posted
I've noticed at meets that there's alot of these Mavica floppy disc cameras floating around in our crowd, so fishing for a little luck on a problem.
Cher and I went on a 22 mile sailing race this weekend, and in the process sailed directly into a huge lightning storm in the gulf. Sounds scary, was scary...but I had a grin on my face ear to ear as we were taking down sails with the boat healing almost sideways, rain hitting us so hard it felt like somebody was shooting BBs at us, and barely keeping our footing onboard! Most fun of the weekend! haha
Anyway, I had my Mavica 73 stowed away in one of the sail storage boxes on deck, and the bag got wet. The next morning, there was condensation on the lens and viewfinder, but other than that, all the electronics worked fine...and after an hour or so, took pics fine. I got off about 3 discs of shots before the problem occurred. Discs won't go all the way into the camera. It's like something is stuck inside the camera that's preventing accepting discs.
I know it's a longshot, but do any of you Mavica owners have any advice short of throwing the camera away? (The repair cost is a flat fee...about $50 shy of what it costs to replace with new.)
I really enjoy taking digital pics, and sending this thing in for repairs or buying a new one is out of the question right now.
The saddest part of this story is that we had races on Sunday afternoon and I missed some of the greatest sailing pic opportunities just as the camera quit working. If you've never seen two race boats with full spinnakers going head to head...well, sorry...you'll have to wait a little longer, cause I missed the pics. lol Suffice it to say, there were some breathtaking sites!
(And as far as pics of the storm, no...I wasn't stupid enough to grab my camera thru that! We were blown about 2 miles offcourse in the wrong direction in that storm, and it would have been pretty much the worse possible time to go overboard.)
Posts: 4084 | From: ... | Registered: Nov 1998
| IP: Logged |
posted
Just a longshot here, Don. I'm not real familiar with that model, but try replacing the batteries. I've had other cameras do strange things on low battery power.
posted
The good news is that if the water was condensation, not salt, then there is probably no harm done at all. What I would do is let the camera dry thoroughly...perhaps with a little encouragemrnt from a can of "dust-off" or "dry-air" "directed into the floppy slot. At least condensation is about the purest form of water you can get. hk
-------------------- Howard Keiper Independent Contractor Benicia, Ca. thekeip@comcast.net
it's hard to say about the salt. i'm fairly sure the water was from rain. most of the water from the gulf was coming over on the port side...and the camera was in a "waterproof" box on the starboard. what it appears to me is that some mechanism is not contacting correctly to release whatever it is that allows disks to be inserted.
as far as the race...we ran 3 races this weekend and started all three..
there were alot of dnf's this weekend. we never gave up and raced till the time limit has passed. i hope i can find the shot i took of our satellite navigator after the storm. you'd have to chuckle a bit at our path. straight on course, then outta nowhere a few spins and then off we went northbound on a southbound race. hahaha something about being out on big water like that and being in a violent storm that really makes ya feel alive...for the duration of the storm, there is no past, no future, only that moment. exhilarating feeling!
posted
Found the pic! That detour happened over about 20 to 30 minutes (seemed like 20 or 30 hours!) of some serious electrical storm action. Wish I could have taken pics of the waves, but didn't dare take my camera bag out in that mess. We hit 7.2 knots during the storm...as if anybody had time to check that. hahaha The best thing was that we were on a large steel hull schooner and the main thing we had to worry about were staying on the "on the boat" side of the railing and not gettin knocked silly by the booms while taking down 2 very stubborn large sails!
[ September 02, 2002, 12:45 PM: Message edited by: Don Coplen ]
posted
I had the same camera and the same problem... The protective cover on the floppy disk that moves back and forth came off inside the camera... For the life of me I could not figure it out... Just get some tweezers and pull it out...
-------------------- Chuck Coupland Coupland Signs 426 N. 11th Laporte, Tx. 77571 copesigns@aol.com Posts: 36 | From: LaPorte, Tx. USA | Registered: Feb 1999
| IP: Logged |
posted
I guarantee that part is still inside the camera.. You can't see it real good.. get a flashlight and open the floppy disc door. It almost looks like part of the camera. Look at a floppy disc. Look at the disc you had that day and I bet one will be missing that piece.
-------------------- Chuck Coupland Coupland Signs 426 N. 11th Laporte, Tx. 77571 copesigns@aol.com Posts: 36 | From: LaPorte, Tx. USA | Registered: Feb 1999
| IP: Logged |
I haven't looked inside the camera...but the second disc i looked at was missing that tab you were describing! Whether I get it or not, thanx for pinpointing the problem!!!!
Coplen comes from the French side of the family...makes me wonder a bit if yours could have been the original spelling????
posted
Don, was one of those pieces a little spring?
If the slide cover comes off a floppy disk, so does the spring that makes it slide back and forth.
I've had those things come apart in floppy drives before, the edge of the slide cover gets stuck on something in the drive and all hell breaks loose.
I can't wait til floppies have completely disappeared off the face of the earth. Solid state electronics (Compact Flash cards and MicroDrives) are the only way to go! I'm actually kinda surprised more devices dont use CF cards for file storage... to think a little 1" square can store 1,000 times the data that a much larger and fragile floppy disk can!
-------------------- "If I share all my wisdom I won't have any left for myself."
Mike Pipes stickerpimp.com Lake Havasu, AZ mike@stickerpimp.com Posts: 8746 | From: Lake Havasu, AZ USA | Registered: Jun 2000
| IP: Logged |
posted
Yes, Mike...one of those pieces was a little spring deal. i wasn't much concerned bout that. It was the small electronics lookin thing that fell out that sealed the deal. I tried taking the camera apart at that point, which was an exercise in futility. My hands are too large and my knowledge of electronics too small for that to have a chance. It's headed for the dump now.
[ September 02, 2002, 04:14 PM: Message edited by: Don Coplen ]
posted
I can't say much for the situation Don's camera is in, 'cept that our boat captain for the weekend, stopped by for a quick visit and retrieved it, to see what he could make of it.
As for the storm, well, no one in their right mind would have sailed directly into the ominous weather cell that crossed our rumb line! This race was the biggest one of the year, there were another 40 or so boats testing their skills during this act of nature. We were certainly in the thick of it, lightening crashing all around us. I only heard one report that someone's jib sail was ripped to shreds, and no injuries!
My summary of this storm experience is that 'it chewed us up and spit us out!' All within 15 or 20 minutes! Do you recall the scene in the movie Forest Gump, where the guy with no legs was riding out a storm on the shrimp boat? Haha, yep, that pretty much sums it up!
Sending positive vibes to heal Don's camera, Cher.
-------------------- Co-Host: SANDCASTLE Panel Jam 'a Dixie Letterhead Reunion' Fort Myers, Florida
Cheryl Lucas a/k/a "Shag" on mIRC Vital Signs & Graphics, Etc. Cape Coral, Florida 239-574-4713 VSignsNgraphics@aol.com Posts: 987 | From: Cape Coral, FL USA | Registered: Aug 2000
| IP: Logged |
posted
Thank you, Cheryl, for the vibes! I know I'm bein a bit too bummed out over a simple pile of screws and computer chips...I want to blame that on bein damn tired after the trip.
Anyway, Cheryl, I'd give you a big hug if you were closer...
hey, wait...she's in the other room...talk to you guys later!
Just heard from our infamous captain. He took your camera to a techie guy he works with; he found three additional floppy chips inside the camera! Also, the thingy you thought was a computer chip ended up being the magnet that reads the floppy disc. And yes, the spring was from the floppy also.
The tech re-attached the magnet and is waiting for it to dry, before he gives it the ultimate test...
He will let us know tomorrow if your camera is functioning properly, ultimately returning it to you, for the trip to Coupe du Main!
He also mentioned that inquiries for tech support and repairs should be directed to Sony and not the distributor. $$$.$$
Check your manual for feeding instructions, sounds like this camera has been mighty hungry.
Cheers, Cher.
-------------------- Co-Host: SANDCASTLE Panel Jam 'a Dixie Letterhead Reunion' Fort Myers, Florida
Cheryl Lucas a/k/a "Shag" on mIRC Vital Signs & Graphics, Etc. Cape Coral, Florida 239-574-4713 VSignsNgraphics@aol.com Posts: 987 | From: Cape Coral, FL USA | Registered: Aug 2000
| IP: Logged |
![[Eek!]](eek.gif)
![[Roll Eyes]](rolleyes.gif)
![[Wink]](wink.gif)
![[Smile]](smile.gif)
Printer-friendly view of this topic