dropped my s400!

[sunshn]

My S400 fell out of my hands, banged against a hard surface, and now the outer lens is slightly bent, won't retract and shows that dreaded 'e18' message!

It wasn't that hard of a hit, so I was surprised that the lens bent like that.

I called Canon and they gave me the name of the dealer to take it to, which I will, but I thought I'd try to find out what the chances are of this camera being repaired.

Is there any hope or will I have to buy a new camera?

thanks in advance...

[Voyager13b]

My S400 fell out of my hands, banged against a hard surface, and now the outer lens is slightly bent, won't retract and shows that dreaded 'e18' message!

It wasn't that hard of a hit, so I was surprised that the lens bent like that.

I called Canon and they gave me the name of the dealer to take it to, which I will, but I thought I'd try to find out what the chances are of this camera being repaired.

Is there any hope or will I have to buy a new camera?

thanks in advance...

The S-400 is an awesome pocket cam, and I bought mine when they first hit the market. I wouldn't leave home without it, no matter what other cameras I was carrying at the time.

Then again, it is getting old as pocket digicams go, and Canon offers updated models that perform better for less cash than I paid for the S-400. I think I would draw the line at a $100 repair estimate. That would be enough to let me justify buying a newer pocket cam with the DIGIC II chip at it's heart.

The S-400 is a pretty rugged camera, but it is still just a camera, and was not meant to take a pavement dive and live. If you need a little prodding to update your S-400, this might be the event you were waiting for.

Voyager

[PHOTOGODDESS74]

oh my..i would die if mine fell...

[Voyager13b]

oh my..i would die if mine fell...

I hear you. I bought mine from Amazon when it first came out. That seems to have been a couple of years now. Despite sharing a pocket with keys and other metallic stuff almost daily since it arrived, only the body shows signs of wear. The camera works as good as new, and the lens surface is pristine.

Even then, the body looks pretty darn good, and the pictures it takes are remarkable. I have many gigabytes of pictures taken with it, and wouldn't give it up without a very good reason.

Voyager

[sunshn]

Just to clarify, I didn't actually drop my camera on the ground, it just banged against the side of my dresser, and it's all due to that wrist strap...

Regardless, the repair shop has estimated a worst-case scenario of $210 (CDN) to repair. I'll know more next week after they've taken a better look inside.

So is $210 worth the money to fix my S400 (bought 1.5 yrs ago), or should I look at a new camera? I've been really happy with it so I'd want something comparable.

If I go 'new', can I take out the old upgraded memory and install it in something new? I also have the leather carrying case, so are there any current models that will fit that S400 case?

thanks again....

[Voyager13b]

Just to clarify, I didn't actually drop my camera on the ground, it just banged against the side of my dresser, and it's all due to that wrist strap...

Regardless, the repair shop has estimated a worst-case scenario of $210 (CDN) to repair. I'll know more next week after they've taken a better look inside.

So is $210 worth the money to fix my S400 (bought 1.5 yrs ago), or should I look at a new camera? I've been really happy with it so I'd want something comparable.

If I go 'new', can I take out the old upgraded memory and install it in something new? I also have the leather carrying case, so are there any current models that will fit that S400 case?

thanks again....

I'm not up on the current exchange rate between US and Canadian Dollars, but I suspect it's close enough that I would seriously consider retiring the S-400 before spending $210 on it at a repair depot. The current line of Canon pocket cams offer equal or better CCD size, improved focusing and all around speed improvement for lots less than the S-400 cost when we bought our cameras.

Take a look at the current lineup at the Canon site. The SD-400 has a 5 mp sensor, the DIGIC II chip, and generally beats the S-400 in every way, yet sells new for $344 at Amazon. There are cheaper models that are still improved over the S-400 that sell for about $250 US that are worth a look as well. Your case should be fine with any of them.

One problem with the newer series is the SD memory card. Your CF cards will not work in them, and you would have to buy new cards all over again. That is a pain, and I had to do it when I recently bought an S2, but if the tradeoff includes the DIGIC II chip, it is worth it in the end. Almost every camera function works better and faster with the DIGIC II compared to the old chip. A new 1 gig SD memory card costs about $90 US for a fast write model. You can get a 512 meg card for less than half that price.

The bottom line is that I love my S-400, but it is getting old as Canon digicams go, and if it broke, I would much rather spend a little more for the next generation Elph than spend over $200 to keep the S-400 snapping pictures. The performance difference is well worth the cost.

Voyager

[sunshn]

Sorry to bump this up, but I thought I'd follow up. Beware, this isn't for the faint of heart..... ;)

After hearing from the repair shop that it would cost $210 to repair my S400, we decided it wasn't worth it and would start shopping for a new camera. DH picked up the 'deceased' s400 and figured that since we had written it off, why not give the lens a good hard knock and see what happened. Amazingly, he wrenched the lens back into place and even more amazingly, it still works!! It does make a slight grinding noise when the lens opens and retracts (*I cringe every time though*) but image quality and camera performance are the same.

I figured the camera wouldn't last more than a few days, but we're going on week # 2 and a couple of hundred photos later. I'm curious to see how long this thing lasts, but don't be suprised to see me asking for new camera advice in the weeks or months to come...

thanks again.

[hmongstang]

I dropped my 20d the other day and my heart skipped a few beats. After a few prayers i turned it on and works fine.

I say buy a newer model if the repair cost more than $100.00