Is it just me or is the quality of Pi devices falling?

For some 5 or 6 years I've had 3 "beast" cameras. A Pi Zero or Zero W
and a V2.1 NOIR Pi camera board housed in the official pink & white
cases. 2 in hedgehog "hotels" and one in a bird box. Great stuff.

I decided it was time to replace the bird box. It had weathered so much
it was falling apart. So I bought 2 more new.
I repurposed the camera to give a view of the driveway (with a separate
IR flood light) Brilliant stuff.

Dug out 2 Pi zero (one W one not). Installed them into the pink cases
and ordered 2 v2.1 NOIR cameras from "an official supplier".
One camera arrived damaged - the lens had broken off the sensor.
The other was just not recognised as present by either Pi Zero.
(An old spare v2.1 camera (that doesn't do IR) worked perfectly.

Returned both cameras and got a refund.
Meanwhile ordered 2 more camera boards from "a different official
supplier". Installed them and both worked fine. For a while!
One went "dead" after about 30mins.

So 3 out of 4 NEW v2.1 NOIR cameras failed and had to be returned.

So I ask the question is quality being skimped on?
Are these still being manufactured?

I have a further half dozen Pi Zeros that I intend, one day, to press
into service. I don't need or want the new 12Mpixel auto focus bells and
whistles camera that need me to also get a new Pi Zero w2 to work. Would
be serious overkill for a fixed 10x10cm nest at a distance of 16cm from
the camera.

OK, that was a bit of a rant for which I apologise.

--
Nev
It causes me a great deal of regret and remorse
that so many people are unable to understand what I write.

On 23/03/2024 12:58, nev young wrote:
> Is it just me or is the quality of Pi devices falling?
>
An update.
I know it's bad form to follow up on one's own post but someone may be
reading.

> So 3 out of 4 NEW v2.1 NOIR cameras failed and had to be returned.
It's now 4 out of 5 dead noir v2.1 cameras.

I note that ALL the dead ones have the metal canned crystal.
I managed to get an "old stock" NOIR V2.1 camera on ebay. It works fine
It also has the old plastic cased crystal.
And was only half the price.

>
> So I ask the question is quality being skimped on?
>
I really do believe this is the case.

--
Nev
It causes me a great deal of regret and remorse
that so many people are unable to understand what I write.