Help Re. camera fault/guarentee etc

French_Knickers

Hi,

I bought a panasonic FZ38 last september from play.com. I believe its now out of warranty as its over 12 months old (or did I read something recently about it having 2 years according to EU law?).

Anyway, I have a blob in all my pics which include sky or other pale uniform area of colour. Jessops seem to think its a piece of dust on the rear of the lens. The trouble is, its a 'bridge' camera so the lens is not removable.

I've just spoken to videotech, panasonics agents for camera work and they say such work wouldn't be covered under warranty anyway and it'll cost between 100 and 150 pounds to repair! Given that a replacement is now around £230, I'm thinking this is just totally unrealistic to clear a bit of dust off a lens.

Any advice anyone can offer on this one would be most appreciated as I can't really afford to bin it and buy a new camera.

victor2

One of the benefits of a bridge camera is that it's pretty much a sealed unit and the lens cannot be removed, thus exposing the innards and sensor to dirt. Equally, if somehow a foreign body does get into it, the camera has to be dismantled in a clean environment to get it out, so it's not an easy job.
Panasonic have a good reputation with their cameras, you might be able to trade it in with them for a refurbished similar or better unit. Otherwise it's going to most likely be a hefty repair bill and no guarantee something else won't then go wrong.

French_Knickers

Thanks.

I had not looked at the posibility of trading it in. Should I tell them about the 'blob' before hand or plead ignorance? The new FZ45 looks nice.

A quick trawl of the net revealed an independent repairer who are quoting 50 pounds plus VAT to do the same job. Seems far more reasonable.

Lirin

They are correct when they say it isn't covered in a warranty, unfortunately.
Bridge cameras benefit from being sealed units, largely, yes, but dust is a bloody nightmare and will affect every camera to a degree. I'd love for someone to make dust-proof gear, but sadly, no....
The prices for repair sound accurate as well. I'd find out what you can from the repairer quoting £50, and how good he is- the price sounds suspiciously cheap and I'm concerned it could end up in a worse state.
I would contact panasonic directly, they've always been a pleasant enough company I've found to deal with- they may clear it free for you if you ask nicely enough.
The only other thing I'd suggest is that dust generally isn't a big hassle in the end photo, and you've mentioned it's affecting clear sky photos. Is every other one acceptable? A free editing program would sort out any blobs in a few seconds for you.

victor2

If Panasonic will do a trade-in, they'll quite possibly scrap the camera anyway, so I wouldn't worry about it. Worth contacting their customer support first to see if it's possible. It might be you can arrange for an estimate to repair and then they'll come back with a silly price or the offer to buy a refurbished camera from them at a bargain price.

Personally, I'd steer clear of independant repairers. Modern electronic equipment like these cameras is effectively considered to be disposable and ease of repair doesn't come into the design.

French_Knickers

Had another look at it today. Reckoned with the screw on extension on the lens which I keep on to protect the lens from knocks and bangs, I could actually seal my mouth on it and blow, thus forcing the air to enter the camera and find another exit rather than just trying to blow down the side of the lens which seemed to do no good at all.

It worked! For those looking to do the same, I'd just had a hot mug of tea so unfortunately my breath was very hot and humid causing lots of condensation so might be worth noting. I sat it in the airing cupboard for an hour after and all fogginess in the pics has gone now (but will leave it in there overnight just to make sure) and no 'blurry blob' in pics of my ceiling so fingers crossed I just saved my camera!

Thanks for the input though, much appreciated.

EDIT....it does still appear to be there but much more soft and harder to notice than it was before. Can only see it on pics of the walls and ceiling and even then not obviously. If its sunny tomorow I'll take a few sky shots and see how it looks.