Troubleshooting: For Those Not So Obvious Problems

by Andrew on

Generally speaking, figuring out what is wrong with a digital camera is pretty straight forward. Nine out of ten times, there was an impact, some major event or an error message that tells you what caused the malfunction. But what about that other 10% of the time when it isn’t so clear? It is hard to believe we haven’t already posted a general troubleshooting guide yet. Although, because of the vast amount of camera models out there and the equally vast amount of things that can and do go wrong with them maybe it isn’t so hard to believe. This guide will be a VERY general instruction to troubleshoot your digital camera.

The very first thing to do when unsure what is going on with a camera is to test the battery or make sure it is in there correctly. I know this may seem obvious, but the battery might be defective or the contacts might be dirty. If able to turn on the camera, test each feature to figure out all being affected. This can clue you into what the root of the problem is. Many times it is a communication problem with another component and all one needs to do is give it a nudge. The best example is lens errors on SLRs; many times all it needs is an extra little twist to lock it into the right place. However, you never ever want to force anything.

Many times it is a setting that has gotten changed that just so happens to mess with everything. Try resetting all the menus and custom functions to the cameras factory settings. If the camera is taking pictures, at least some of the time, evaluate them; it isn’t as intimidating as one would think. All one has to do is figure out what the heck is going on. This is much easier to do when using SLRs but not impossible with Point & Shoots. If you have another camera (doesn’t have to be the same type) that is functioning properly compare what it is doing in the same conditions. Exposure will give you clues to what is going on. This can be done with SLRs and some P&Ss by just going into Manual Mode.  First, try manipulating the shutter speed to get under, over, and normal exposures. Next check the aperture. Again, try to get under, over, and normal exposures. With P&Ss with no Manual Mode, turn off the flash and put it into a few different modes like night landscape and sports mode; take pictures in those modes inside (dark) and outside (sunny) to see what the camera is doing. Basically what you are looking for is to see if the aperture, shutter and light meter are functioning ok. Sometimes when the flash is malfunctioning it can throw off their functionality. If it turns out to be the flash and you NEED the camera hopefully the flash isn’t important or it supports an accessory flash.

If you are sure the camera isn’t functioning properly at this point, you’ll want to take it to a service provider because there isn’t a whole lot you can do. Taking these steps and having this information to provide to them will sometimes help expedite the repair because it will give them a better idea where to start. Also, hold on to the pictures that you took when you first noticed the problem and the ones where you were troubleshooting. The JPEGs embedded metadata can be very helpful to the technicians for diagnosis, especially for those intermittent issues.

{ 2 comments… read them below or add one }

Jim Loth January 3, 2011 at

My Olympus cameras LCD is blank. Lights up but no images. May have been exposed to direct sunlight thru lens. Is it worth repair? Thanks, Jim

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camerarepair January 4, 2011 at

Hi Jim,
This is usually an LCD replacement which would typically be within economical repair and impact is a common cause; the best thing to do is get it estimated. There would not be any correlation with sunlight. Other possible reasons for damage are water damage or a faulty main PCB (Printed Circuit Board), both can push it beyond economical repair. Hope that helps!

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