Fixing a DSLR camera - Solved - Thanks!

WeAreGhosts

I've asked a local independent camera shop for a quote on repairing a DSLR camera screen. They've said that I need to pay £10 to receive a quote for repair.
I'm a bit dubious.

The problem seems to be the screen cover has delaminated from the screen below, but it's not actually lifting off the screen, it's just making the screen look very discoloured.

Anyone know if this is an easy fix?

kwikbreaks

Most repairs for just about anything seem to have been posted on YouTube these days. If there is no repair shown for your specific camera then I'd guess that it isn't an easy repair.

I wouldn't pay for any repair estimate I'd go to a different shop.

SouthUKMan

Many years back in my first Saturday job at a small electrical retailer, my old boss always charged a nominal fee of a fiver to fault diagnose goods. He always used to say that if they're willing to pay for a diagnosis then they're going to be more willing to pay for an actual repair. It was his way of sorting the time wasters form the genuine valuable customers. It wasn't so much about collecting the fiver, it was more about him not wasting 15 minutes or so of his time opening up a faulty item, diagnosing the fault...and then having the 'customer' say "oh, that's too expensive. I may as well buy a new one"...and then going down to Dixons or Currys (this is back in the day!) and buying it there because it was a couple of quid cheaper than he could offer the same item for.

aerostar

Have you tried contacting the manufacturer ?- as most likely it would be sent back to them anyway.

paddyrg

Personally I'd say it's a good value tenner to get an expert opinion on what's wrong with your camera in a manner that isn't going to destroy it in the meantime. I mean you're welcome to my amateur opinion for free, but it's worth what you pay for it.

I wouldn't say this universally, either. I fix my own mobile phone because it's designed to be accessible, but it doesn't have any moving parts that need to be kept spotless. DSLR's are physically complex, and if you like the camera enough to mend it, then maybe you like it enough to mend it properly?

kwikbreaks

SouthUKMan wrote: »

He always used to say that if they're willing to pay for a diagnosis then they're going to be more willing to pay for an actual repair. It was his way of sorting the time wasters form the genuine valuable customers.

That's a valid point which I hadn't considered. It may well not be obvious just what needs replacing. That said I'll still ask if there was any ballpark guess available free. It's pointless spending a penny if the best case repair estimate is going to be higher than I'd be prepared to pay.

bingo_bango

I don't know what type of camera you have, but this post was the first I saw for Canon that seems to say it costs less than the £10 examination fee you've been quoted.

Instructables

Take into account paddy's post as if this is an expensive model, you don't want to capture dust when doing this!

macman

Very often the diagnostic charge will be deducted from the repair charge, if you go ahead. Frequently the diagnosis is the major labour component of the job-the rest is just swapping parts.

Frozen_up_north

I would check the manufacturers web site for the repair process. I don't think the OP specified the camera manufacturer or model, for the repair costs of some common faults on Canon DSLR cameras see:

http://www.canon.co.uk/images/UK%20RCC%20Service%20Costs_tcm14-1174182.pdf

Camera repairs (even simple faults) aren't cheap on SLR cameras as there are a lot of parameters to test - both before and after repair.

WeAreGhosts

The camera is a Sony A55.

I ended up Googling what the camera store guy had told me and found that's it's a quick fix. Basically, there's a clear film on the LCD monitor put there by Sony, but the user doesn't know it's there until it starts to detach from the monitor. A quick Google suggested you can simply peel it off and the monitor is good as new (obviously replacing the film to stop scratches). It feels like you're going to break the monitor as the film is really thick and well stuck in places, but it was really a five minute job.

If the camera store guy knew what the problem was, he must've known it was a quick in-store fix. No need to send my camera anywhere (which is what he suggested). I would have, of course, paid him for his time, but trying to charge me £10 for a quote to send it off for "repair" is bloomin' cheeky IMO.

Anyway, problem solved. Thanks everyone.