Can broken digital cameras be fixed? Is it worth trying?

[mamiecarter]

My husbands Minolta is not showing a picture just an abstract pattern of light and Minolta no longer makes cameras. Only one repair shop in the US fixes Minolta's and they charge $180 to just take a look. I think it is not worth it. Anyone have any experience? Anyone want a free Minolta for parts or to try to repair?

I hate to spend $800 on a new camera but I am told a good quality digital costs about $800. Anyone have any recommendations about which one to buy?Do these gadgets tend to quit working a lot?

 

[Keitht]

In many cases the inspection cost is incorporated in the repair cost. That means that if you decide to go ahead after inspection it's possible there will be no more cost involved. Certainly worth checking the situation before making a final decision.
You don't mention the model, but if it's a compact I think it unlikely to be worth the cost of repair. Image quality etc has moved on so much in the past couple of years you'll be amazed at what you can get for your money now.
You can actually get an entry level DSLR for $800 so that would be top end. You can certainly get a top quality compact for half that price. My wife has the Canon PowerShot A720IS which cost about $300 equivalent in the UK. It has 6x zoom, image stabilisation etc, etc.

 

[Brett]

I hate to spend $800 on a new camera but I am told a good quality digital costs about $800. Anyone have any recommendations about which one to buy?Do these gadgets tend to quit working a lot?

My old HP digital still works fine but every year digital cameras get better, you may be surprised at the current models. You can get a nice "ultra-zoom" camera with all the bells and whistles at $300, the same price can buy you a smaller compact with a lot features Digital SLR's take the best pics but they are bigger and heavier and cost more. Check out a store like Circuit City or Best Buy to see all the makes and models and read reviews on www.dpreview.com then enjoy the latest in the digital camera world

 

[dougp26364]

My husbands Minolta is not showing a picture just an abstract pattern of light and Minolta no longer makes cameras. Only one repair shop in the US fixes Minolta's and they charge $180 to just take a look. I think it is not worth it. Anyone have any experience? Anyone want a free Minolta for parts or to try to repair?

I hate to spend $800 on a new camera but I am told a good quality digital costs about $800. Anyone have any recommendations about which one to buy?Do these gadgets tend to quit working a lot?

If you looking at just point and shoot camera's, then it's FAR below $800 for a good digital camera. Cannon has many fine camera's for less than $300. There is a new powershot with 10X optical zoom and image stablization that I've looked at for $249.

Even the Cannon Rebel can be found for less than $500 with a standard 50mm lens. Good digital SLR's can be found farely reasonable with a standard lens but, the extra's like high quality zoom lens's will cost you. Most of the price of an SLR seems to be the extra's rather than the camera body.

If it were me and I were to look for a good digital SLR, I'd stick with either Cannon or Nikon. They seem to be the big two and a person can find lenses for either of these camera's either to buy or rent without a lot of problems. If I were looking for point and shoot then I'd add Kodak and Olympus to the mix.

Even if the Minolta was an SLR, the fact that Minolta isn't making camera's anymore should tell you something. It's obviously difficult to get repair and finding good quality accessories for it will only become more difficult as time goes on. It sounds as if it's time to move on to one of the more stable and bigger brands.

 

[ctreelmom]

Put the broken camera on eBay, and list it as "for parts only." I did this with a broken digital camera that wouldn't even turn on, and at the same time, listed a perfectly operational iPod (dd had upgraded to an iPod video). Guess which item sold for the higher price?

 

[AwayWeGo]

Most Digital Cameras (Other Than Extreme High End) Are Throw-Aways.

They're throw-aways not in the sense that they are of low quality or that they are poorly made (although doubtless some are guilty on both counts). Rather, they are throw-aways because the cost of repairs exceeds the cost of replacement.

Not only that, as with most electronic devices these days, the trend is for each new generation of digital cameras to keep on getting better & better & cheaper & cheaper.

Send the old Minolta to Mt. Trashmore & spring for a new digital camera.

-- Alan Cole, McLean (Fairfax County), Virginia, USA.​