Canon service centre, part 5 (final)

I thought my camera would be ready for pick-up on Monday. That was what the online status page said. Monday came and went. On Tuesday, I called up Rick Electronics and explained that I needed the camera for a trip. They immediately put a rush on the order to service my camera first. Wow, I thought, that was good service. And then, a couple of hours later, at 5:27pm, I received a call from their service department and was told my camera was ready for pick-up. Talk about service. They closed at 5:30pm so obviously I had to wait a day.

My camera has a new retina. The SD110 is back in my camera pouch and is flicker ready. I am quite pleased with Rick Electronics after this one experience with them.

Status: Shipped Completed: Yes
Product: Camera Brand: CANON
Model NO.: PS SD110 Serial No.: xxxxxxxx
Received Date: 6/11/2008 Ship Date: 6/18/2008
Detail: CANON MANUFACTURER WARRANTY. REPLACED LISTED PART. PERFORMED CAMERA ADJUSTMENT. GENERAL CLEANED AND CHECKED MANUFACTURER SPECIFICATIONS.
Problem: NO IMAGE
Comment:
Completion Target: 6/16/2008 (Weekend and Public Holiday exclusive)

What colour is lightning?

What colour is lightning? In the following two photos, I had set the white-balance to Auto so I wonder what the colour would be if it had been set differently. The lightning bolts appeared to light up the sky blue.

My tripod was in the car and I was too lazy to do a proper setup outside, so as there was very little wind I decided to set my camera on the window sill, tilted slightly upward. Right in front of my lens is the window mesh screen however and as I wanted a wide angle shot, the screen was clearly visible. It would not be as clear had I zoomed in, but I wanted the wide angle shot.

For the shots, I set the lens to 18mm on manual focus set at infinity. It was too dark for auto-focus to operate. Aperture was set at f/10 for the first shot and f/14 for the second. ISO was set at 200. The CCD was exposed for 30 seconds in both instances.

Tonight was my first attempt to capture lightning.

I hope there will be thunder and lightning next weekend.

Another test of the 50mm

This shot was taken indoors during the day around 3:20pm. A fair amount of ambient light filled the room when I snapped this photo with my prime 50mm lens at f/1.8 with no flash. The cat was about one meter from the camera.

The first photo below is the original, resized to 1024x685. The second photo is the same photo sharpened a little. As is, the eyes of the cat in the first photo are almost tack sharp. The sharpness of the eyes in the second photo came out like a razor blade.

Canon service centre, part 4

Almost there! I wonder what "adjustment" is being done.

Status: Adjust Completed: No
Product: Camera Brand: CANON
Model NO.: PS SD110 Serial No.: xxxxx
Received Date: 6/11/2008 Ship Date:
Detail: REPLACED LISTED PARTS, PERFORMED CAMERA ADJUSTMENT
Problem: NO IMAGE
Comment:
Completion Target: 6/16/2008 (Weekend and Public Holiday exclusive)

Canon service centre, part 3

It looks like my SD110 is being repaired and that the CCD is likely at fault. The ETA is next Monday. I could not ask for a faster repair time. It will hopefully be in my hands by 5:30pm next Monday, a good four days before my camping trip. Excellent!

Status: Assigned Completed: No
Product: Camera Brand: CANON
Model NO.: PS SD110 Serial No.: xxxxxxxxxxx
Received Date: 6/11/2008 Ship Date:
Detail:
Problem: NO IMAGE
Comment:
Completion Target: 6/16/2008 (Weekend and Public Holiday exclusive)

Canon service centre, part 2

Well, my Canon SD110 is in Canon's hands. I can do nothing but wait. Either they will call me in a day or two to say the problem is not the CCD, or will call me in a week to say the camera is once again in top shape.

I did not drop the camera off at Canon's Customer Service Centre because of their hours of operation. I had e-mailed Canon about one of their authorized service centres and they said it was fine to have it serviced there. Thus, I took my camera to Rick's Electronics on Unity Dr. just west of Winston Churchill. They operate from 9-5:30pm. I got a tracking number so I could see the progress of a repair service. That is neat. I hope they will take good care of my camera. They also said I will probably get it back in a week. Sweet.

Canon service centre

Mille millions de mille sabords! I thought I saw somewhere the Service Centre in Mississauga opens from 9am to 8pm on weekdays! I was so looking forward to giving them my broken Powershot SD110 today I rushed there right after work. I got to the Service Centre at Courtneypark and Dixie at 6pm. The Centre operates from 9-5pm only! I guess I will have to mail the camera in. It will take two to three days to get there. I probably will not receive the repaired camera or a replacement in time for my interior camping trip. *sigh*

Sharp

This dog must be getting really thirsty on the roof of a single-floor Cuban house. My walk-around 18-200mm lens met its eyes as it looked straight at me for a brief few seconds. It was one of the most beautiful dog I saw in Cuba. Most others are skinny and bony. This one was well fed.

The picture turned out quite sharp. I like it.

Canon SD110 broken CCD

Well, after five years, my Canon SD110 has finally shown its age. I cannot take any more pictures with it. Everything about the camera is still functioning fine except for what I believe is the CCD. The menu works, the LCD works, the shutter works, the flash works, the zoom lens works. All the buttons and knobs work. This camera is built solid, with a metallic frame. The camera just cannot take pictures.

This afternoon, I took out the camera. I remembered seeing distortion of images in the LCD a couple of months ago. I thought it was just the LCD so I did not care much, but I got curious. My niece used my camera to take some pictures. I never transfered the pictures out of the camera until today. I wondered whether it was the LCD or maybe worse, the CCD. To my dismay, some pictures she took turned out fine, but some not. It was not the LCD.

Before transfering the pictures out, I thought I would take one picture as for a brief five minutes, the LCD looked somewhat clear -- there was still a purplish band at the top of the LCD. I knew it was not vignetting as I have never seen it with the built-in lens.


The purple band is there. There is a horizontal line running across the image at about half way down. There is also a vertical smudgy line in the image.

That was the last picture I could take with the camera. Now, every picture I take is completly dark.


I checked with Canon's website. There is an advisory for the SD110 and several other Canon point-and-shoot cameras, about the CCD. In a hot and humid environment it is possible for some bonded electronics to come separate. Canon will repair it for free, even if the warranty has expired. I will send my camera in and will see what they say. I hope they can repair it as I like this camera a lot, and repair it fast because I need it for interior camping in a couple of weeks.