Greetings from Cleveland…this isn’t an official update, there are no new pictures to view, or statistics to check out…I merely want to rant. I’ve been meaning to mention my continuing camera issues, but never seem to remember that, or have the time, when I’m actually writing a post. Yes, my camera did miraculously fix itself after the Mt. Rainier incident…but a few weeks ago it started developing a new set of problems, most of which were simply annoying but ignorable. It would randomly become unresponsive, and the top display where it shows the aperture and shutter speed settings would blink off and on rapidly, or I’d be scrolling through the pictures on the memory card and the screen would go black, even though I hadn’t pressed the shutter button or told the camera that I was done looking at images. Obnoxious, but I can live with this. One other seemingly minor problem could prove absolutely disastrous though. Normally, the only way to cancel out of sensor cleaning mode is by actually turning the power switch off. Lately, the camera has taken to ending the sensor cleaning mode on its own. This may not sound that bad, but if it cancels the cleaning mode while I still have a sensor cleaning swap in the camera, removing the dust spots, I’ll need to replace the mirror, shutter mechanism, and the sensor. It would basically be cheaper just to buy a new camera.

Which is sort of what I’m thinking now…I could replace the CCD Converter, which is wearing out, for about $300, and solve all the current problems…unfortunately, it’s not a part that the repair shops keep in stock, and I would lose several days, if not a week or more, waiting for repair. Technically, my camera works and I can continue to take pictures, but the dust spots will keep building up since I can’t chance cleaning them, and this just leads to more work in Photoshop to get rid of them. Not to mention, I’d still be left with the fact that my camera is over three years old, and has taken over 60,000 pictures, and the shutter mechanism will need replaced eventually anyway as well, probably sooner than later if the CCD Converter has already started to die. I also have two annoying scratches on the sensor which I have to edit out in Photoshop. They drive me batty, but that alone didn’t warrant buying a new camera. The gentleman at the repair shop this morning also pointed out that it appears when I fell on my camera, it got a hairline crack along the ring-mount for the lens, and it’s now started to corrode slightly. This also means that if I get caught in a rainstorm, water has a direct route to the processor and motherboard and all that fun electronic stuff inside my camera.

You can see my dilemma….and why I’m leaning toward just spending the money (via credit card and the ensuing interest I’ll have to pay) to buy the new Canon 5D Mark II, the new version of my camera which came out last fall. It’s a beautiful camera, and I drooled over it, but couldn’t make myself spend the money when my 5D was working just fine. The new camera is 21 megapixels, shoots HD video, has a Live View LCD (I’d be able to compose a shot without having to look through the viewfinder all the time, which makes odd-angle shots much easier), a built-in sensor cleaner, and with the enhanced ISO settings, I can shoot in much lower light with much better results which would make taking pictures for my bands a lot easier. Nearly all of my equipment is compatible with the new camera, all I’d need are new batteries, and a new L-bracket to connect the camera to my tripod head. All this, for only about $3,000…

As my mom pointed out, it doesn’t do me any good to be taking this trip if I don’t have a working, reliable camera, and I know this isn’t an opportunity I’ll get again. I know I thought my 2006 trip was a once in a lifetime trip, and here I am at it again, but I KNOW this is the last trip of this scale (and I’m not even halfway done yet). I don’t want to live in my parents’ basement forever (and I doubt they want me there forever, even if it is a good arrangement so far). I’d like a house someday, and that means being responsible and putting down roots, and not taking off for months at a time. So yeah, I think I’m going to suck it up and buy the new 5D Mark II, and be able to enjoy this adventure without worrying about having to drastically rearrange my schedule to fit in a repair, and someday when I have lots of money (the keyword was “someday”) I’ll fix my (soon-to-be-old) camera and have it converted to infrared or something like that.

I think I’m feeling better about this.

This entry was posted on Friday, September 11th, 2009 at 12:41 pm.