davoid

Tools
Miniature Screwdriver
Scalpel
Small scissors
Tweezers
Dinner plate

I must get my miniature screwdriver, the one I tighten my spectacles with. The screws on this camera a very small. Oh yes, fits perfectly.
Put the camera on the dinner plate, that’ll stop the tiny screws from escaping into the carpet wilderness below. Slowly remove the screws and pop them onto the plate.
OK, be careful prying the body halves apart. A little bit of force – ah, there we go. Just put the empty half aside and we have the camera’s innards exposed. Two circuit boards in a sandwich with the lens on top. I’m looking at the brown cellophane covering the gap between the boards. Somewhere in there is the ‘time/date’ battery. This little sucker flattens the main camera batteries incredibly fast: ‘What the f#@$?! Flat already! 10 shots. You’re kidding me.’ type situation.
I spot a very small round battery lying flat on the bottom board through the brown cellophane. It’s about 5mm in diameter and 1mm thick. I get the scalpel and pierce the cellophane, and with the scissors I cut a small rectangular window out of it. I get the tweezers and slip them through the tiny window until I have a good grip on the battery. It is connected to the board by two thin wires, so I twist and bend until they snap and I pull out the culprit. It’s all over. I just have to sew the patient up.
I carefully push the two camera body halves back together, careful not to break anything. All seven screws in and tightened finishes the operation.
I pop two of my favourite AA batteries into patient HP635 and fire her up. Now there’s something I like to see: full battery icon. I wonder how long she’ll last? Pre-op she would go flat just sitting around.

Patient HP635: Condition Update
After two hours of constant shooting and a full 128mb card of 108 photos she’s low on power but still going. What a transformation. From dweeb to cruiser.
Makes me want to get something with a bigger and better screen. Looking into a 1.6” 85k pixel LCD is an interesting way to compose. It’s like being forced to look at a scene a little abstractly: you see the scene, but because the detail isn’t great you tend to compose on shapes and light ‘n’ shade. It seems to suit me. Making images that aren’t true presentations of the subject is very natural too me. It gives me a good feeling in the solar plexus.

Patient Vital Statistics
Sensor size: 1/3.2” (4.54×3.42 mm)
Sensor pixels: 1636×1236 (2mp)
Effective pixels: 1600×1200 (1.9mp)
Pixels/mm: 360 (1636px/4.54mm)

Aperture range: 2.9/5.6 to 4.9/9.6
Focal range: 38-114mm (3x)
Focus: Auto, 80cm
Macro: 10cm
Min. shutter: 1 sec
Max. shutter: 1/1000 sec
Exposure compensation: -2 to +2 in 1/2 EV steps
Metering: Centre
Self timer: 10 sec
Viewfinder: Optical
LCD: 1.6”
LCD pixels: 85k
Storage type: SD
Weight inc. batteries: 240g
Dimensions: 240×183 x 110mm