On 1/18/2011 8:42 AM, Piers Hemy wrote:
> 5-10 years?? I think it's a touch optimistic to think they will last *that*
> long.
I took my first picture with a digital camera of my own, Canon S110, on June
29, 2001. That camera is still perfectly
functional, and I imagine it still will be so on it's 10th. birthday in 6 mos.
I took my first pic with a DSLR of my own on July 15, 2004. That 300D is still
fully functional, and I imagine it still
will be so on it's 6th. birthday in 7 mos.
I think the problem is less failure with at least moderate age, and use, but
functional obsolescence. Within the limits
they had when new, both cameras perform as new. The problem is that I have
newer cameras that outperform them in
significant ways. So the 300D travels as backup to 5D and takes the very
occasional flash pic.
The poor S110 just sits in a drawer almost all the time. I made the mistake of
leaving a battery in it for a long time
and the constant low drain of maintaining the clock and adequate minimal
function to allow it to turn on when the button
is pressed killed the Li-ion battery. I keep the other battery out of the
camera, charge it up every few months and it
abides. BTW, batteries for both cameras are still available new from both Canon
and third party suppliers.
Both are still quite usable for many common photographic purposes.
I also have an Oly D-460 Zoom, given to me to avoid the trash can, 1.2Mp vs.
the 1.9 of the Canon. Unlike the S110,
though, it is so amazingly slow in operation that I can't imagine using it for
any real photographic task. The S110 was
just an S100 with video added. The 110 was actually available seven months
earlier, September 4, 1999, than the D-460,
April 8, 2000. I suppose it was probably much cheaper, but what a slug in
operation by comparison!
And yes, as you may have gathered, the D-460 Zoom is still operational.
Moose
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