The next few months might bring some dry reading for the visitors to my blog. The camera I do 99% of my photographic work with has died silently sometime this past week. It’s not that the camera is dead, but it might as well be, as it appears the imaging chip has failed, or the circuitry that processes the signal from the chip.

Here’s a shot of the sprinkler controller I’ve been working on.

That picture was taken in a sun lit room, with overhead lights and a work lamp on. Plus the camera’s AI fired the flash at full power.

I’ll be contacting Nikon regarding repair, but unfortunately, I’m pretty sure it’s the end of the line for this cam. With 3rd quarter taxes coming shortly, I’m not in a position to make a big purchase right now, so it might be a few months before I get a new cam.

If I get desperate enough, you might see some awful pictures from my cellphone on here!

Addendum:

The camera in question is a Nikon Coolpix 5700, which is listed as one of the models affected by the Sony ccd failure problem

Update:

Although my problem doesn’t fit the description of the current “service advisory”, Nikon is going to check it out. At best they’ll repair it for free, at worst, they’ll give me a quote on repairs. If it’s within the price range of a new ‘throwaway’ digital, I’ll get it fixed. Otherwise I might just grab an HP / Epson / “insert brand-x here” throwaway to get me by until I can buy something nicer.