Monday, April 28, 2008

Pretty picture: Zinnia 'Profusion Mix'

Having, as they say, technical issues with the camera: it still takes pictures just fine, but I can't upload them to the computer anymore. It's like the camera refuses to recognize that there's a computer even there. I have a lot of pictures stockpiled, so this won't be obvious in the blog right away, but it's causing me a lot of anxiety right now, and it also means I can't get one of the photos I want for the upcoming plant profile. So I'm in a crappy mood.


The husband is of the opinion that this is something fixable, but I doubt it's under warranty, since I bought it used from Sears to begin with (it was a floor display model). Also the reviews of the product on Amazon suggest that this is, perhaps, something that happens a lot with this model, and the manual suggests that this is especially something that happens a lot with this model when it's in varying temperatures and occasionally wet, as mine is (because it's in my pants pocket at work).


So this was probably all self-inflicted. In theory, I suppose, it's possible that it might reverse itself, that some kind of miracle might occur and everything will be better again, but in reality, I bet I'm shopping for another camera. Any suggestions?


Oh yeah -- and some Zinnias bloomed or something.


5 comments:

Anonymous said...

About the computer not reading your camera, I have just had the same problem. It seems that the software that came with the camera is corrupt on my computer. I uninstalled it, then did a fresh reinstall and that cleared up the issues. I wasn't sure if you tried this approach or not. Have a great day Mr.S.

Anonymous said...

If the software reinstall that Stacy suggested doesn't help, you could also maybe try using a memory card reader to upload your pictures. They can be expensive, but can be pretty cheap too -- I bought one for my camera for $5. Just don't forget to check what type of card your camera uses, before you go to the store, so you don't have to make another trip (speaking from experience here... sigh...)

Tracy said...

WTF?! Isn't your cam only a few months old?? That's BS, have you tried to take it back? I would be livid.....what does the cam do when you plug it in?? Nothing? Do you have an mp3 player, or another gadget that uses memory cards? Try sticking your card into something else. How bout when you plug in the cam, does it show up as a drive in windows explorer?

If your cam still works and saves pics, it should be fixable. If you want some help trying to trouble shoot it, let me know. As long as it is not in a million pieces there is hope....lol.

mr_subjunctive said...

The camera both is and isn't a few months old: I've only had it since October, but it had been a floor display model for Sears for some unknown period before that, which is why I was able to get it for like $30.

The husband called tech support for me while I was at work today, and they said, hopefully, maybe the USB cord? So he went and bought a new USB cord and tried it out but that wasn't the problem. (I didn't think it was.) Reinstalling doesn't help either.

The camera does have the option of using a memory card, and I suppose I could do that, but it looks like a memory card would cost as much as the camera did, and if it didn't work, then what would I do with the card afterward, right?

So I don't know. I'm not livid about the matter, mostly because I know I haven't been using the camera as the manufacturer intended: it gets wet, and hot, and cold, and bumped, quite often. Sometimes all at once. Plus it was used when I bought it, so I don't know that I really consider it Olympus's fault. I'm more in a depressed frame of mind than an angry one: this is going to eat up a lot of time, during a season when, you know, I already don't have a lot of time. But it's not like I won't eventually get it resolved. Just a pain in the ass, is all.

Anonymous said...

what kind of memory card is it? I don't know of any memory cards that are THAT expensive, even xD (Olympus uses these) run about 30 bucks for a decent size. anyway, i'd suggest shopping around for a memory cards, and then getting a card reader