I’m rather fortunate in having a number of interests to get involved in, however more often than not work gets in the way.
How many times have you made that resolution that this year “ I’m going to work to live not live to work” and each year you reneged on that resolution. I have for god knows how many years, but this year there has been a change.
My health is getting no better and I’m now looking at this as being a warning to me to get things in an order of priority. Work, it’s given me PTSD what with all the traumatic issues I’ve experienced and nothing else, so I’m giving it less time and attention by cutting out all overtime, turning that damned phone off and spending quality time with my wife and dog. I’m treating those rare days off as family days and so far so good.
It might be only me and the wife getting away to some away football games, but we love these days out and win lose or draw (mainly lose at the moment) we love these days out. Cutting out the work ensures this can happen.
I love art, I’m useless at it but I love it, I love fixing and repairing old cameras, I love repairing electronics, i love a beer and I like to socialise with family and friends.
I’m realising my enemy here, though an essential for achieving stability is work.
I’m on a countdown to retirement now and I class my current actions as a trial for retirement and I’m really enjoying it I’m 58 going on 80 at the moment.
The message i’m trying to get across here is not to put things off. If you pledge to do something follow it through, there comes a time when it is all just too late and you don’t want to be laying there prior to taking your last breath having regrets. Do it all, do it today. Live, love ❤️ and be happy. Always.
Now these small digital units are well known for having faulty battery door mechanisms and this example is no different. The only real way to fix this issue is by obtaining a replacement fascia with the lock mechanism in place or source a temporary fix that will get us by. The lens seems to have an autofocus issue, again this is a common fault with these kind of units. I may dismantle the lens assembly, clean and lubricate. The electronics seem fine, a factory reset may be in order. I’ve used the strap and case from a damaged L22 to further compliment this unit. Recycle that’s the theme.
The camera was received with the information that the auto focus was not working and that the battery door was broken causing the batteries to fall out, also the batteries had to be full for the camera to work. Let’s take each issue one at a time.
The autofocus. This camera has numerous settings and one of those is smart auto that sometimes goes into “panic” and causes the unit to show errors especially as the battery starts to drain due to the camera constantly trying to focus on something that is not there. Move the setting to std autofocus and the camera is not so overwhelmed with information and is more willing to cooperate. Before I did this though I reset back to factory settings, I have then spent over an hour taking pictures of all sizes using all settings with no issues. I’m assuming the issue of autofocus was never really an issue, it’s basically back to basics as in computer terms “turn it off and on again”. After a reset of course.
Pictures good and reset carried out
Battery door. This is a known design issue with these early Coolpix cameras, I don’t know why Nikon didn’t address them back when they were produced. As these were made back in 2010 when digital cameras world wide were at their peak with something like 21 million units being produced, I suspect a recall would have cost a fortune. That said 12 years down the line it explains now why items like this have become disposable and are now ending up wrongly in landfill. The battery door has two points of contact where the door actually locks. One at the very edge of the body is the main culprit and when this goes batteries will fall out. The second catch relates to a small moveable switch in the middle of the door that has to be moved to open the battery compartment. If this alone is broken as is the one on my unit, then the battery’s will stay put temporarily until the user starts moving the camera around and then the door will pop and the batteries will exit the camera. As these catches form part of the front fascia there is really only two options available. Option one: purchase a damaged donor camera, make the repair and use the remainder as parts. Option two: Make a repair that is not particularly aesthetically pleasing but allows further use of a camera that is in all other aspects working perfectly. And we save it from landfill for a while longer keeping to this sites aims of recycling. I’m going to be looking at option two and will expand on what I intend to do later in this piece.
Broken tab middle of battery flap
Battery life. These units were ploughed out en masse before rechargeable batteries had a proved and viable existence. If you use bog standard cheap old batteries on these cameras using autofocus, flash and god knows whatever then prepare to replace those batteries quite frequently. Use batteries that have heavy duty not pound shop specials and here is why. Today I tried two brand new cheap batteries, the camera wouldn’t turn on and all I could hear was a clicking sound. I changed the batteries for two new high output ones and the camera operated fine, rather flummoxed with this I decided to get the multimeter out and have a check, the cheap batteries had a charge of just over one volt, about 30% less than expected and in theory it was dead. The better battery was holding one point five volts so in that respect it was working as it should. Moral of this story is don’t use cheap batteries on items that demand more such as photographic equipment.
Options for securing the battery door
Cheapest options, elastic band, piece of tape does the job, life extended. Hey presto! I have seen many fixes, Velcro tape – it works, small catches fitted as an afterthought- they work, they are all good ideas that extend the life of the product, an item that would normally just be flung in the bin as soon as the issue developed. The important thing here is that there is little value in this product now so don’t go over engineering things and looking at expensive solutions that will yield no long term benefits. Keep it simple and pass the solution on. Try and use items that you have around you, recycle and reuse that’s the purpose of this site.
Let’s add a nice strap and pouch from a donor camera
I like the idea of a small 3 inch metal strip and a thumb screw that fastens into the tripod hole. I may well make this up to show you what can be done, I have some plate laying around and a number of screws so that one is a starter for me. I will also look at one of the other examples mentioned above as a comparison. If I ever get around to making this I’ll update this post in the future. For the meantime why use a sledgehammer to crack a walnut, the elastic band option is more than suitable for this camera. I’m passing it onto my nephew, he’s new to photography and whilst he is deciding if he likes photography or not, why not experiment and give this little unit a few extra years of innocent experimentation 👍
Panic, everything grinds to a halt, you’ve guessed it the Uk has had a sprinkling of snow satisfying the egos of the poison media that have been promising an apocalypse for the last couple of weeks.
Why are we so unprepared? A question with a thousand different answers I’d guess, I’ve a few of my own but I just can’t bring myself to air those views. As I’m writing this item sitting in the car waiting for my wife to finish her nail appointment, I may not have the time and could well lose my flow if she was to interrupt me.
Iceland Feb 2023
The thing is we have recently spent an enjoyable week in Iceland and they truly know what snow is and it dosen’t seem to impede them in any way. The infrastructure is superior in many cases what with directing geo thermal water under the roads to warm them after it has initially heated your property. All vehicles crack on at the normal speed un impeded and everyone seems to be happy. The only cars stuck that we witnessed were tourists not quite used to what they were experiencing.
I guess familiarity with such occasions prepares you better, so that may be the answer in the long run.
Garden looking as good as my neighbour
Either way snow looks lovely, it’s the only time that my garden looks as good as everyone else’s 😂
I just hate driving in it though. What’s your views on snow where you live? Can your infrastructure handle it. I’d like to know.
Nikon Coolpix L27Nikon Coolpix L27Nikon Coolpix L27 caseHow the camera looked on arrival
The problem with this camera is that it had a focus issue and currently it is dead electrically. Quite looking forward to getting into this one as it maybe quite a simple fix. That said, it could be that the whole internal circuit needs replacing which will mean the camera could then be added to my ever growing spare parts collection.
On receipt this camera cosmetically is in excellent condition. Even the normally broken battery door catches are in fine condition on this model. The unit is very dead though and it looks as if a battery has leaked inside causing some corrosion. I suspect some of that leakage may have travelled a little further as it seems the wide/telephoto switch on top feels a little rough when it should be a smoother movement. I’m going to have to get inside this one and have a look around.
Battery leakage evident
I’m afraid it’s disappointment with this unit. The battery leakage is so severe it has pretty much dissolved a number of components, ruined the board tracking in a number of places and corroded the wide/telephoto switch beyond use. The trusty multimeter confirms that the main circuit board is about as much use as a chocolate fire poker – useless. I’m afraid this unit is resigned to use as a spares donor for another day.
Severe corrosion from batteries evident
As you can see above, the batteries have been allowed to leak causing a catastrophic amount of damage to the circuitry. I have cleaned tested used a specific cleaning solution and scrubbed the circuit to no avail. My friendly multimeter has confirmed the circuit is beyond economical repair.
Wide/Telephoto switch totally corroded
I have stated in earlier posts that there needs to be a greater awareness of the frailties of cheap batteries. There is a particular brand I know of that has adopted the name of a large photographic company I used to work for, and to be blunt their batteries are utter crap. They start to leak very soon after their demise and the acid/alkaline leaks everywhere, they should be avoided at all costs and I very much suspect this specific case is due to such advice being ignored. High use items such as cameras require an adequate battery, please do not cut corners here as it is a false expenditure.
Damage caused by corrosive substances
The saving grace from this unit is that I have a few items that will be put to use at a later date. The body shell with its intact battery locking mechanism will probably earn me more than the whole camera cost originally and that will still leave me more as spare parts. It’s just a shame that cost cutting on the power supply has damaged so much of this unit. I cannot impress on you enough, do not use cheap batteries, you will potentially pay the price of permanent damage if you do.
I have had to seriously clean and decontaminate my work board due to the immense amount of contamination that came from this unit, I’m glad I wore protective gloves whilst attempting to clean this unit.
What I have managed to salvage
I have salvaged a complete body shell with working battery locking door, a lens focusing unit, a rear screen and holder, a number of screws, a flash unit cover and a 330v 100uf photo flash capacitor. As well as a nice leather case.
Unfortunately not every unit is salvageable, however we have parts to assure the next unit may not go to waste. A healthy spares store is always welcome and all I can say is…. Onwards and upwards, bring forward the next repair.
Being a Leicester City fan is a crazy ride of unimaginable highs and dark and gloomy lows, at the moment we are on the low spectrum and todays long coach ride to Southampton for todays game is not a journey I am looking forward to to be honest considering our dire performances of late, again after a couple of high scoring games we have collapsed…..spectacularly.
The journey down from Leicester was a pleasant enough one with no issue’s regarding traffic, for a Saturday it was good, most unusual.
Our coach to Southampton
St Mary’s is a similar ground to our own and has a capacity of around 32 thousand. On arrival my wife and I made our way to a local hostelry to indulge in a couple of swift ones. On completion of this task we made our way back to the ground to meet with a friend coming down from London and then went into the stadium ( for another swift one) and to taste a local sausage roll. Suitably fed and watered we made our way to the stands.
Our view from the stands
And that’s where it all started to go wrong. To say we played poorly was an understatement, our second game in succession without a shot on target. The game was awful, but that’s part of the “joy” of being a Leicester fan, god we couldn’t be consistent if we tried. I love the away days though as there is some good banter between rival fans, unfortunately the yob elements are still there but that’s just down to a few knuckle draggers who try to ruin things for others, thankfully though it’s only a minority and not seen as an issue overall.
We lost 1-0
Game over thank god and now for the journey home, it’s been a lovely day. I got to spend valuable time with my wife who is a devout supporter and as I’m working so many different shifts it’s good to get some valuable down time.
Days out in this household are rare, so when they do occur they are treated as mini breaks away. The score could have been better but that’s not going to change the way the earth turns for us so it’s just a case of onto the next game.
Good company, plenty of laughs and time with the one you love. Who could ask for more?
In many ways and forms, no doubt about it, the Covid lockdown had people looking for other things to do for numerous reasons, for me it was to preserve my sanity.
I always enjoyed painting, however I was unsure of just what I wanted to use for subject matter, that’s when I looked for local painting groups in my area and stumbled across a lovely chap called Ray who offers tuition in the Bob Ross way of painting.
Ray states on his site that you can turn up at one of his classes and go home with a masterpiece and to be fair he’s not wrong, I have seen many attempts from his classes and all are of a very good standard.
I enrolled on Tays “Golden glow” course in Jan 22 and the result is below, I’m happy with this to be fair. Not fantastic but hey it was my first attempt.
Bob Ross Golden glowBob Ross Golden glowBob Ross Golden glowBob Ross Golden glow
The pictures are in stages from start to completion. When I took this home the wife didn’t believe I’d painted it and even contacted Ray via Facebook to check with him… what a cheek 😂
I booked a second course “ Crimson tide” with Ray and the results are below, I wasn’t so pleased with this one but I know where I made the mistakes. That’s the point of learning you learn from your mistakes.
Bob Ross Crimson tideBob Ross Crimson tideBob Ross Crimson tideBob Ross Crimson tideBob Ross Crimson tideBob Ross Crimson tide
A session with Ray is about 6hrs and the peace and tranquility is fantastic, it’s quiet the tuition is second to none and doing your own thing is actively encouraged when adding your own touches to your painting. For me I have found the distraction I wanted and now book in a session with Ray when the world is starting to get on my nerves. I’m overdue a session and must get another one in soon….
I’ve been in my current role for the last 12 years, it’s the longest I’ve been in a position throughout my so far 42 year working life. Management pretty much leave me alone however the job does have some pretty horrific outcomes both personally and privately. No one told me that in my 12 years I’d experience 17 horrific seriously disrupted fatalities, or that I’d be regularly abused verbally and sometimes physically. Despite all that I love my job, I work on the Railway trying to keep people off the tracks and trains on them. It’s a shame that the railway seems to be the first place to go to in times of desperation and loneliness. I’m trying to help this not become the norm. But I also need that help, I’m currently undergoing treatment for PTSD so it has affected me personally. But I still love my job. Here’s a question for you, how the heck am I still able to enjoy this job when there is so much heart ache around it?
Sometimes, someone just has to step up to the plate, maybe this is my calling. Who knows?
If you could permanently ban a word from general usage, which one would it be? Why?
The word Impossible.
Though we all use it on a regular basis, is anything really impossible? If we just look at things in a different way and from a different point of view you can see that absolutely everything is the polar opposite…..it is possible.
Foxes Den 
You must be logged in to post a comment.