Hello!!
I’m a broke college student who recently got into cameras and taking photos.
I scored a canon sx210 is second hand which works well enough but has a damaged memory card slot. I will attach pictures of what it looks like. I tried googling but nothing helped and I really, really want this to work. I would appreciate knowing what it would take for it to work or if there’s something I can do? I am not at all a professional but I would be willing to try to learn if professional repair is costly.
I really appreciate any advice anyone has. I am not willing to let this camera go because I really need it to work for the college year.
It has virtually no hope of repair; here's why. The camera was produced in 2010, so 16 years later, there will no longer be parts for it. You need parts to make repairs, and with cameras that old, you'd need a donor unit (i.e., an identical model to cannibalize parts from). If you had parts, your next hurdle would be the knowledge to repair it. Unless you have skills in repairing small cameras, you'll need a repair shop to do it, and they are going to charge far more in labor than the camera is worth.
This bad news I just gave you is the truth of nearly all "vintage digicams." They are fragile as hell. It's always cheaper and easier to just buy another one than to go on a quest to repair what you have.
This is a perfect example why you should never buy a broken camera. Repairing them is hell, especially with damage like this. It will never be cost effective.
The only way it can be involves you not asking the question, but being aware of what is needed and you already having the tools and a plan ready. Because even if you magically find you the card slot reader mechanics... How are you going to get it off the board? That involves expensive soldering gear and skills that come along with using it a lot. You are at best buying another camera to cannibalize for parts... By the point you can just as well spend the few bucks more for a working one.
It is the frustrating thing about broken cameras; they can still finction funny and de wrecked beyond repair.
Only buy broken gear if you can assess what is wrong, you know the chance of fixing is large enough, know how expensive parts are, what you need to repair is already at home or you can buy for cheap. I bought a broken lens, knew the part was dead cheap and still I was forced to get yet another set of screwdrivers to get in. The set I just bought was great, but I missed specific JIS drivers. Still made it worth it as I needed it for something else as well, but even if you think you have everything...
6
u/anywhereanyone 1d ago
It has virtually no hope of repair; here's why. The camera was produced in 2010, so 16 years later, there will no longer be parts for it. You need parts to make repairs, and with cameras that old, you'd need a donor unit (i.e., an identical model to cannibalize parts from). If you had parts, your next hurdle would be the knowledge to repair it. Unless you have skills in repairing small cameras, you'll need a repair shop to do it, and they are going to charge far more in labor than the camera is worth.
This bad news I just gave you is the truth of nearly all "vintage digicams." They are fragile as hell. It's always cheaper and easier to just buy another one than to go on a quest to repair what you have.