My Olympus Camera got busted with virus

@Theresaaiza (10487)
Australia
January 9, 2009 12:17am CST
So here's what happened. I got a second-hand olympus digital camera (which is quite an old model already) from my aunt. I've tried using Olympus camera before and I just love the results of the shots. However, after plugging the USB cord from the cam to my PC (which was loaded with virus at that time), the next time i used my camera, it wouldn't work anymore. There isn't a service center in my side of town so I opted for a cheap camera store technician to fix it. It seemed to work for a while but suddeny got busted again after taking 5 trial shots. I don't know what went wrong. I've heard that Olympus brands are really very sensitive but I never remembered me handling it roughly. Could it have been the PC virus?
1 person likes this
4 responses
• Australia
9 Jan 09
I'm not going to say no virus can damage your camera, but it is so unlikely that it isn't worth bothering about. Viruses are computer programs and need an operating system to function; true a digital camera has a primitive OS, but not the kind that virus makers design their payloads for. The memory card is another matter. It has to be able to interface with Windows, Linux, MacOS and any other OS it might encounter, and it can certainly be used to transport a virus from computer to computer. But that is where it is going to drop its payload, not in the digicam. If the card has been formatted in a "clean" camera, turn off your Olympus and remove the battery. Replace and insert the formatted card: if you still have problems, odds on it's the camera, not a virus.
• Australia
22 Jan 09
Since there is no way of knowing what went wrong, there is no real advice ti give about avoiding the problem in the future. The things dihgital cameras hate most are heat, moisture, salt, sand and impact. Get a camera that is water/dust sealed (or fit a diving case); avoid exposing it to extremes of temperature...
@Theresaaiza (10487)
• Australia
22 Jan 09
ok got that
@cygni_07 (43)
• Philippines
9 Jan 09
Well I don't think there'd be a PC virus that can actually wreck your cam. But I may be wrong. You might need to take it to a proper Olympus technician to get into the problem.
@Theresaaiza (10487)
• Australia
9 Jan 09
I was so upset I placed it in a box and intended to hide it forever. I had really good pics from my very first cam and it was just devastating. Talk about being less graceful when things don't turn out so well. :-D The last time I checked, the batteries were leaking. I bought a new cam but it's performance is just way too far from the performance of Olympus. I had to deal with very few settings, and red eyes that I can't remove except by photoshop....:-( *sigh*
• Philippines
9 Jan 09
Too bad. :( Olympus is definitely one of the better cams out there. If ever I'd buy a digicam again, I'd choose from Nikon, Canon, Olympus, Panasonic and Sony. From PCWorld's recent review of customer support last year, Panasonic and Sony topped the list.
@Theresaaiza (10487)
• Australia
12 Jan 09
I think Sony is good but I reckon Olympus is more affordable. I can get by with either Canon or Olympus and I don't really mind so much if the model is old. There are many picture perfect moments that I missed because my camera was broken. So Sad. So so so sad.
@mariposaman (2959)
• Canada
20 Jan 09
It could be toast. I would remove the batteries from the camera and let it rest for a few days o r a week to see if it will reset itself. Put in some fresh batteries after the week to ten days and see if it works. If not you have not really lost anything. Unless it is a particularly expensive camera it will cost more to fix than the camera is worth. The prices have come down on a lot of the inexpensive camera models that it is uneconomical to fix them.
@Theresaaiza (10487)
• Australia
20 Jan 09
yeah, that's exactly what I'm think. I've buried my camera in the deepest recesses of my mind,LOL!. The battery "door" sprang off too and is nowhere to be found.
@rameshn (68)
• India
9 Jan 09
Well, either the camera companies are lagging behind or the virus-makers are way ahead. One can't be too careful when connecting devices to to PCs. As suggested, a company technician should be able to help maybe reinstall all the system software.
@Theresaaiza (10487)
• Australia
9 Jan 09
oh, i'd just run to that service center if there was one nearby. But none. So I had to just deal with the loss and get over it. Mmmmmm....virus makers, huh? I'll have my revenge. (as if) hehehe