I’d say that the rumors of my camera’s death were greatly exaggerated (see the end of this post), but not from the reasons I thought. The sensor is the problem, as I had suspected since around the time I shot the following picture, but I had assumed it was just a bad spot of the sensor, because at the time the conditions had to be just right for it to occur, and even then it was small and subtle:
Hard to see, I admit, but still obvious enough to bother me…
With this shot in question, and for similar shots, it was most apparent when I was shooting into the sun. Until it eventually progressed to the point that it would completely flicker out…
When I read this advisory the other day, which was issued back in 2005, it completely debunked my old theory of bad spots:
It has been confirmed that the connecting parts of the internal wiring of the CCD used in affected products may become disconnected, especially if the affected products are stored or used in high-temperature and high-humidity environments. If this occurs, the signal is not output from the CCD normally in Shooting Mode, which may cause a distorted image or the absence of an image. This malfunction can be confirmed on the LCD monitor screen during shooting. The same malfunction also appears on the recorded image.
So in other words: somebody didn’t do their job properly, and I’m sure many customers were annoyed when their cameras started to die after a few years; it turned my Dad against Canon when his A70 died after sitting on his dresser unused for a few months – this was back when we lived in Austin, Texas, where it’s hot and humid. Go figure.
Fortunately, Canon will repair this problem regardless of warranty status, covering the repair and shipping for free. For me, this is enough to win back my trust and keep me going back to Canon for future cameras (which would obviously happen anyway – I am a ignorant Canon fanboy).
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