My least favorite part of the holidays was breaking my camera. The evil strap caught on the corner of a table and sent it crashing to the floor. It still took pictures, but couldn't zoom, making terrible, grinding noises when I tried.
Manly man that I am, I decided I'd take it apart. You know, maybe something was jammed or a piece fell off inside and got in the way of... something. I certainly felt confident have successfully taken apart and reassembled Lis's iBook four times. Taking stuff apart (and being able to put said stuff back together) is part of what being an adult is all about. Right?!
It didn't work out. In fact, it got worse. The lens would not only not zoom, it wouldn't telescope out when the camera turned on. I couldn't tell why (all I did was take it apart, look, twiddle a few parts, put it back together) but it didn't work at all. Just in time for everyone to show up for Party2K2. I have no party pictures as a result (although I'm pestering Daisy for the sledding footage).
This happened, of course, one and a half months after my extended warranty expired. I'm sure you've heard this before, but for crying out loud don't get an extended warranty unless you're buying something very expensive.
Thinking about the fast-moving nature of technology, I figured I might as well buy a new camera. I did some research, and decided against it. The C-2040Z is still the best camera at its price if you want manual control of everything, a good lens, and everything else. I sent the camera back to Olympus once I found out their prices for repair, which are considerably less than buying a comparable new camera (and only a few dollars more than the scam warranty). In the future, I'll always research the price for repair before buying something like this—it's valuable information.
I shipped it back last week, and it's there now, being repaired, and I can't wait to get it back. There are all these things I want to shoot (wedding bands, our amaryllis, Irish sessions), but I have to be patient. Where's the fun in that?