Lost without my broken camera and how to fix them

Over the past few months I realised that my lovely mirrorless camera (*affiliate) had broken.  I’ve just got it back from being repaired, and realised how much I really loved that camera, and how much I feel like I’d lost a limb when I was without it.

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I realised my camera had broken and was gutted.  It’s not that old – well, 2.5ish years old.  It still worked, but the shutter dial would only work one way.  It would turn both ways, but wasn’t connecting with the actual shutter speeds on the screen.  I was limited to using aperture priority only, or doing manual via the touch screen.  I’m not experienced enough to know exactly what shutter speed I want without seeing the numbers on the screen move.  So I was going to have to get my broken camera fixed at some point.

Typically as with lots of electronics that go wrong, my camera was out of warranty.  But I contacted Panasonic who told me I could send it to a repair centre and pay to have a quote for the work before deciding to go ahead.  I worked out it was going to cost a fair amount to find a courier who would deliver a camera all insured, and then adding the quote cost on top.  I held off for a bit debating what to do.

Then one day in Oxford I thought I’d pop into Jessops to see if they did repairs.  Result, they can send off cameras to manufacturers.  I paid £25 deposit, the camera was duly sent off and I waited to get my cost quote.

I was impressed because the shop guy had said it could take up to 3 weeks if it’s a simply job, and that’s not far off what it took to get back.  The quote for the work came through relatively quickly.  I’d said that if it was up to £150 I’d get it fixed, any more and it was probably better to live with it, and then upgrade the camera in due course.  But the quote came in under my level, plus they take off the deposit cost, which worked out much better than doing it directly to Panasonic.

Of course, it then took a while for me to get back into Oxford to pick it up.  I was so antsy to get there, thankfully N went on the farm with his dad one Sunday morning and I was rushing into Oxford to get it.

It seems ridiculous that I’ve got so attached to a camera.  It’s just a gadget, a tool.  But cameras are more than that.  In the meantime I did have my phone which has a great camera most of my Instagram photos are taken with it), and my old Panasonic compact zoom camera (*affiliate) that can do a bit of manual.  Actually going on holiday and just having a small camera is quite liberating not having to change lenses, but I couldn’t wait to have my proper camera back again.

Since having it back I’ve not been anywhere apart from the garden to take photos.  But it’s been wonderful to get out again and practise using it manually again.  I’ve got a bit lazy so I want to get back to that, and was using manual focus for some macros too.

People say you shouldn’t spend your life with family behind a camera. That you’ll miss the memories.  But I’m quite happy to sit and watch N playing for a while before I get the camera out.  I’ll watch the animals enjoying the field before I snap away.  I think since being interested in photography and wanting to learn and improve, I notice a lot more around me than I would previously have done.

For me, it’s a way to appreciate – landscapes, nature, pretty urban scenes.

A way to document life and interests.

And a way to increase my skills as well as portray images in the best way on my blog.

Hopefully that’s it and I’ve had my time without my camera. Now all I’ve got to do is keep N’s grubby hands away from it.

Where else to get cameras fixed?

You can obviously have a go yourself but if you don’t know what you’re doing, try asking around locally.

1. Ask for advice from local camera club members
2. London Camera Exchange do repairs and have centres across the UK as well as online
3. Check in independent camera shops

How do you feel about your camera?

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