Camera on the fritz

It's been a while since I've posted a personal message on this blog that has nothing to do with work. Of course, I put some of my more interesting stories and highlight videos on here so that more people can see them outside of Northeast Iowa or those who would happen to visit the Community Media Group websites.

Anyway, here's what's going on...

About a month ago, I was trying to cover the girls' soccer match between Cedar Falls and Iowa City West on a Tuesday night. For that reason, I brought my Canon Digital Rebel XT still camera and my JVC Everio video camera with me to the Vinton Newspapers office, so that I can go straight to the match in Waterloo from work. (The Cedar Valley Soccer Complex, where C.F. High plays its home soccer matches, is officially in Waterloo, just less than a mile from the southeastern Cedar Falls city limit next to a John Deere plant.) The weather was fairly warm (OK, it was pretty hot, reaching about 90 degrees in early May), so the heat in my car could have affected things. Bottom line was, my camera couldn't power up. Sometimes when it did, the display on the back of the camera would say "Err 99."

Anyway, I get home, put the battery in the charger, and the next day, I check it out. It worked. I just chalked it up to an undercharged battery. It was working OK for a while until about two weeks ago. After taking some pictures at Waverly-Shell Rock Junior High on their last day of school, I went to cover a baseball game at Riverfront Stadium in Waterloo between Independence and St. Ansgar. This time, the autofocus wouldn't take. Later, I tried it at home, and it was working. The following Tuesday night, I went to Independence to cover a girls' soccer regional semifinal between the Mustangs and Decorah, and it still couldn't auto focus. In both situations, I went with the manual focus. I later cleaned off the leads to the lens on the camera body with a tissue. It started focussing normally, so I was able to get shots of C.F. vs. Mason City girls' soccer last Wednesday night and Columbus vs. Clear Lake at Denver Friday.

Sunday night, though, I was making sure the camera would power up after charging the battery all weekend. It didn't do anything. I tried it again early Monday, and the same thing. I texted Pat, our sports editor, and he said I could borrow a spare camera he had (a Canon EOS 20D) that he usually lets his father use until I can get mine fixed. I used it for Monday night's girls' soccer between Columbus and Denver and last night's softball doubleheader between C.F. and West High.

Today, I took it to Porter's Camera Warehouse Outlet store to see if it indeed was a battery issue or if there's something worse. Well, a clerk tried charging a new battery, and even though the new battery was 50% charged, the camera still didn't read it. So now, it's being sent to a Canon service center. Right now, it's going to cost me about $260 including tax. Hopefully they can fix it without it costing much more, or else a new camera might be in the works. That can be in the neighborhood -- body only -- of $500 to $600 for a camera similar to mine.

I guess I'll just have to wait and see what happens. At least with the loaner, I can do my job.

Cedar Falls 2, Mason City 0 in girls' soccer

BY ERIC VANSICKLE -- The Cedar Falls girls' soccer team advanced to the Class 3A regional soccer finals against Ankeny, played Monday, June 6, with a 2-0 victory June 1 over Mason City at the Cedar Valley Soccer Complex in Waterloo. Allie Wirth scored a goal and had an assist on the other, scored by Justine Powell.