tara_d

July 19, 2011

Well, thanks for your input. I posted this on a Flickr group as well one person suggested it was indentations from the pressure plate behind the film. So. Who knows.

July 18, 2011

I don't see anything on the negatives, but I'm only looking with my naked eye. And yes, I know these dots have nothing to do with noise or underexposure. That was a separate question.

Here's another photo from the same Walgreens about a month ago, but a different photographer, different camera, etc. Still think this is dust on the scanner sensor?

I just think it's weird that it's just showing up on these darker images. Don't get it.

July 17, 2011

So, I just got back a roll of Fuji Superia Reala 100 from Walgreens (where I always process and print my photos) and found these odd... spots on a couple of my photos. I've already been unhappy with Walgreens, but this is making me... very not happy. You can only see them in photos areas of dark tones. But not all of them. They look like water droplets, but not like the usual water spots issue with film processing. (I don't think. I've just been researching a little, and really have no idea what I'm talking about.) They also seem to be in similar places... is it a scanner problem? While I'm at it, is all that noise underexposure or a processing issue?

Any idea what they are? I'm not ready to develop color film on my own yet (scares me a bit) but this is not giving me a lot of faith in my one-hour-photo place. Especially since I payed $20 for these prints and a CD.

Anyway, here are some examples:

And another annoyance: very visible residue line on this one: <a title="Into the sun by טרה, on Flickr" href=" src="http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6146/5948017810_ef46192281_m.jpg" alt="Into the sun" width="240" height="162" /></a>

Thanks for your help, Tara

June 30, 2011

Okay, nevermind :) It's working. I cleaned the contacts with vinegar, put TWO LR44s in (I would like to know if this is right), positive side up into the battery carrier, and it's working. I've been test metering with my DSLR and it meters a little overexposed (nothing too bad).

June 30, 2011

OKAY! KX is in hand. It's in great condition, even though it was said to be in bargain condition. There's just a little part on the bottom where someone had engraved their name :)

Next question... how the heck do I put these batteries in here? I've tried every which way, and still no response from the battery check button. :( I might should start a new thread from this. I found a thread from PentaxForums.com but even reading on there I didn't know if I needed one or two A76/LR44 batteries (I've tried both). I feel dumb. I realize this also could be NOT working, in which case I'll see if I can return it for the other model they have left on KEH and pray that one has a working light meter. Or I guess I could just send it in for repair... I don't know. I'm really in love with all the info being in the viewfinder, though. That's magnificent.

If people have lost interest in this thread, I'll paste this into another.

June 29, 2011

Thank you guys so much! I ended up biting the bullet and ordering one from KEH. It should be here tomorrow and I'll let you know if its working and all that. I hope it does!

June 27, 2011

Wow, thanks so much for the help! I went to take the roll of film out and my camera became unjammed once I hit the film rewind button - or something, at some point after that. I don't know exactly what the problem was in that case. Unfortunately, I am seriously taken by the KX, even though my K1000 is unjammed - that twin needle metering looks so nice, almost like having shutter speed or aperture priority but still all manual. I'm hoooooked. :) Haha. There are two currently for sale on KEH in bargain condition for $79 and $94. So, @<a href="../photodb/user?user_id=332004">Erik Magnuson</a> thanks for the offer but I think I'm going to pursue the KX until I find one.

Does anyone know if KEH checks the light meters in their cameras? I mean, would it say that it doesn't work if it didn't? They have a good return policy, so I could get it and test it I guess. I feel like the condition rating system they have is more cosmetic than anything. Are the meters better in the KX?

Am I silly for wanting to stay in the Pentax K family? Would a Nikon manual system be cheaper to maintain/find lenses for?

I've emailed Eric Hendrickson about my camera a few times actually :) That's who I got the $75 quote for repair from. He was really nice, though.

Sorry I'm still asking questions. Thank you so much for being so helpful.

June 25, 2011

@<a href="../photodb/user?user_id=3667779">Subbarayan Prasanna</a> - The mirror came down when I pushed that lever but will not stay down. Is this still the same problem you're talking about?

Thanks for all the good info about the KM and KX! I'm thinking of getting one of those. If I got another K1000 from eBay, I really couldn't be sure of the construction and with that info about the KM or KX - that they're very good quality and made of all metal, that's great! There's a KM on eBay that I'm looking at right now for buy it now, $58. Is that a bad price or should I keep looking?

The KX sounds great! But I haven't found one yet that would be cheaper than repairing my current K1000. But I'll keep looking. Right now I'm leaning towards purchasing a KM or KX.

One more question - I'm sure I can find something online about this - but can I just push the film rewind button and rewind the film that's in my camera right now? I know I'll be loosing the unexposed pictures, but I don't want to loose the exposed one. I just don't want to do something stupid. :)

Thanks for all your help!

June 24, 2011

I bought a Pentax K1000 off eBay in January of this year. It turned out that the lightmeter didn't actually work - I'm pretty sure its just old with age - so that's one thing that is wrong with it. It's still a little grungy and dirty. Today I went to take a photo and found the shutter button wouldn't depress. It seems to be jammed, and I can't move the lever very much at all. I took the lens off and the mirror is locked up. I think I've read that this is a pretty typical issue. I've been dealing with the shot lightmeter (I usually just meter with a digital point and shoot) but I can't even take pictures now.

The estimate I got to repair the light meter was $75... I know I can get a body on eBay for $35 - I guess what I'm trying to decide is should I go ahead and get this one all nice and clean and like new for $75+ or should I take a risk on a body I get from eBay which might not work, might be just as grungy, might have a shot lightmeter, etc. The listing I originally bought this camera from SAID the lightmeter worked when in reality they had tested it wrong, so I'd really not like that to happen again.

Thoughts?

Also, I'm pretty partial to the all-manual K1000 (ie. it not needing batteries except for the lightmeter) but should I upgrade, since this one seems to be shot? I have three k-mount lenses, so I'd like to stay in that family. Thoughts?

Thanks a bunch,

Tara

April 30, 2011

Remember me?

I have since sent my camera and lens in for repairs, and have received them back from Canon. For some reason... things still seem a little.. off. Do these pictures look weird to you? I just think bokeh looks differently than it did before now. Maybe I'm being too sensitive. I don't know.

February 17, 2011

Thanks so much for your advice. I approved their repairs today. Sigh. It hurt a little, but even if I want to get a new one, I'd have to get this one fixed to sell it. So. :( Oh well.

February 14, 2011

Estimates...

Lens repair: $54.88

Body repair: $230

Yikes... I'm going to look around the internet a bit at what kind of deals I can get before I get the repair done. I think. Should I just do it? Or... save up a bit and just wait till I can afford something else? I don't know.

February 13, 2011

Peter J: Haha well the hour and half drive would have just been to bring it to *some* kind of camera repair place, not Canon itself. But yes. I don't want to be upset at the postal service because I really love mail in general, but I'm kind of bummed at this point. Maybe I should have UPS-ed it or something. Oh well.

February 13, 2011

Update: Still trying to get my camera to the repair facility in Virginia. I have no idea why its been so difficult. I did wait a while, and finally sent it this past Tuesday. First it was missent - the post office's error - and was rerouted around Virginia. They tried to deliver it yesterday, and since I wanted confirmation on delivery and I guess there's nobody there on Saturdays, they couldn't deliver it. So now its at the post office, and I have to get it re-delivered. Somehow I don't think Canon will go pick it up from there :) Sigh. I don't know why its been so hard. But I'll update with the estimate whenever I get it.

January 31, 2011

I think the auto focus is working okay. It's a little slow and nitpicky, but I think that's normal. I don't know. I called Canon today, and they (were really nice! and) said I could just send it in and see what they think. Then I'm under no obligation to go ahead with the repair. I know its not making a noticeable difference, but I don't like knowing there's broken glass floating around in my camera some where. Am I being dumb? If it seems to be working okay, should I not send it in?

January 30, 2011

So that's how it works. Thanks so much. Good deal, I will call tomorrow and try to set that up. And I may, since someone suggested it, open up my 50mm lens since its a goner anyway and clean it. It would be interesting to look inside. And then I'll just get another. Eventually. I'll let you know how much the estimate is for the body work. And I'll post later today about how the auto focus on a working lens is doing.

January 30, 2011

Gotcha, thanks so much for the help and suggestion of what to try. I forgot to take pictures in good light today, so I will set up a test tomorrow good lighting and see how it is focusing with working-order lens. I'll post the test shots tomorrow too if anything interesting happens.

I have a question about the repair/estimate procedure. I'm totally new to this and it scares me a little bit :) I think I will have to send it somewhere, as I can't find any Canon authorized repairers in my area. So if I send it to Canon, do I call/email first? How does this work? I've tried to go through the links on Canon.com to get an estimate, and I can't for my model. Sorry if I'm being a baby about this haha. Even if it is broken, the thought of being without my camera for however long makes me sad and scared :P Not to mention I'm doing a 365 project this year, and am not quite sure how to manage without it. But. Its okay. I have a Pentax K1000 to tide me over.

January 30, 2011

PS. Found a post on here about the rattle in XSi camera bodies being normal. So, hopefully nothing's loose that shouldn't be loose.

January 29, 2011

Hmm. Well, I actually can't see any damage, at least on the surface. I do see a itty bitty dot on the blue glass in towards the lower left corner. Could the shard be from one of the filters behind the first one? On <a href="http://ghonis2.ho8.com/rebelmod450d4.html">this page</a> it shows there are a couple of them. That might not make sense. If not, I still have no idea where that shard of blue glass came from. :/ It's definitely not from the lens. I will still get the body checked out.

Also, is it normal to hear something rattle if you shake your camera body? Just wondering if something inside is loose, or something. Which would make sense from that kind of fall.

I took a few pictures today with a working lens today, and I feel like the auto focus is still kind of off, but I'm not sure. I feel like I'm seeing things at this point, and besides, this is a lot slower of a lens than the nifty fifty so I can't expect it to be as sharp and nonblurry and all that.

Thanks for the suggestion to check that. I was expecting to see some broken glass.

January 29, 2011

Hmm thanks. Yeah, I was wondering if I was doing any harm by continuing to use it. If that blue filter inside is cracked, I could be harming it more by using it. Thanks for the warning :)

January 29, 2011

Are you saying even if I get it repaired, it might not ever be the same again? Blerg.

... I think you are right about the auto focus being off. It's been having an awful hard time with it. All right, well... I'll guess I'll see if I can get an estimate or something, and then go from there. Thanks for your help. I would have kept fooling myself thinking that it was just the lens with that mysterious piece of blue glass if you hadn't showed me that page.

January 29, 2011

Really, cut my losses?! :( Please don't tell met this is going to be that expensive that I might as well buy a new body...

Really, no ideas on how much repairs would be for fixing that filter? There's no way I would try that mod myself.

Thanks so much for your help! And for helping me to look on the bright side. I want to puke!

January 29, 2011

Shoot, that was about the color of it. Aww man. :( This really sucks.

January 29, 2011

Thanks so much for your help :) I was thinking it probably wouldn't even be worth it to try to get it repaired, with shipping costs and all that. And even if I wanted to get it looked at, I would have to drive at least an hour and half and that just seems silly.

I'm scared for my camera now, though... I was kind of scared when I saw that blue shard of glass, and couldn't see anywhere on the lens that it came from. I'll try my camera out with my older kit lens tomorrow and see if its working okay with a different lens. I looked at some closer pictures that I've taken with the broken lens, and there's definitely some odd soft focus and weird light play. I'll put a combo of some of the weirdness at the bottom of my post.

I know it seems silly to be sad over a relatively small investment, but I am bummed, since I don't have the money to invest in a new one right now and I'm pretty sure my 28-80mm f3.5 kit lens can't take a good picture indoors for anything. Oh well.

January 28, 2011

Hello! Last night my Canon Rebel XSi fell from a table onto a cement floor, a couple foot drop. My crappy UV filter was completely dead and shattered. At first it wouldn’t come off, but then it did after I worked it a little bit. The very front part of the lens was kind of bent inward, all lopsided, and it wouldn’t focus. My friend manhandled the focusing part out, but it was still having trouble. At first I couldn’t detach the lens, but then (same friend) manhandled it. Then I noticed those marks in inner the glass (second picture). Ginormous sigh. They don’t come out as black marks in the pictures, but I’m still trying to figure out the effects of them, or how they got there exactly - like is it a stress facture? My poor baby 50mm… In the few pictures I took with it I noticed a little bit of what looked like the effect you get from a diffuser, but I’m not sure of it. I’m going to take some pictures when its light tomorrow and try to see. Sigh. It’s still doesn’t sound happy when its focusing.

Any ideas about what those black dots are from? Were they there, or could they have happened on impact? There was a shard of blue glass when I took the lens off the body. I wonder how much repair would cost, or would it be more then the lens is worth? Ideas?

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