Fucked up the as card slot in both my camera and my boyfriend’s. I still got to own up to it to him. It’s gonna be an unexpected 2k to replace both cameras, but mostly I just feel sad I’m such a dumbass :(
I was pretty despondent after I bricked my camera, but kleinbl00 pointed me towards sending it into the manufacturer for repairs. It worked out to be significantly cheaper than replacing, even though the damage I'd caused necessitated replacing the main board and thus tearing apart the entire thing.
The SD card slot is soldered into the main board, and a new one is like 300$ without the work. But my boyfriend contacted a friend that might be able to unsolder it and fix it (he’s some kind of Russian electronic geek, if he can’t do it, no one can). Also ordered a new flex wire for the 2nd camera off Ali express and hopefully I’ll be able to fix it by myself. I just hope I don’t fuck it up further trying to fix it. But wear and tear has been brutal. That camera has been from 45 degree weather to -30. And survived the dust of Burning Man with at least weekly use for 2.5 years. When I opened it up, half the plastic prices inside were cracked already. Anyway, fingers crossed I can at least fix one. Cause buying a 2 new ones is gonna seriously affect my budget. On the bright side, disassembling / assembling the cameras has been fun. It’s like adult LEGO with a hint of danger when the capacitor electrocutes you (oops).