Can this be repaired?

BoardsMember

Or is it even worth repairing?

It's a FujiFilm FinePix S6500 fd with a 28-300mm lense. It's been sitting in a drawer for a couple of years. When I went to open it the batteries had leaked.

There does not seem to be any significant damage, but the camera is not working. Pretty sure (hopeful) that if I was able to clean the contact points that would fix the problem, but I am not sure how best to so this.

I have read that using vinegar might be worth trying. It'll be difficult to get to the contact points opposite the opening. I think I might also have to lightly sand the contact points, again accessing the ones in the camera is going to be difficult. Any thoughts or suggestions are welcome on how best to do this.

I dont have a DSLR so would be keen on getting this working.

Thanks,

BM

Rainbowsend

That is pretty corroded alright! i would clean off all the debris with an old toothbrush then use an emery board to "sand" off the stubborn bits, you may be lucky, but if the acid has leaked into the inner workings then it will be doubtful that it will work. Good Luck!

BoardsMember

Thanks for the advice, I appreciate your response. I think/hope the pictures make it look worse than it is, there does not seem to be that big a mess inside the camera. I just read a few reviews of the camera and it seems to be quite a nice one so really hoping I can get it working!

pixbyjohn

Try warm water and bread soda (baking powder) on the contacts to clean them and use a toothbrush as Rainbowsend suggests

Tenshot

Nail polish remover is also useful for cleaning battery leak off contacts etc - either on the end of a soft cloth, or dampening an old soft toothbrush with it as already suggested.

Then lightly sanding the contacts to get rid of any oxidisation should get you back up and running again.

(I used exactly this approach to resurrect an old electronic gate zapper that was completely DOA only yesterday.)

BoardsMember

Thanks again for the great advice. The good news is I got it working. What proved to be useful was regular malt vinegar, it kind of reacted gently with the hardened battery gunk. The nail polish remover wasn't really working. The vinegar applied with a q-tip, and then an old tooth brush. Now to read the manual and understand all the "stuff"!!

peckerhead

Fair play to ya. In an age of disposable, dearer-to-fix-than-replace equipment, it's nice to see a piece of gear being saved from the scrapheap.

I've had that same Fuji bridge for years and have some great photos from it. Upgraded to a DSLR but held on to the S6500 as a backup rather than flog it on. Still reach for it first in a lot of "quick snapshot" scenarios, to be honest...!

BoardsMember

peckerhead wrote: »

Fair play to ya. In an age of disposable, dearer-to-fix-than-replace equipment, it's nice to see a piece of gear being saved from the scrapheap.

I've had that same Fuji bridge for years and have some great photos from it. Upgraded to a DSLR but held on to the S6500 as a backup rather than flog it on. Still reach for it first in a lot of "quick snapshot" scenarios, to be honest...!

Good to hear! If you have any tips for how to get the best from it for a total "point and click" numbnuts I'm all ears.

peckerhead

Check out the discussions and streams on the Flickr pool, for a start.

blackbox

Great that you go it working. I suggest that you smear the contacts with vaseline as they might now be more prone to corrosion having lost the surface coating.