My camera has died on me! Just as I was about to leave Crater Lake.
It has been sick for quite a while, various ailments. I thought it was dead once, very recently, but revived it, oddly, by attaching it to my computer via the USB connector and running the EOS Utility program just to "take a look". But I tried this again with no luck, and I've tried all kinds of other manipulations of lens removal, toothbrushing and air-cleaning the controls, yet again replacing the backup battery that keeps the time, other odd rituals.
It seems to be related to the power switch. That switch has been very hard to operate since I bought the camera. A few weeks ago the switch has stopped doing anything - the camera stayed ON no matter the switch position. Now, it seems, the camera stays OFF no matter the position.
Some web seaches gave me some hope I might be able to DIY a repair that I may try:
http://photo.net/canon-eos-digital-camera-forum/00XhWk
http://www.dpreview.com/forums/thread/3254340
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EEUQnqQtXgw
OK, just got done w/ a 2nd backup of the photo's from this trip so far. Still haven't had a look at them. First, off to try to fix things so I can take more.
Need to find a place that sells tiny screwdrivers... No photo shop in Bend. Best Buy only will service stuff bought there. Walmart has an eyeglasses place. I wonder if they could lend me a screwdriver... Got some phone#s of cpter repair people. May look for a jeweler...
OK, after stopping at an electronics repair store, they directed me to a tool seller in town: Harbor Freight. Bought a "kit", supposedly good for taking apart cell phones and such, gave a tentative try at one of the screws - but it was rather corroded and the quality of the bits in the kit seems poor -I may try returning it and try a better quality set. (edit: this Wednesday morning I replaced the kit and managed to "loosen" all the screws I think I need to remove. But Need a calm moment to actually remove the cover - probably after my next hike.)
OK, excess nervous energy caused me to go off half-cocked and take a long drive to "move" my first food cache from Santiam Pass to McKenzie Pass - but ended up NOT moving it (after realizing the bus to Eugene would also be taking Santiam Pass. I did practice using my cell phone for picts, but haven't looked at them closely yet - maybe I'm just afraid to know the ugly reality of my Nexus One lens, but can't remember how to get my android galley onto the PC through the USB (I know I've done this before - but now I can't find them in the microSD card... no time now - fiddle with that later.) (edit: managed to figure that out - it's in a folder called DCIM (who'da thought... not sure how I missed that on my last search!)
Overnighted on forest land just south of town. Now it's Tuesday the 23rd.
In desperation, looked at some cameras at Target that use AA batteries (so wouldn't need to buy more special batteries for the hike if it should come to that...) - a Nikon Coolpix L840 $300 and a Sony DSC H300B for 220. Salesman said I could check Amazon and they'll match that price. will look at specs and prices. Later, checked Best Buy and after some back and forth between the store and the Starbucks across the parking lot, bought the Sony for $130 plus 200gb worth of SD cards for again that much. The Sony uses AA batteries, so won't have to invest in yet another set of proprietary battery. I have 15 days to return the camera. I hope I follow thru on that! Spent time at Starbucks reading the online PDF manual. Set up the camera time, took some test pix, video and panorama.
Forecast calls for record hot spell beginning this weekend - well into the 100's east side of crest, high 90's on the crest. Should only affect my bike ride - in the Mts I could just take a long mid-afternoon break. Would suffer more trying to wait it out in Bend or other valley town. Still hope to get this going by this Wednesday. Hence my emergency camera purchase.
Now I'm still in town trying to download maps to my cellphone. Still have to charge all my existing AA batteries and maybe buy some more. And Gas. Then Pack. Oh, Write down on PAPER my bus connections. I happen now to be at the east side library (thought I'd avoid the maze surrounding downtown.) But this closes at 6pm. May go to main library after all til 8pm to finish downloading and checking bus sched, then head south back to my bicycle at Crater Lake. Contemplating a really esrly start tomorrow bicycling down to Chemult to catch 9am bus, otherwise I'll have a layover in Chemult (or maybe LaPine) with just my bike. Sooner I get going the better. (I'll probably move this paragraph to a separate post with my next update.)
Well, now the main library is about to close, I've been downloading map tiles for BCNAV but things are not working right - cant see the map. The download History says it downloaded to the :map package" that I am using, but when I choose the "center" option to "center" on the area just downloaded, I am in a blank area with no map shown. Frustrating - sometimes it has worked fine, but they've been making changes, and maybe support for my ancient Nexus One is dropped. But the behavior has always been very unintuitive., I suspect I'm just missing some step...
So, I have my bus schedule solidified - need to be in Chemult by 9:30 am but it may not happen tomorrow. Just remember I still want to leave a food cache at Elk Lake, so I'm probably going there tonight and overnight at trailhead there. Also still need gas and batteries. and pack. Probably will update from Chemult maybe tomorrow evening.
So, ended up overnighting Tuesday night again outside of Bend. Few more errands this morning - decided to send my main backup drive to Becca, so I won't have to worry it will go up in flames when my car catches fire from the forecast thunderstorm lightning-started fires this weekend while I'm elsewhere on the trail.
I'm giving up on the BCNAV map downloads for now - will drop my cache at Elk Lake and head to Chemult - possibly after one more stop, off of hwy 58, at the Shelter Cove Resort on Lake Odell, to check their power plug and wifi access situation, that I hope to stop at midway on my hike to recharge batteries etc. This will be a long hike - 8-10 days maybe - especially if I take it slower due to the heat.
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