08-03-2017, 04:39 PM
Are the digital cameras really prone to digital-specific failures, or are they just getting outdated? Or are the failures mechanical?
The three oldest DSLRs I've ever used - Nikon D70, KonicaMinolta 7D, and Canon 30D - have all failed, but all these failures have been mechanical in nature so they could've happened to a film camera. In the first case there was something wrong with the aperture lever (so the lenses I mounted were all stuck at f/22... not exactly conducive to photographing anything), in the second case the exposure compensation dial fell to pieces and had the camera permanently jammed at +2 EC or something. The 30D suffered a non-critical failure of the built-in flash ceasing to open.
The only imminent digital-specific issue that comes to mind is the batteries getting worn out. That killed (in a metaphorical sense) my first P&S camera, the Panasonic FZ1 - the batteries have all gone dead from disuse, but I think I could have replaced the cells in the battery bodies to give the camera (which is mostly operational otherwise, if "a little" dated) a new lease on life. It does have the jamming shutter button - a result of unintended exposure to tea. (I always knew that eating/drinking around the equipment is going to do me bad sometime
).
The three oldest DSLRs I've ever used - Nikon D70, KonicaMinolta 7D, and Canon 30D - have all failed, but all these failures have been mechanical in nature so they could've happened to a film camera. In the first case there was something wrong with the aperture lever (so the lenses I mounted were all stuck at f/22... not exactly conducive to photographing anything), in the second case the exposure compensation dial fell to pieces and had the camera permanently jammed at +2 EC or something. The 30D suffered a non-critical failure of the built-in flash ceasing to open.
The only imminent digital-specific issue that comes to mind is the batteries getting worn out. That killed (in a metaphorical sense) my first P&S camera, the Panasonic FZ1 - the batteries have all gone dead from disuse, but I think I could have replaced the cells in the battery bodies to give the camera (which is mostly operational otherwise, if "a little" dated) a new lease on life. It does have the jamming shutter button - a result of unintended exposure to tea. (I always knew that eating/drinking around the equipment is going to do me bad sometime
).