What do you do with your old gear?

[loosecanon]

I have a nikon bridge camera 840 - worth very little, and now almost impossible to get a battery for it, and a new one would cost much more than the camera is worth. The problem is the internal electronics run down the battery in a few months, if the internal battery not kept charged it will fail. The Nikon battery has circuits that stop it charging if it discharges too much.
I tried ebay batteries - none worked.
Essentially bad design means it will go to camera heaven far to early. Does this disprove intellegent design.

[NorthernFocus]

... Does this disprove intellegent design.

I think that's called "designed obsolescence"

[Tronhard]

I have a nikon bridge camera 840 - worth very little, and now almost impossible to get a battery for it, and a new one would cost much more than the camera is worth.

All my cameras still have batteries that work and at the time they were in vogue I bought several spares for each type. (It's like: if you find a pair of shoes you like and fit well - buy a couple). Luckily all the batteries I need are still supported. I have had one or two batteries fail but have tons of spares. For my Canons I keep the batteries out of the bodies until I want to use them and they seem to last longer.

[Black Pearl]

I have a nikon bridge camera 840 - worth very little, and now almost impossible to get a battery for it, and a new one would cost much more than the camera is worth. The problem is the internal electronics run down the battery in a few months, if the internal battery not kept charged it will fail. The Nikon battery has circuits that stop it charging if it discharges too much.
I tried ebay batteries - none worked.
Essentially bad design means it will go to camera heaven far to early. Does this disprove intellegent design.

Sorry - which camera do you have?

[davidedric]

In many parts of the UK there are volunteer run organisations called "Freecycle". The idea is that if you have anything at all in good order that you no longer have need of, you post it there (No contact details other than the site), and wait for the responses. Each group is local, and the person you select normally collects. I've offloaded quite a few items that way. The only thing to watch out for are members who are basically car boot sale sellers - better than landfill, but not quite the spirit.

If you are in the UK you might want to see if there is a group near you.

Dave