Advice on buying second hand 350D

koffiejunkie said:
Great deal! Does it work? ;)
Click to expand...

It half works. The camera works fine but the battery grip and lens half works. One of the battery terminals doesn't seem to make contact and the lens electronics are shot. I opened the battery grip up and there was lots of oxidation over the circuit board. I'm actually surprised the thing works.
I'm going to take the lens in and hopefully the gurus will be able to sort it out as having an IS USM zoom lens will be nice
 
chau said:
I'm going to take the lens in and hopefully the gurus will be able to sort it out as having an IS USM zoom lens will be nice
Click to expand...
Make sure to get a quote before they start work on it.
 
What did it cost you to get your 50mm f1.8 to be repaired bwana? and are the guys pretty good?
 
chau said:
What did it cost you to get your 50mm f1.8 to be repaired bwana? and are the guys pretty good?
Click to expand...
I think it was in the region of R400-R500. The guy seems to be pretty good. I'd definitely use him again for any out of warranty repairs.
 
chau said:
It half works. The camera works fine but the battery grip and lens half works. One of the battery terminals doesn't seem to make contact and the lens electronics are shot. I opened the battery grip up and there was lots of oxidation over the circuit board. I'm actually surprised the thing works.
Click to expand...

Sounds like it got wet. Maybe take the body in too for an assessment. I'd be careful of using the grip if it has that much damage. That said, my dad, an electronic engineer, used to have this spray that cleans oxidation and other gunk off circuit boards. I don't know what it's called, but a can of that stuff sounds like a good investment.

bwana said:
I think it was in the region of R400-R500. The guy seems to be pretty good. I'd definitely use him again for any out of warranty repairs.
Click to expand...

That's pretty steep, considering what they cost new.
 
koffiejunkie said:
Sounds like it got wet. Maybe take the body in too for an assessment. I'd be careful of using the grip if it has that much damage. That said, my dad, an electronic engineer, used to have this spray that cleans oxidation and other gunk off circuit boards. I don't know what it's called, but a can of that stuff sounds like a good investment.
Click to expand...

I have some electronic contact cleaner called Mr Mckenic which I've sprayed and cleaned some of the oxidation with but no luck. There's probably more wrong with the under side of the circuit board but I don't want to open it again as it works now and after I fiddle more with it, it'll most probably stop working.
When the grip or camera decides to stop working in the future I'll just claim from insurance :)
 
It's something I've learnt from you guys :D haha You guys have great tips for beginners ;)
 
So I decided to be a bit brave and open up that 70-300mm lens. The most that I could open was just the backing and had a look inside there. So... I found a ribbon that was loose so I cleaned up the ends and put it back in place, cleaned up some other much in there and put it back together. I've managed to get the lens to work a bit better now. I don't need to tape up the contacts, the IS works but makes a funny sound while its doing its magic but AF still doesn't want to work although the AF confirmation light lights up :) Looks like I'm making progress. Now I'm just going to take the lens in and see if the guys are able to sort it out fully and clean it :)
 
chau said:
I've managed to get the lens to work a bit better now. I don't need to tape up the contacts, the IS works but makes a funny sound while its doing its magic but AF still doesn't want to work although the AF confirmation light lights up :)
Click to expand...

IS does that. How much differs from lens to lens. On the 18-200mm IS I can hardly hear it. On the 24-105L it used to be pretty prominent. The IS on the 24-105L was at least a stop and a half better - not sure if that's related/relevant.
 
Oh I see. I've taken a few photos with the Nikon 18-105mm VR lens and that is pretty must silent so I figured that's how IS' should be. But I'm a bit more relieved to hear that it is a noisy operation and the gears aren't grating and wearing out :)
It looks like there's hope to get the AF fixed now :)
shot a lot guys
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top
Sign up to the MyBroadband newsletter
X