Life expectancy of digital cameras

[Ken Price]

A lot of people wonder about how long the sensor in a digital camera will last, but my experience has been that the other parts of the camera are much more likely to give out first.

Have any of your digital cameras "worn out" in any respect?

So far, I've had battery issues, casing cracks, and shutter button problems that told me my digital was dead, but never a sensor failure.

[cyclohexane]

My D2H's meter kicked the bucket after about nine months, but it was a known issue complete with service advisory.

My D70's shutter started going after about 15,000 clicks (way under the life expectancy), and the screwdrive AF motor broke. Both were replaced, but now the DOF button is acting up and doesn't work properly nine out of ten presses. It stops the lens down just fine, but it also raises the mirror, which defeats the purpose.

[JDArt]

I have a Canon D60, which I still love, but the battery lasts no longer than about 150 shots, and then only under good weather conditions. I've sent it back to Canon for repair, but nothing has changed. This happens even with brand new batteries.

[scoundrel1728]

I have a Nikon Coolpix 950 that has had its battery door replaced once already because the latch was broken and it wouldn't stay closed and, despite my being careful, the replacement battery door now needs to be taped closed before the camera can even be used. I have also had the power/mode switch replaced once and it looked for a while like it would need to be repaired again but something happened while my wife took it to New Hampshire that put the switch on better behavior. The rubber camera grip loosened and fell off about a year after I got the camera and it has developed a few hot pixels it didn't used to have.

My Coolpix 995 that I purchased used has held up better but the command dial, shutter release, power/mode switch, and some other control buttons are showing signs of intermittentcy and a prominent hot pixel has appeared very near the center of the frame. To be fair though, this hot pixel showed up very soon after I got the camera. I am not entirely sure that the bangs and bumps this camera has received on my watch hasn't caused the lens elements to go out of line, though that may also have been a defect I failed to notice when I received the camera. When stitching panoramas, I notice that the right side of my images are sharper than the left. I have noticed a similar defect in my 950.

[bevilaquafoto]

but now the DOF button is acting up and doesn't work properly nine out of ten presses. It stops the lens down just fine, but it also raises the mirror, which defeats the purpose.

Funny you should mention!! I was shooting the other day with my D70s which I have shot with HEAVILY, and was going crazy because the DOF preview kept doing that same thing. I need to send it in to Nikon, but am loathe to do so because they take so damn long, and aren't exactly cheap. I am an NPS member, but it still isn't great. Does anyone else go through NPS for their digital repairs?

[cyclohexane]

Not sure if I should be glad to hear that someone else has the same problem.* Mine's been doing it since February, actually, but I've still been pushing the camera pretty hard as it still works otherwise.

I am not an NPS member (I need one more pro body and two lenses plus a real job to qualify), but my D2H has been in twice and has come back within 14 days each time.* My D70 took a month to come back though; I'm also uninclined to send it in as I don't like being without it.* NPS doesn't do you any good for consumer products, i.e. the D70, as they don't qualify for expedited service.* Honestly, I liked Thom Hogan's idea of adding a subscription fee to NPS in exchange for extra services on all products owned by the members.

[Jon]

I wore out the aperture group on S2 #1.

The meter failed on my D2H (not that big of a deal unless I wanted to shoot in a priority mode), was replaced and tuned up the same time as the repair for the

Shutter explosion on the D2H.

[sean_buerger]

Anything can fall apart anytime!

My SD10 is more than two years old now and is being constantly in use. The camera is well built to begin with, but doesn't have a metal chassis or rubber seals. The body nowadays feels like a dashboard of an older Korean car. You squeeze it here and there and you'll here sounds. Some paint is coming off from the rubber menu buttons. The mirror slap / shutter noise is getting a bit more pronounced.

The SD10 has on the other hand never ever let me down. It works reliably as a Swiss watch. But it does show ageing. I expect it to be in use until it is three years old. Then it will time for a new body.

My digital compact, the Leica Digilux 2 has a somewhat easier life. It didn't travel to really dusty places yet. But after ca. 1.5 years it shows no sign of wear or creaks. The built quality is superb. The display got one or two minor scratches lately though, which was a bit of a surprise, as I don't have any scratches on my dSLR which gets more rough handling.

Cheerio. Sean.

[Narsuitus]

My first digital camera almost lasted 1 year before it broke. For some reason, it stopped working on battery power (yes, I tried cleaning the battery contacts and installing fresh batteries). Since it cost more to repair the camera than it was worth, I replaced it instead of repairing it.

Since it still works on AC power, I now only use it on a copy stand for close-up work.

[rootrider]

I bought my Minolta DiMage Z2 in June of 2004, right after it came out. I took nearly 20,000 photos with it from then until June of this year. Starting late last year the camera started to not focus quite as well some times, the zoom button started working somewhat sporadically, and a bunch of the other buttons began sticking or needed 2 - 3 presses to get them to be recognized by the camera. The camera would sometimes just turn off on its own or refuse to turn on immediately.

The biggest problem was that the camera started acting like all batteries (especially NiMH batteries) were dead after shooting for about 10 - 20 minutes. However if I took the batteries out and put them back in the camera would happily shoot for another period of time before they'd be 'dead' again. Wash, rinse, and repeat for most of the day and I got almost the normal battery life out of the camera that way.. just with a lot of annoying breaks in between.

The camera also refused to recognize my hotshoe mounted (Minolta) flash rather frequently as well.

Thankfully I've got a newer camera now..