Odd Camera Question

Just suppose..... if I purchase a camera and leave it in the box untouched and with no battery inside nor memory card, will the camera still work 10 years from now? Or will the inners deteriorate thru time? j

After only 10 years I don’t see why the camera wouldn’t work (if storage conditions were ideal) but I suspect the battery would be unuseable.

There is only one way to find out

If you are in a hot and humid environment put in in a plastic zip bag with one of those moisture absorbing pouches.

Why would it not work? Just wondering....

My first Canon Digital SLR was bought in 2004 or 03. Its the original 1D. All 4.7 mpx of it. And it still works with its batteries. Not exactly sure why the other camera wouldn't work. Most electronics don't use batteries to keep their cmos alive anymore.... it is static memory. Don't know.

lmans wrote in post #18739898
Just suppose..... if I purchase a camera and leave it in the box untouched and with no battery inside nor memory card, will the camera still work 10 years from now? Or will the inners deteriorate thru time? j

Probably, maybe even most likely. Everything deteriorates but in it's untouched sealed condition, the odds of something failing is very low. As mentioned, the battery on the other hand will be gone. Li-ion batteries have a shelf life and will slowly drain until it becomes unusable. It's slow but not a decade slow.

There is a reasonable chance that you could have trouble with certain of the electronic components deteriorating. This especially applies to electrolytic capacitors that are found mainly in the PSU boards. There is also a good chance that the CMOS backup power system will have problems, as these days they tend to pull power from the main battery to keep it charged up. You will most often get the longest life out of electronics systems that are kept constantly powered up. It is often power cycles that will cause electronics to fail.

Remember that when it comes to this sort of device that the failure profile often has a bit of a spike for items that are either DoA or fail very soon after delivery. Then you get a normal distribution around some component's Mean Time Between Failure value. The MBTFs for the different electronic and mechanical parts will have differing methods of measuring them too. I would think that the best method of ensuring long term viability of an electromechanical device like a modern DSLR would be to power it up at regular intervals, say monthly, and fire off a few shots. This will mean that the electronics will see power, without too many power cycles, which will be good for the components that need to be powered. It also means that the mechanical components are operated allowing lubrication to be spread around where necessary, along with preventing things like springs from taking a "set".

Alan

Do cameras have tiny batteries embedded in the 'motherboard' (have no idea what you'd call it) to keep it ticking in times of battery changes or other?
Maybe they have another electronic way to keep a short static charge?

This makes sense.... so to extend life, operate it once in awhile.

Lubricants 'dry out' and get gummy ...unless (perhaps) synthetic oils
Rubber (natural based) oxidize and get brittle
Plastics lose their plasticizers and get brittle
Metal springs lose their resiliency particularly if left in a compress state.
Capacitors lose their ability to hold an electrical charge unless they are energized from time to time


...likely NOT within a 10 year period.

Wilt... a lot of what you say is right.... but also a lot of deterioration is caused by exposure to ultra-violet light.. ie plastics becoming dry and brittle. But it also largely depends on the plastic used. That said.... as I mentioned in another post, I still have most of my original gear, including my film cameras (never know when I might need to use it), and all of it is operational.... including my old SRT-101. The biggest thing there is pulling my batteries from the ones that aren't mechanical only.

I have just put a battery in my 30D and after 7 years non -use it still works but does it feel odd holding it again!!!

lmans wrote in post #18739898
Just suppose..... if I purchase a camera and leave it in the box untouched and with no battery inside nor memory card, will the camera still work 10 years from now? Or will the inners deteriorate thru time? j

Rubber will break down over time, many have seen that happen with their lenses. This is a low risk item, if the camera is sealed away from the elements, probably less likely to happen, but rubber does indeed deteriorate over time. Also, the battery needs charged from time to time, otherwise it will be "dead" and won't recharge due to protective circuits. There are ways to jump start those enough so they do start charging again, but you need to research that.

Other than that, I see no issues. People have had their cameras for over a decade at this point and are still using them. Even back to the D30 and D60 days before the 10D and Rebels. Back then though the batteries were "stupid" batteries (ie. non Li-ion), today the batteries have protective circuits under the covers that try to protect the cells from overcharging, but also then prevents them from charging at all once they drop below a certain level.

Croasdail wrote in post #18741364
Wilt... a lot of what you say is right.... but also a lot of deterioration is caused by exposure to ultra-violet light.. ie plastics becoming dry and brittle. But it also largely depends on the plastic used. That said.... as I mentioned in another post, I still have most of my original gear, including my film cameras (never know when I might need to use it), and all of it is operational.... including my old SRT-101. The biggest thing there is pulling my batteries from the ones that aren't mechanical only.

Tell that to the plastic parts under the hood of three of my cars, which broke on German cars with 10+ years single owner...no UV under the hood that I can identify! Nevertheless parts like coolant fluid tank blew its contents on the street after the tank failed. Plastic bags in the darkness of drawers, getting brittle enough to turn to a flakes.

Wilt wrote in post #18741772
Tell that to the plastic parts under the hood of three of my cars, which broke on German cars with 10+ years single owner...no UV under the hood that I can identify! Nevertheless parts like coolant fluid tank blew its contents on the street after the tank failed. Plastic bags in the darkness of drawers, getting brittle enough to turn to a flakes.

That deterioration is caused by chemicals, moisture, cycling between high/low temps, engine temps, IR temps, etc. This is why car collectors like Jay Leno have climate controlled storage garages. A camera stuck in a box sitting on a shelf in the house would last MUCH longer, a camera used outdoors often not so much.

Two cars over a course of 5 years, one stored in the garage between usages and one out on the street all the time, will age dramatically differently, even if driven at the same speeds for the same distances. This is why our Odyssey with 125K miles after 11 years still looked really great and sold quickly vs many others out on the market that were clearly outside for extended periods of time. Ditto with engine components, cold winter, hot summers take their toll as well. Also why my sports cars stay in the garage, and rarely see rain and never see snow.

My 3 year old SS with 22K miles looks brand new except for 2 stone chips. Dark blue, no swirl marks, nothing.... Just put tires on it though, and that was a huge hit to the wallet. Cars are expensive.