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| A poet & he don't know it! Photo: © Stan Banos |
My GR stopped cold a few weeks back while taking the simple snap above- screen just went dead! Found the place to repair it ($274) with a "free cleaning" thrown in. Then thought, why not send in my first, 'retired GR' (well worn, but still works- just needs a sensor cleaning). Precision Camera (authorized Ricoh repair center) wanted the same price just for the cleaning, which true, is still cheaper than a brand new GR3 (if ya can actually get one)- still, it just rubbed me the wrong way. C'mon, make it an even $250 at least- throw me a bone! So I said thank you- no thank you! Which was really kinda stupid 'cause... it's still way cheaper than even buying a used one in Exc Cond- cause even that one's gonna have dust too!
But what really influenced my no go position was... I stumbled upon this video, and sure enough, idiot that I am, psyched myself up that, yeah, sure, I can do that- and it's the exact-same-thing that the repair guy's gonna do! Except I can do it for absolute... FREE! Except he can do it in his sleep cause he's done it a thousand trillion times, and all I'm gonna do is open it up (if I can get that far), and drop, tear or break something- which at least will spare me from having to not be able to put the whole damn thing back together again!
Too embarrassed to send it back again now anywho. If I can only find the proper sized screwdriver! Say what? Yeah, this'll make a good... retirement project end of next year- a nice relaxing holiday project.
PS- For you GR3 guys.
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| Photo: © Stan Banos |
Aw come on! You can do it. Actually given the work involved I would say the $275 is worth it to let them do it.
ReplyDeleteTruth is... I sent it there specifically noting it was just to be cleaned- and they returned it saying they... "no longer had the parts to repair it." I emailed saying WTF- I just wanted it cleaned! They said to send it back- I kinda sensed the left hand really didn't know what the right hand was doing there. I coulda swore they quoted a lower price for a cleaning only- but couldn't find the quote, so that one's on me. Then I see the video, and they tell me what was "free" the last time is gonna cost the exact same as a repair. So I said screw it! So they sent Ol' Dusty back. That's her above in her youth! Ain't she a perty young thing!? Now she looks more like me...
DeleteYup, got something to occupy The Holidays during retirement this time, next year 'round when I hit 70! Truth is... I don't use it as much (ie- daily basis) as I used to since downtown turned ghost town. Back to being a weekend warrior again (with the Q)- which is why I was surprised as hell to get fifty keepers this year!
We just got us a new mayor- don't really know what, if anything, he'll actually be able to do. I never worried about NYC in the 70's when President Ford told us to "Drop Dead" (I know- he never actually said it). We were literally "too big to fail," but San Francisco is a different animal, we're under a million, and that's far from invulnerable...