Wednesday, May 20, 2009

SoFoBoMo: Camera Bump



Today I drove down to Portsmouth, NH to get in my first shooting day at Anello's Cafe. I was supposed to go Monday, but had to cancel (something I HATE doing). I had a thought that made me laugh before I headed out the door. What if something else interfered with me getting photos of this yummy GF eatery? I would have to think that maybe it wasn't meant to be. But I laughed it off, jumped in the car, and headed south.



When I walked into Anello's the place was pretty quiet, the lunch rush over. I am trying to time my first few shoots so that I am not intruding or getting in the way during the busy hours. Traci Anello, the cafe's owner, looked at me and said "Well, there's not really anything going on today." They were apparently having what one of the employees would later refer to as a 'Wednesday'. I guess that means it's one of the slow days.



Right around the time I took this photo, my camera started doing something odd. First the image on the screen was splitting up. Then images started having bright pink, blue, green, and yellow lines through it. CRAP! What is going on with this camera I just bought 6 days ago?



Shortly after that my camera no longer wanted to take pictures. I tried to act cool. I fiddled around with things, took the memory card out, put it back in, tried shooting again. Then just ordered a sandwich (which I hoped to photograph...) so I could sit down and try to figure out the problem. More crazy bright lines, and eventually my camera just didn't take another photo. A warning appeared on my screen that I may need to change the memory card, that it may be corrupted. I needed to get some technical advice and solid answers before I continued taking any more photos. SO, yeah, today seemed like maybe it wasn't meant to be!



But, I ate my yummy GF food then drove straight to my camera shop and get a little advice. The verdict is still out whether it's a camera issue or just a memory card issue. Still, if it is just a memory card then it happened on one that I hardly ever use, and I find that annoying. Like I threw my money out the window. Even if the throwing happened 8 months ago.

I'll be headed back out tomorrow, this time with extra memory cards and A BACK-UP CAMERA! Since I'm pretty sure that's why I just bought the second one. Ah, the lessons we learn along the way! Onward and upward, as my dad used to say.....

...

3 comments:

Isaac said...

The first thing I would do is check the pins in the camera for the CF card and see if any of them have been bent over. Shine a flashlight into the slot, the pins should look like little pin points, if you see a horizontal copper pin, it's been bent. I'd also be prepared to take the camera back. Hate to say it, but that kind of problem isn't the kind that will "just go away," it sounds like there is a real problem... Sorry, I've seen too many wonky cameras not to jump to the worst case scenario.:-(

Live Through the Lens said...

Thanks Isaac! I will totally follow your advice. I haven't issues yet with my other memory cards in this new camera, so I'm going to put it to the test....

Isaac said...

All it takes is a slight misalignment of one of the pins for it t get bent when a card is put into the camera. Typically, it will cause weird problems at odd times. If the pins aren't bent, then maybe the card is indeed the culprit...

Oh you kids with your new fangled cameras... I still don't trust any camera i have to turn on.