More digital camera problems...

Framar

WOW Framer
Joined
Jul 24, 2001
Posts
26,420
Loc
Buffalo, New York, USA/Fort Erie, Ontario, Canada
So about a month ago I bought a digital camera. Small, inexpensive, but just what I needed for my (eventual) website. This camera is called SiPix 2300. Anyone ever heard of it?

Well, it was working just great, I even managed to transfer some of the pix onto my computer, then, yesterday whilst I was attempting to take a photo at the shop, the camera just quit on me.

Yes, I have tried fresh batteries. Alkaline, Nicad, and NiMH. Last two types freshly charged (and brand new, I might add.). The red LED goes on on the camera, the screen flashes for about a tenth of a second, and it does this every thirty seconds until I remove the batteries.

No LCD screen, no transfer to computer via USB, nada.

And here's more trouble, the phone number listed in my user's guide is a fax line now, and the website (SipixDigital) has "contact" links that bring up a page that very smarmily announces that "did you know every question you have to ask is answered on this website." WRONG!!!

Anyone have any REAL contact info on this company??? I am sure I can return this thing to the store where I purchased it for a replacement or a refund, but I would like to know that there is some support out there somewhere on this brand.

icon45.gif
THANKS!!!
 
Try replacing the batteries with “Duracell” or the “brand” that came with the camera….I recall read somewhere that some products like cameras have become very batteries specific….I cannot recall what the full content of the article was but it did resolve the problem we have had with one of the cameras we have.
 
Hmm.. doesn't look good, as it seems their website is having problems.

Google though is great since you can look up cached pages if you know the URL, like this one: Google SiPix Cache

This page says to take the batteries out for 5-10 minutes and let the memory basically "reset" itself. Have you tried that?

If that doesn't do the trick, then it may be a driver issue or USB problem. If you can, try a different PC so you can narrow the issue down to just the camera. SiPix supposedly has a "USB Doctor" program on their website to diagnose these things, but alas it seems their support website is currently down. Here's the contact info from their main site:
Phone:1-510-743-2928(Main)
Fax:1-510-743-2872
Email:contact@sipix.com
Hope that helps..
 
Quick search for "SiPix camera problems" on Google found this page from Amazon.

Check out the customer reviews - not many people happy with this camera (or even other cameras from this company)... ouch.
 
Where is that graemlin of the little person bashing her head into the wall? It feels better when I stop. Ouch.

Dermot, the batteries that came with it were a short-lived "no name" type which I couldn't replace if I tried. I bought GOOD batteries for it! I bought a charger! (and part of the reason for this camera was to be able to get some nice pictures of your magnificent feline namesake).

Steve- THANKS for the info. I feel REALLY stupid now. (not your fault, my fault!)
 
Mar, my older son got us a digital camera for Christmas. I don't know what he paid, but I know it couldn't have been too much (I manage his financial affairs
icon45.gif
and I didn't notice any unusual outlay of money, in other words, he didn't need any extra money from Mom for gas, etc...)

It has been the best addition to my work of anything we've done. The laptop just makes life easier, this camera makes it much more efficent.

I know this doesn't help you any with your camera, but this one is a Kodak EasyShare CX6200. Not a "big deal" camera, but it gets the job done.

Betty
 
If you don't have anything really critical on your memory card try to reformat it. Sounds like the camera is trying to capture, but maybe it thinks the card is full.
 
Betty - I never realized how fast I could fall in love with a gadget! So many uses! So little time! (and YOU were the one who finally got thru to me about needing a website!).

Katman - The camera won't do anything at all, so I'm taking it back to the store tomorrow and they're gonna see if they can do anything with it. Maybe a fresh card would work to "jump start" it, but the comments that WizSteve found for me on Amazon do not bode well for my future happiness with this brand.
 
Originally posted by Framar:
So many uses! So little time!
Oh man, ain't it so! The editing software that came with mine is wonderful. Then (and this is so strange) I just found some software on my shop computer (not where the camera software is) called "Microsoft Pictue-It". Where this came from I have no idea! I've used this computer for 5 years and never seen it before. I know I didn't download it because I never download anything!

Anyway, it is so cool, too! Many of the things I've found to do, I could do with Adobe Photoshop, but on Picture It, it is much easier.

My frame of the month in my newsletter has gotten a lot easier, and my next project is "project of the month" on the website.

Yeah, so many uses, so little time!

Betty
 
Framar... Unfortunately, this is a prime example of the old adage "You get what you pay for." This is a cheap, no name, piece of junk and you should demand your money back from the store. Then spend a couple of hundred and get a camera from a well known reputable company, such as Canon or Fuji or Olympus. They all make low end digital cameras that work quite nicely. Skimping on quality always costs more in the long run.
 
Just thought I would fill y'all in with "the rest of the story."

The store I returned the Sipix camera to had no luck obtaining satisfaction from either their supplier or the manufacturer. So they returned my money. And I went to Radio Shack and bought a Kodak EasyShare CX6230. I LOVE THIS CAMERA!!!!!

I am VEWWY VEWWY happy!!! I can take ultra sharp close-ups of my miniatures, I shot some great pix at two weddings (including the sun-dappled bride riding the chestnut mare into the grove where the groom awaited) and I have been taking lots of shots of frames and stuff for the website (to be up and running soon).

Only one question for the photographers in the crowd: My store front is on the North side of the steet and even though I have two big picture windows, there is never any direct sunlight. I would like a photo of the front of my shop for the website, but even without direct sun I am getting mega reflections in the glass. Trees and sky not so bad but ugly houses will not do. Any suggestions? Maybe a step ladder?
 
If the reflections aren't distorting the picture too badly, there's always Photoshop.. it's relatively easy to clone more trees and sky over the houses in the reflection.
 
Framer,

Welcome to the world of EASY Digital. I have 4900
and it was so great (untill the docking port croaked). Now I slam lithium batteries in the thing and go forever. In November I took 2,800 pictures of frames in Louve, Rijks, & Prado....
my poor wife never wants to see another BIG ******* Gold frame again.
help.gif


If you have Photoshop, take a picture in the daylight, and then again at night with all your lights on. "Cut and paste" the night pictured windows over the day windows and voila!!! Night into day, with great looking windows showing the shop interior during the day.....
Beats the heck out of replaceing your front windows with Tru Vue Museum glassss........ oh never mind.
faintthud.gif


Happy Matting
baer
 
What a creative solution!


Mike
 
Baer - That does sound like a great idea! And it just so happens I have tried night photos (but the outside of the shop didn't show up very well)! I am just getting started with Photoshop, but my business partner is a retoucher, so I'll have her try it! She thought it was a great idea too!

THANKS!!!
 
Now I have a question. I had my Kodak software on a separate computer, but didn't have photoshop on there and had no way to resize the pictures. They were all huge - 11x14 and larger - so when I wanted to take some images to my shop computer, it would take a floppy for every couple of photos. (No cd burner on that one.)

I decided to put the software on my shop computer since most of the photos were work related anyway, but when I did, the Kodak software took over ALL my images. In other words, it became my default image software, where Adobe was before.

Is there anyway to change my default back to Adobe, or will I have to take the Kodak software back off?

I'm thinking about putting the camera software and Adobe software on my laptop where I have cd burning capabilities.

Advice?

Betty
 
How to change the file associations - that's what you wanna do - will depend partly on what flavor of Windows you're using.

With XP, for example, a simple way is to right click on the file (with Windows Explorer or My Computer) and a menu will open. One of the choices is "Open With" and it will usually present a list of suitable applications, which should include Photoshop. If it doesn't include Photoshop, you can browse for it from this menu. There should also be a little check box for "Always Use to open this type of file" or something similar. If you check that, the application you choose will become the default application for any file with the same extension as the one you right-clicked on.

There are other ways to change the file association within each version of Windows. Use Windows 'Help' and search for 'File Associations - changing.'
 
Back
Top