My beloved GRD took a crash landing. HELP!

[awbphotog]

Hello everyone. Whilst gigging with the band, my Ricoh was knocked from my grip by a friend and it landed smack on the extended lens. Something is loose inside of the lens, and while the camera powers on and *tries* to focus, it never achieves correct focus. The good news is that the camera still powers on, all buttons work, but the lens does not retract completely into the camera body when powered off. I'm terribly distraught as this is my go-to camera for pretty much everything, and I want to know what my options are. Should I be contacting Ricoh directly? I have no idea what type of customer support is available for these somewhat old digital cameras. Thank you all so much in advance.

Andy

 

[macfiend]

Sorry to hear about your misfortune 🙁
In my opinion, Ricoh would be your best bet. If it were my GRD, I would contact them and make arrangements to ship it out for service.

 

[awbphotog]

Macfiend,

Thanks for the quick response. I've just drafted an email to Ricoh addressing the damage and $$ for repair, etc. It's so sad to see my little GRD all crippled...but I'm hopeful that Ricoh will help me out. I certainly don't want to try anything myself. That sort of dabbling is for my film gear.

Andy

 

[rhl-oregon]

Yep to that. But check out the prices of GRDIIIs here and there before you commit to any unspecific repairs/estimates--it may be cheaper to get another. Keep us apprised of how you handle it. And once the pain passes, please narrate more fully how you were managing to gig (playing which instrument?) and shoot, and how your friend managed to knock the GRD loose. We can all use some comic relief.

 

[shiro_kuro]

You will have to send the camera to Ricoh before they will give you a quote .....

From my experience of sending cameras to Ricoh the costs for repairs run about $120.00
give or take ,it did not seem to matter what was repaired ... I have sent at least 4 cameras in for repairs here in Japan ..... excellent service and sometimes no charge at all ... But that's Ricoh Japan .....

In the US you have to deal with for Criscam for Ricoh repairs
http://www.criscam.com

I see the older GRD version selling for around $200... the IV for about $350.00

may or may not be worth buying a new camera ..... the original GRD is well loved for it's black and white jogs

good luck

 

[awbphotog]

Thanks for the responses. I will elaborate on the circumstances surrounding the little grd's demise tomorrow. I wonder if I shouldn't just try and contact Ricoh Japan and see if they will repair it directly. I'm awaiting a response from Criscam. I do hope the $120 quote is at least somewhere in the ballpark. I paid $99 for the camera here on RFF. Yikes.

 

[jonmanjiro]

Ricoh caps repair costs in Japan. Doesn't matter what is damaged, once the repair reaches a predetermined price they don't charge more even if more work or parts are needed. I got a non functioning GRD repaired for a friend a few years ago and Ricoh replaced the entire lens unit. Was about 12,000 yen if I remember correctly.

May not be worth the expense and trouble to get it fixed though.

 

[awbphotog]

I am fairly certain it is worth it to me to repair the camera. Money is certainly
an issue, but this camera has given me more keepers than any other digital camera I've owned. I need it. Photographically speaking, of course.

 

[shiro_kuro]

Ricoh caps repair costs in Japan. Doesn't matter what is damaged, once the repair reaches a predetermined price they don't charge more even if more work or parts are needed. I got a non functioning GRD repaired for a friend a few years ago and Ricoh replaced the entire lens unit. Was about 12,000 yen if I remember correctly.

May not be worth the expense and trouble to get it fixed though.

That must be it because my repair bills never went past the 12,000 ¥ ....

To deal with Ricoh Japan you need a go between that lives here ,as the Ricoh sends the shipping company to your house to pick up the camera . No need to do any thing just hand the camera to the guy .... they also pack the camera .

When the cameras is repaired it sent back to you and at that time you pay the shipping company cash.... it's called Chaku barai

If you do get the work done here in Japan there is an option to have the shutter button set to different sensitivities .. you may consider this .
I had mine set to the Lightest touch possible and love it . Costs 4,000¥

 

[btgc]

At first moment loss always seems bigger, that's natural reaction. As well you can discover that GRD III or IV is THE CAMERA, after using it for some time. Life brings us new opportunities, and quite often they look like a losses, at first sight.