My Olympus Camera Has Come Back From The Dead

A few days ago I blogged about dropping my Olympus camera, breaking it, and my search for a new camera, with the 2 finalists being an Olympus waterproof, drop damage resistant, weather proof camera and a top-rated Canon.

So, yesterday I picked up my damaged Olympus, thinking I'd take out the rechargeable batteries. But, before I did that, for some reason, I thought I'd try to turn the camera on again.

It came on as if nothing had happened to it. I took a picture as if nothing had happened to it. After I'd dropped it there was a real bad grinding noise when the camera tried to open. The display would not light up. Pushing on the shutter button did nothing.

I can only speculate why the camera is back working. Here I was going to buy a new Olympus, that was supposed to be harder to break. But apparently my, once more alive, current Olympus, has some sort of magical repair itself ability.

Or maybe when I dropped the camera some part of the inner mechanism was wrenched out of alignment, but held in tension by a spring, or something. Then while sitting idle the tension slowly put whatever had wrenched out of alignment, back into place.

I'm going with the magical repair itself option. We'll see how long the newly healed camera continues to work. It likely is a temporary return from the dead.

Tragic Tandy Hills Photographic Calamity

When last we spoke I said I was heading out to get in some aerobic stimulation. Late afternoon, temperatures in the 60s, I figured I'd go to the Tandy Hills, again, maybe getting a good picture or two of the Fracking (or Fraccing) being done by Chesapeake Energy to the formerly, sort of, pristine Tandy Hills.

But no Fracking was heard as I exited my vehicle. It was quiet, no wind, birds chirping, beautiful. I walked along, holding my camera bag in my left hand, my arms swaying back and forth, like arms do when walking fast.

I had not made it off the cement sidewalk entry to the Tandy Hill trails when, suddenly, my camera went flying out of its bag and landed hard on the cement. I picked it up. Turned it on. It did not respond. Tried again. I got a sign of life. The motor began to whir, the lens popped out, but there was a grinding noise. The display lit up for a second. Then went away. I pushed the shutter button. Nothing.

I quickly came to terms with the fact that I had killed my 8 year old Olympus camera at the Tandy Hills. A fitting place for a sad demise.

My camera was already on its last legs and I was already looking for a replacement. I've got my choices narrowed down to the Olympus Stylus Tough-8000, you see above, and the Canon PowerShot SD880 you see on the right. I like the specs of the Olympus camera. It can survive almost a 7 foot drop. I can take it 33 feet underwater. It can handle being way below freezing. And it is crush proof.

The Canon is top rated for the quality of its pictures, color-wise. And its speed of processing. Neither of which is a huge issue to me. I've been perfectly happy with my, now dead, antique Olympus. I'm thinking getting a new Olympus, that would not die from an untimely death drop, is the way to go.

It's like an omen. Old camera killed by being dropped. Get a new one that can survive such a calamity.