Photo quality dropped suddenly

[eminence]

I own a Canon Powershot 410 and I was pretty pleased with the photos I got from it, until now... The two pictures from the attachement were taken 25 min one after another, same room, same light, in the mean time nothing happened to the camera. Since then I get only jerky pictures like the second one with many horizontal lines in them :confused: :mad: What can be the problem? Can it be repaired?

[coldrain]

Where are you from?

What is the exact model name?

The Canon IXUS 400 and 430 have special warranty for faulty CCD's, like yours seems to have. I can't kind and SD410 Elph (US) or IXUS (europe) on the canon suppsrt pages, so give the total name of the product.

Anyway, most probably it too is an affected model.


Thank you for using one of our Canon products. It has been found, that in rare case, some of the CCDs, used in Canon digital camera and digital video cameras, have a problem that causes abnormal image output.
We apologise for any inconvenience this may have caused. Canon will offer free repairs where an error is caused by this malfunction.
Canon would like to advise our customers of the details of this issue and our policy for handling it.
Problem details:
Among the CCDs used in the affected products, it has been confirmed that in extremely rare cases, under high-temperature/high-humidity environments, some of the internal wiring comes off.
If this defect occurs, the signal is not output from the CCD correctly when in shooting mode. This results in image abnormalities such as:


Images do not appear
Image colors are abnormal
Images appear distorted These symptoms can be confirmed on the LCD monitor. Solution:
We kindly request users who have confirmed these symptoms to contact the nearest Canon Service Centre.
Free repairs will be made for affected products in cases where it has been confirmed that the internal CCD wiring has come off.

[griptape]

Yeah, time to call Canon. The sensor is going bad. There's a batch of cameras they'll fix even after they're out of warranty because they had faulty sensors. But there's nothing you personally can do to fix it.

[eminence]

Thanks for your advices. I'm from Romania, I don't know if there is a Canon Service Centre around, I hope I'll manage to find one.
Thanks again.

[eminence]

I forgot to mention, the model is Powershot A410, 3.2MP Does this model have that special waranty?

[coldrain]

Hmmm... I am sorry to have giving you false hope?
Sony (the sensor manufacturer) used a wrong kind of glue to glue the sensors to whatever they are glued on, which in time will absorb water and expand, making the sensors lose contact. This meant that a number of cameras, from a number of companies, were affected.

The symptoms of your camera look similar, but it is not one of the models affected. The one before it, the A310, is affected. Digital cameras, like any electronic appliance, can fail... and their repairs most of the time are so expensive it is not worth it.

Canon models that fall under the warranty:
Digital IXUS II Digital IXUS IIs Digital IXUS V3 PowerShot A300 PowerShot A310 PowerShot A60 PowerShot A70 PowerShot A75 MV590 MV600 MV600i MV630i MV650i MV690 MV700 MV700i MV730i MV750i MV5i MV5iMC MV5 MV6iMC Digital IXUS V2 Digital IXUS 430 Digital IXUS 400 Digital IXUS 330 Digital IXUS 500 PowerShot A40 PowerShot A80 PowerShot A85 PowerShot A95 PowerShot S60 PowerShot S1 IS

[mcenut]

An A410 is not cost effective to bother fixing it. They are available in 100% working order on eBay for about $40.

I can tell you that any repair will be at least more than $40.

[eminence]

I had a feeling that it's not worth repairing it... But I'm still intrigued about what caused the camera to fail, what if I get a new (expensive) one and it will fail too? And can you reccomend me a camera at about 100-150 dollars/euro?

[David Metsky]

All consumer electronics can fail. In this case, a loose connection or water damage from humidity or overheating could have caused the problem. The majority last for several years without problem, but some fail early. In order to get the prices so low on these products that is the price we all pay. :) If you are really concerned then you can get a warranty, but for lower priced items I don't think it's cost effective.

Take a look at the Canon A570 for a very well equipped camera for around $150.

[eminence]

Can you please tell me what's the difference between A550, A560 and A570? 550 and 560 seem a bit more affordable :) 560 and 570 both have Digic III, I'd go for the 560... What can you tell me about them? What's their weak/strong points?

P.S. It's a pity these more advanced cameras don't have the super macro mode :(( I had LOTS of fun with the good old A410 taking photos of spiders, plants and other tiny things ;)

[David Metsky]

The A570 is the bargain right now. It has IS, full manual controls, face detection, a 4G file size limit, and supports add on lenses. The 550 and 560 don't have IS, manual controls, or support conversion lenses. The 550 doesn't have face detection, doesn't support 4G file sizes, and has a poorer LCD.

The difference in price is pretty small, roughly $25. The A570 is a much better camera then either of the others and it's $25 well spent.

The macro modes on these are still pretty good. 5cm at wide angle isn't bad.