Camera Recovered

My new camera fell down on Nov 5, 2008 from a height of almost 5 feet in switched on condition while clicking random pictures. The shock caused a severe damage to the lens cover. The dented lens cover didn’t allow the lens to come out of the camera. It was a shocking moment for me as I purchased it only a month ago.

Today, I gathered some courage and took the camera to Sony Service Center near Hyderabad Central knowing the fact the damages caused by dropping are not covered under warranty. The guy at the service center after inspection for few minutes said, “The entire lens has to be replaced”. I was shocked as only the lens cover was damaged and not the lens itself. I asked the approximate cost knowing the fact that it would be damn costly affair. He said gracefully, “Only 4500/- plus service charges and service tax”. I was dumbstruck. WTF!!! I moved out of the service center to breathe some fresh air.

I decided to check out the price at another Sony Service Center. There is another Sony Service Center near Hotel ITC Kakatiya (thanks to google local for the location 🙂 ) which is at a walking distance from Hyderabad Central. When I inquired the price for lens replacement there, the guy said, “8000/- to 10000/-“. I said, “f**k off”!!!. I would buy a new one for ten grands. Then I told him about the offerings by the other service center. He checked some details on Center’s LAN and found out that it would cost 6000/- including everything.

Pissed off by the price, we (Mahaveer was with me) started moving back towards central. I was left with no option other than spending a nice amount of 5000/- for the camera repair. But I thought of trying my luck yet another time (Linux has taught me this “don’t give up policy”). This time I approached the shop Third I Digital in Hyderabad Central. I bought the camera from that shop. When I told the guy there about the happenings. After checking the camera, he suggested, “Try to fix it yourself. Take a needle or something with a pointed edge and remove the dent. Lens will open and camera will work fine. Otherwise you’ll have to spend 5000/- anyway. Just give it a shot”. Something sounded good to ears after a long time. Packed my camera and we left for City Center. Had burgers there and returned to IIIT.

At room, I took a blade (shaving) and fixed the dent. And the camera is working fine now. I am feeling releived now 🙂 A blade worth five thousand.

 

My new Sony Cybershot DSC W110 Digital Camera

Finally after a long wait, I bought this Sony Cybershot DSC W110 Digicam from Hyderabad Central yesterday. Actually Deepak came to my room and said there is huge offers on Digicams in Hyderabad Central. I didn’t think twice and me, Pankaj, Bansi and Deepak headed to Central. But we found that there were no offers on Sony. But I had already decided to buy this model. So who cares for the offer. After a few minutes of bargaining ( i suck at bargaining ), I bought it for Rs. 9600 ($210).BTW I bought it from Third I Digital shop.

Features : 7.2 Megapixels, 4x Optical Zoom, High Sensitivity ISO3200, 2.5″ LCD Display, Face Detection, Smile Shutter, Full HD.

Accessories : Camera + 1GB Memory Card + Battery Charger + Battery + USB, Audio/Video Cable.

Gift : The shop keeper offered a scratch card with the camera. And I won three days and two nights holiday anywhere in India 😀 Nice.. aint it 🙂

We clicked some shots in Central. Here are few.

Kulbir Saini and Nitin Bansal

Left to right : Kulbir Saini, Nitin Bansal

Deepak Vig

Deepak Vig

Pankaj Saini

Pankaj Saini

Then We headed to my favorite destination in Hyderabad, City Center. We had burgers as usual. Pankaj did some shopping while we “ogled” at few “good looking” girls. We moved to crossword (a boook shop in City Center). We decided to leave for home. As we came out of Crossword, there were some dandia performance by some group. We captured some shots there as well.

Dandia Performace

Nitin, Kulbir, Deepak

Left to right : Nitin Bansal (Welcome to Sajjanpur wala Bansi :P), Kulbir Saini, Deepak Vig

Few more shots and we headed back to the divine place .. IIIT Hyderabad 🙂

Deepak Vig, Pankaj Saini

We forced Pankaj to go for Dandia but unfortunately he couldn’t find a funti as only couples were allowed 😛

A big thanks to all the people who provided their views and helped me to by this cam 🙂

PS : Thanks to Google for all the dollars.

 

Hunt for a digicam begins

Every time I come across something amazing like a poster or creature or scenic beauty, I feel a strong urge to capture the moment but I don’t have a god damn camera 🙁 Since the beginning of this summer vacations I wanted to buy a digicam but wasn’t motivated enough to grab one. But a few guyz and gals have finally motivated me enough to begin my hunt for the digital camera.

I have set the budget at 10K (strictly) and I want a nice digicam + 2GB memory card. My primary requirements are a nice optical zoom of at least 4x with a good digital zoom and Li-ion battery (no AA batteries please). FYI, I am not a pro photographer and if I tell precisely I have not crossed even the newbie level. I have hardly used any digicam ever(only mobiles till date), so I don’t really have any idea about optical zoom and focal lengths but those seems to be the standards when selecting a camera that fit your requirements. I need this camera basically for clicking anything (outdoor/indoor/wherever) and at any time (day/night).

Keeping the above requirements in mind, I spent the entire day on ebay and google. And I finally found that Sony Cybershot DSC W110 fits my needs. Also the price is really low for the features of the camera. Plus there are nice reviews about this model everywhere. I also found Olympus FE 290 good in terms of specifications but this review about the product scared me.

I have almost decided to buy the one from Sony unless I find some other model which offers more for the same or lesser price. If you have any suggestions regarding the camera I should go for, please leave as a comment. It will help me a lot 🙂