if the problem isn't just the battery I would be bummed to have spent $15 (I checked the price) on top of the price of the camera.

 

I remembered a gift certificate to amazon that might help. Thinking about it...

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Michele, I had problems with my camera last year - and was really worried it was the end of things. Everyone on here was immensely helpful (as always) and then someone mentioned Precision Camera to me. I contacted them and sent my camera away and they fixed it TO PERFECTION!! It came back better than it had been for a little while. It wasn't expensive compared to the cost of replacing my camera - I would recommend these guys to everyone as their customer service is amazing and their work is spot on.

They are online.

Good luck.

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