Buy new or repair old?

[James Blonde]

I find the top LCD essential as well - wouldn't want a camera without it!

I was going to piggy back on this thread, as I've been looking to get a second Nikon body and convert to IR.

You do frequently see all sorts of "spares or repair" cameras on Fleabay in various states of repair going for not too much money (a working D200 which produced an intermittent lighter bar across some photos went for £150 last night). As the IR conversion is likely to cost about £250 and involves a full service, I'd imagine that would likely correct many of the potential faults, and I'd also imagine the company doing the conversion would be able to fix if its something the service wouldn't cover. I am still a little wary of doing this though. If it ended up going for £35, then I've not lost much if it can't be fixed, but conversion itself isn't cheap, so its a risk if its much more expensive. Anyone had any experience of doing this?

[silversnapper1]

Originally Posted by sadiqabsar

What would you recommend for max spend to get the D80 to full working order before buying a new camera becomes the better option?


Sadiq

I've just looked at second hand D80's on Mifsud's and they have one there for £299 so I wouldn't really spend more that about £200 on getting one refurbed.

[sadiqabsar]

Hi there. I have had a quote back from http://www.hlehmann.co.uk/index.html as follows:

"Our standard service charge for that model is £165 inc.vat (subject to inspection).This includes everything except major spares,and comes with a six month warranty."

This is without seeing the camera so the price could always be higher. It's a very close run thing. I'm booked on a beginners DSLR course run by Jessops in Feb so may well wait until I've been on that before making the final purchase, but this of course will mean that I miss out on the £70 Pentax cash back offer on the K-r.

I've just spent the morning reading the whole 19 page thread on the K-5 (even though I know I can't afford one) and the lens availability/noise has me worried a bit. I would like (I think) at most a good superzoom lens that I could use as my primary lens (70-300mm F4.5-5.6 VR ?) and at some stage in the not too distance future a nice (but inexpensive) macro lens. If I buy new then I'll likely get an 18-55 or similar to fill the gap otherwise I'll look for one of those too.

I'm hoping to get the D80 over the weekend so I can give it in to Sendean's and get another quote before the Pentax offer expires - just in case I change my mind and buy it sooner.

[Sue Allen]

At the budget end Pentax lenses are pretty good in comparison with other makes. By noise I assume you mean the specific reference to the 55-300mm. While this lens compares favourably optically with the Nikon 70-300vr it does have drawbacks in terms of af - not really the lens for fast action and certainly no contest in af speed compared to a Nikon AF-S lens. There are alternatives such as those made by Sigma - remember Pentax has in body stabilisation so no need to pay extra for that. Having used a Nikon 70-300vr on several Nikon bodies over the past 2 years I can confirm it's a good choice as a lightweight walkaround birding lens if you do stick with the D80 - unfortunately, as I no longer have a Nikon body to use mine on it's about to go on ebay!

[sadiqabsar]

'Buy it now' or auction? Can I ask how much for?

I'm sure I've spent more time deciding how to spend £500 on camera and lens than I did on buying my house a while back

[KeithT]

I don't think many people would get through the lifetime cycle of a camera shutter unless they are really mega trigger happy. The problem you will have isn't so much the mechanical side of things, but the electronics. As we know with our computers, it might just well be the electronics that will let you down at any time. With a new camera at least you have the grace of a year's warranty or more. That aside, if the camera comes in at less than a hundred quid for repair it would be worth having done even if it only lasts a year. At least you will have had a year to consider where you might want to go from there I suppose. Good luck, but with my experiences of camera repair it won't be cheap I'm feeling.

[sadiqabsar]

Can I ask a question about lenses? Would a 70-300mm macro lens have the ability to switch macro on and off and therefore be an even better all round lens (for me at least)? This way I don't have to buy two separate lenses (but may still get another macro lens for short focal distances)

Sorry if this is a dumb question

[ap4a]

Not a dumb question, but whilst they may be marketed as such, 70-300mm lenses won't give you macro capabilities. You do need a proper macro lens if you want 1:1 magnification. Most zooms that are claimed to be macro lenses are close up lenses at best with only a few managing 1:2 magnification. If 1:2 is good enough then it's a viable option, but if you want 1:1 or better then you want a prime macro lens.

[sadiqabsar]

Thanks ap4a. I currently use a Raynox 150 lens with my Fuji S1900 so even if I got a lens that gave me something similar to that to start with I'd be happy. If I could continue to use the Raynox on a 'standard' 70-300mm lens then that would be OK too, but I'm guessing this won't be as flexible as the in lens 'macro' terms of using the macro facilily at different focal lengths?

[sadiqabsar]

OK, so I have had the repair estimate from Sendean Cameras: £132 to fix the flash recognition system or £204 to fix the flash and do a service (not exactly sure what this entails).

Tempted to go for the repair only. One question if anyone can answer: if I get an external hot shoe flash (eg Nikon SB400) would this work independently of the internal flash recognition system or will it also be affected?