Some years ago I got a CanonSD960 IS point-and-click camera. It’s good for basic stuff. But in recent months the quality of photos has been seriously degraded by *stuff* actually within the optics. You can see it pretty clearly here (photo processed to bring out the contrast):
I took the camera to a camera shop and asked ’em about the cost of cracking it open and cleaning it… the guy tapped on his computer and said that the estimate was from $100 to $150. Screw *that* noise. I was able to buy a cheapo replacement for $70-some at Best Buy. So, problem solved.
But when I got home I realized that I still had a functional, if munged-up, camera. Since it had a brand-new replacement, I’d lose approximately nothing if I destroyed said camera. So, I decided to try to clean it myself. The outside of the case had a few tiny screws; I figured I’d undo those, and probably a few more inside, and I’d be able to access the innards and clean them. WRONG. The inside of the thing is a *mass* of tiny screws, seemingly all different. I started taking them out and placing them so that I could replace them. But the sheer number became overwhelming. I did eventually get the camera sufficiently disassembled to *kinda* access the interior of the optics; a can of compressed gas blew out *most* of the specks. I put the camera back together successfully; it doesn’t rattle excessively, and it functions perfectly normally. But… I was left with this:
Hmmm. Either the camera is going to shake itself apart at some point… or it was over-engineered to begin with.
The camera is better, though still not perfect. Probably good enough, though.
