I got the digicam blues

Bugger.

I lost/had stolen TWO digital cameras within 10 bloody days!
Both were Sony DSC P-150.
Nice cameras.
I got the first from a friend and changed the broken screen on it. Then, after it was stolen on my birthday, I picked up another for a good price.
That one dissapeared, a mere week or so later, after a particularly bad evening returning from a wine festival (somehow, I lost my camera, case, the belt it was attached to, my good black sweater and my underpants - not to mention all memory of where the f**k I'd left them or how I'd cut up my back and left leg and somehow managed to deficate in my suit trousers - as you do.). That was one expensive wine festival.

Well, I've been researching (boy, have I been researching!) and I wanted a number of things from my perfect camera:

• Good low light capabilities (want to take shots of beer in bars).
• Wide angle (so I can get close to the beer and take pics of bars).
• Long zoom (in case I want to sneak a pic of someone else's beer/girlfriend).
• Optical image stabilisation (in case the beer/girlfriend is so awesome, I can't control hand shake).
• Zoom in movie mode (so I can get 'right in on the action' from a safe distance).

I already have a few cameras.

For long zoom and good movie mode, plus optical image stabilisation, I have the Canon S2is:
For wide angle, I have the Ricoh Caplio R1:
For a fast point and shoot, I HAD the Sony DSC P-150:

Alas, after losing 2, I'm now back to the good old P100:For low light shots, I recently picked up a Fujifilm finepix F11:It's no F30/F31, but it's not bad. Great high ISO sensitivity and adjustable shutter speed and aperture.

So, now I have 4 cameras.
Basically, if I go out somewhere, I have to be loaded up like Arnold Shwarzenegger in Commando.You know Commando? In case you forgot, here's a 3 minute reminder:

Well, I searched online and found 3 cameras which I thought looked good. The Fuji finepix f100fd:
The Samsung thingynewthingythatisn'tsoldinJapan:
The Panasonic TZ5 which doesn't have an English operating system:
The Panasonic had nice pics but the color was too saturated. The long zoom and wide angle were great, as was the ability to zoom in movie mode. Alos you could record movies in Hd format (720). Lack of English wasn't a plus.

The Samsung wasn't available over here, which is weird. You can find Samsung TVs, montiors, fridges, etc. but no digital cameras. Hmmm...

The Fuji looked pretty good. It was compact, wide angle, 5x zoom, optical image stabilised and was also good in low light. I found one for only 16,000yen but when I got to the shop, some a-hole had bought it just hours earlier. I should have gone before work.

I'm now checking internet autction sites for a bargain.
Talking about internet auction sites, I picked up another cheap P100 to replace my lost cameras.
I got it for under 6000yen, which wasn't too bad.
However, it arrived in not so mint condition.
Also there was dust on the sensor.
After a quick and easy clean of the sensor, the view looked better (but still not perfect).

Here's a link on how to do that.

Still, I wasn't happy. The lens didn't come out very smoothly. It had obviously taken a few bumps.
I decided to return it and buy the 6980yen P100 I'd seen in a store in Akihabara.
The guy wasn't happy for me to return it but once I explained the problems and included a P100 box plus software, cables and manual, he changed his mind. Of course, the thing would be worth more now it had all the stuff.

The camera I picked up from Akihabara was in great condition. The sensor was clean from dust.
However, the great boys in the electronics store had not checked the movie mode.
I discovered last night that there was no sound.

Bugger.

I decided to try to fix it, using parts from my other two broken P100s.

I took out all the screws.
Then I removed the back panel.
So far, so good.
Then comes the tricky part.
You have to disconnect the main power ribbon cable.

"But wemembah, be vewy, vewy cawefuw... ....I'm hunting wabbits!"

No - mean be very careful when prying loose the cable that you don't accidentally slice the ribbon in half, thereby rendering the whole camera useless.
I only did that the one time. I'll admit, using the flat (sharp) end of a flat head scredriver probably wasn't a good idea - in hind sight.
One point to note is to not touch the capacitor. It packs quite a whollop, I can tell you! I must ahve electrocuted myself about 20 times on that little b*stard.
Okay, now that's done, the next step is to disconnect that little bugger of a broken speaker.
alos, be careful here.
When you're done there, just repeat the process with the other camera. Then reconnect and test (just make sure you don't get trapped inside as you're putting the thing back together).

The end result? Listen for yourself!

Well, the sound works, so the operation was succesful.
Pity about the test subject.

Now, I'm thinking about putting the broken speaker back on the camera and returning it and getting the shocking pink DSC P-200 that is on sale (80% off!) in Akihabara. But who's willing to bet that the bloody thing will be gone by the time I get there?
The P200 is a slightly bette camera. Has the same sensor and more or less operation system. It includes manual white balance and a few other touches.
It's also 7.2 mega, as opposed to 5 in the P100.
It's slightly newer and this one is shocking pink (whichwould go well with my eyes).
Hmmm...3,200 yen for a pink camera? Plus 800yen to get there and back.

Decisions, decisions...

Still got the digicam blues.