My Olympus Camedia has gone bonkers. I think it's something to do with the lens, because all I'm seeing on the lcd screen is pink/ black/ blue noise. Take a shot, and it turns out like a funky seismograph resplendent with streaks of color.

Kinda prettee, except if it appears on your digicam screen

I've been trying to google the problem/ solution, and it seems I'm not the only one having this problem. That's not my camera model, and my camera hasn't "hung" or anything like that, but I went through practically the same sequence. The batteries died halfway through a shot and the whole camera froze. Swopped out the batteries and fed in new ones, and it whirred happily again. Four days later, this. Not feeling terribly happy about spending money to fix it (I maintained it so well too!), but then, I'm seldom thrilled at unplanned expenses.

Considering the cost of the camera ($500) and the (pathetic) number of photographs I've taken with it (100?), each photo costs about $5, minus the printing fees. I may just have earned myself the dubious honor of shooting the most costly amateur prints in Singapore.

What kind of stupid flaw is this anyway? Consider a mobile phone. Does it conk out on you totally if you're halfway on a call and the battery goes flat? No. What about a laptop? Does it self-destruct if the battery gets dry while you're using it? No. What about a car? No. The same concept apparently does not apply to my Camedia, since it's now deader than a jurassic dinosaur blast into orbit around Pluto.