1 post tagged “canon powershot s2 is”

First off, I want to say how much I've loved my S2 IS digital camera. Great features, very versatile, good for photography enthusiasts at just about any level of expertise. Except for one thing. Within a few months of warranty expiration, this model has a well documented tendency to contract the "black screen of death" plague. This starts off as an occasional black display on start-up, and it isn't just a matter of toggling the display button, because the symbols show up. There's just no image. And it'll let you take a picture, but if you go to review mode, it shows up black as well. It's like you left the lens cap on. But you didn't. And even though it starts off just happening now and then, eventually the optical assembly fails completely. And you have a very expensive paperweight.

And so far, Canon refuses to acknowledge this problem in any official capacity. This is terribly disappointing to me, as I have been loyal to Canon since I was 15. But I couldn't deal with not having a decent digital camera at my disposal, so I went out and bought an Olympus. It's okay, quite nice for the $125 I paid for it, but I just want my beloved S2 IS back like it was! It was quite the challenge, but I did manage to get Canon to do a "courtesy repair" at no charge. But with no warranty on the repair, either. So if the replacement optical assembly fails next year, I'm just screwed.

Anyway, if you have this camera and start to experience the black screen of death, go read this flickr discussion thread. It can direct you to several other resources that may prove useful in your quest for service. Most important, though, is to stand your ground. Do not give in! Besides getting service for yourself, you will help establish the magnitude of this problem and, we can hope, show Canon that they need to do the responsible thing and issue a recall for these defective cameras.