Not expecting much, I just called Panasonic Tech Support. Their service center can send me a refurbished camera as a replacement for $128 and change (I'd need to send my camera to them!). A brand-new camera (DMC-ZR3 - the current version of ZR1) can be purchased from Amazon for $149.
Oh... It's a disposable world... Igor > From: Igor Roshchin > > > Hi All: > > I just looked at my wife's Panasonic Lumix DMC-ZR1 and found that > it has 3 spots that seem to be dust particles. > They show up on the photos, and I can see them in the "live view". > > I don't think it is directly on the sensor and here is why: > The camera has 2 "macro" modes: "AF macro" and "Macro zoom". > The first one allows both macro and regular shots, while the 2nd one > allows yet closer shots. > In the 2nd mode, I can see that the dust particles change > on the screen (they get larger and become out of focus) as I zoom in. > I suspect that in this mode an additional lens is being moved, > and probably the dust is sitting on that lens. > > The camera is 1.5 years old, so it is out of warranty. > (We are checking if we had an extended warranty from the > credit card, - but I am not sure if the warranty would cover the > cleaning.) > So, I am evaluating possible scenarios: > 1. Send it for cleaning. If it costs more than $40-50, then it probably > doesn't make sense. And I don't know if anybody does such cleaning. > > 2. Try to open it and to clean it myself. > I've never done it, and I am not sure if this procedure would lead > to some optical misalignment. > > Does any shop do such cleaning at a reasonable cost? > Do you know any pointers to "DYI" cleaning of such cameras? > Any other thoughts and suggestions are appreciated. > > Thank you, > > Igor > > -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List PDML@pdml.net http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and follow the directions.
