Loss and Extreme Sadness

I had received a digital cam from my kids a year ago Aug for my bday. A Nikon Coolpix L18. Nothing fancy, but functional and it was from them. This past week the lens cover went laggy on open and close.

I took it to a shop across the street from work and they said this is typical of these 'cheaper' sorts of cams and better to replace than repair as it would exceed original cost as labour runs about $95/hr and would take at least 2 hrs.
(skip sentimental value eh. *sigh* )

Yesterday at a festival, in the midst of taking heaps of pics, it totally froze, lens out - "lens error" !

Anyway, after I returned home, I googled the error and found this was very common for the Nikon cams (of many types) to the point of many of the forum posters suggesting that Nikon recall these cams as they claim they are always due to user dropping them or something. - even when many users claimed they froze never being dropped - such as during photo upload and during close/open and such. ah well. Mine wasn't dropped either, I was taking pics, went to shut it and just watch the band, and blammo - no shut. *cried*

Many of these users also had mucked about with their cams and offered several suggestions to try and many successfully got them working again (this all since 2006 with many users posting - I was shocked as to how many posts there were as to how bad this problem really is with the various Nikon cameras.)

Subsequently, I tried all of the suggestions - without completely mashing the lens back in, and except taking it fully apart. Next time I get a crap weather day and feel like doing major surgery, that will be next as a few of the users offered full tutorial help and a link to the Nikon site with pics *in Japanese though - haha* Nothing would work for mine - I was one of the very few who didn't get positive results with all the fixes others have tried - like literally a handful of us who couldn't get them working again.

So now, I need a new cam.

I've taken gazillions of pics in this past year, daily even and I feel just lost - especially as it is a holiday weekend and gorgeous outside and I'd love to be taking pics somewhere- but am *dying* (crushed really, that this has happened.)