Can't see the light...

November 10, 2010 9:55 AM

A friend has a Canon Powershot S1 IS that powers up, the lens motor seems to work, the display seems to work, but the camera gets no image. It just takes solid black pictures.

Any ideas on a user-fix or would this be something to take to a camera shop? If a shop, would it even be worth it? This was a nice camera when it was new, but now?

posted by BeerFilter to technology (4 answers total)

This is probably due to a known problem with these cameras. Here is a service advisory from Canon. Looks like they will fix it for free, even out of warranty.
posted by cosmac at 10:02 AM on November 10, 2010 [1 favorite]

Neat. Thanks, cosmac!
posted by BeerFilter at 10:15 AM on November 10, 2010

I had the problem that cosmac refers to with my S1, within the last year or so. It was definitely off warranty, with no receipts or anything. I brought it to a Canon service center, and they fixed it within a couple of weeks, free-of-charge, few questions asked. Not the best camera, but definitely worth the small effort.

Additionally, I've come across stories in discussion forums from people claiming that they had received upgrades to more recent S-series Canons, due to the high cost of repairs. This wasn't the case for me, but maybe your friend will get lucky. (Please post back if they do -- I'm curious)
posted by Hydrophage at 12:52 PM on November 10, 2010

I passed the info along and gave them back the camera. I'll post again if they ever tell me what became of it.
posted by BeerFilter at 5:18 PM on April 7, 2011