Thursday, February 08, 2007

Casio Un-commercial

I've told so many people how wonderful my little camera is, that I feel responsible for doing an Un-commercial.
About a week ago my camera broke. Turns out that there's a serious design flaw: it's very easy for the camera to be turned on accidentally if either of two buttons gets bumped. Then the lens opens.
Or tries to open. If it's in your pocket, or a case, it tries to open and fries the lens unit.
On ebay there are about 20 broken lens ex-s500 cameras right now. I found someone who will fix it for $128 plus shipping.
You can actually buy a refurbished one for about $100 on ebay. Which is what I did. Even with the high probablility that it will break again, I love my little camera!
Casio definitely set the standard for 'spy cameras' and there are now a number of other brands with similar styles. Perhaps they don't have this turning on flaw, I haven't explored them yet. And perhaps Casio will fix it on newer models. In the meantime, buyer beware.

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