Hi,

My 12 year-old son received a kodak easy share (c530) for Christmas from his grandma. He has only used it a couple of times. Unfortunately, he took it on a retreat this weekend and it got snow on it, which he immediately wiped off. Now, the camera won't work. When you turn it on, the green light comes on and then almost immediately changes to a flashing red and then totally turns off. When I searched the kodak web site it says it will cost $69 to fix the camera or I can buy a refurbished camera of the same model for $49 (grandma paid 90.00 for it back in Dec.).

I knew I was running a risk suggesting grandma buy a 12 year old boy a digital camera. But, then again, I ruined one at a beach by having it meet sand.

What should I do at this point? Should I get a refurbished kodak (perhaps upgrade to a "sturdier" model) or another brand? My son is very outdoorsy. I am tired of giving him disposable cameras and developing pictures of leaves and things like that.

Advice appreciated...

Unfortunetly we live in a "disposable" world now...A majority of the things we buy are not ment to be repaired if they come apart...If you still want your son to have a camera, I would cut my losses and get a new one...A refurb one might be the way to go, but if it were me, I would get a new one...At least there is warranty of some sort on a new one...Probably not a snow warranty or sand warranty though...Good luck...

If grandma doesn't know the camera failed, and you want to keep it that way, I'd say getthe refurb.

Otherwise, since your son is "outdoorsy", he might be better served by a weatherproof model.

TCav wrote: If you don't mind spending the money, the Olympus Stylus SW series (790SW, 850SW, 1050SW) are built like tanks.

If the desire is tofor a more rugged camera I'd second the suggestion for something in the Olympus Stylus SW series. They are dust-proof, shock-resistant and within limits waterproof. The depth spec. for waterproof varies with model so check for your requirements. The non-SW Stylus series are weatherproof which is defined dust-proof and water-resistant. They would have survived your son's incident as well but they are not as rugged as the SW series. Pentax also has weatherproof models.

If the camera isn't rated at least weatherproof it simply won't be any more rugged than the C530 regardless of price for the usage your describing.