Powershot fails SX260, SX240, S95- systematic or bad luck?

I really love taking photographs and I used to carry a small PnS as a backup and lightweight only option besides and lately as a replacement my heavy DSLR for many many years.

Well - the last 12 months were quite an experience with three different Canon Powershot models and I am really at a point to say: Great cameras - but does it make sense to buy no. 4 if they never last longer than 9 months before a major failure?

In July 2012 I bought a wonderfull SX260 from Amazone. I was really satisfied eith the results and it was a pleasure to use and very easy to carry.

Unfortunatelly the bad design of the lens cover blades caused multiple scratches to the front lens and in October 2012 I had to send it back to the Canon service. They replaced the lens and shutter element within 10 days & I sold the camera in November because I felt that a smaller Powershot with faster lens and better detail was best for taking winter landscapes.

The S95 fullfilled all my dreams. Small, fully manual + RAW and a fantastic lens.

The only thing I was missing was the long zoom of the SX260.

For that reason I bought a SX240 (never used the GPS on the SX260) on ebay in ment condition in March 2013.

After a trip to Scandinavia in June the lenscover blades caused a scratch on the front lens - same story as with the SX260 in 2012 - shadow visible on each and every picture again. What a pitty!

The camera is under warranty until November 2013 - so I sent it to the Canon Service.

This time they denied repair under warranty without explanation. What a shame!

Since I still had the trusty S95 I was disppointed but not lost. I am still trying to achieve a solution here.

Now - although I take extreme care of my cameras and lenses and always carry them in a lowepro hardcase, the S95 pictures show a fat dark stripe on every picture with aperture smaller than f 3.5 since last week. No damage or scratches visible - must be dust between the lenses or the sensor. Not under warranty - what a shame!

Slowly but for sure I doubt that this means just bad luck. I remenber that even my first PnS - a Casio Q30 back in 2003 lasted more than 3 years before the lens collapsed.

Is my experience systematic for Canon PnS cameras?

Will a G series (G15) mean another frustrating experience after a couple of months or is it just me - the guy with bad luck? What do you think, whats your experience with Canon Powershots?

Cheers,

Tom

John McCormack wrote:

I've been shooting with Canons for 30+ years, both D-SLR, SLR and P&S. Never had one fail on me. Lucky I guess. That said, I think the G15 is an outstanding camera. It's hard to beat the fast lens and reach out to 140mm at f/2.8. The lens is terrific. If you can live with the larger size vs. the S series, I'd give it a try. Here are some sample images from my G15.

mjdundee wrote:

Is my experience systematic for Canon PnS cameras?

Will a G series (G15) mean another frustrating experience after a couple of months or is it just me - the guy with bad luck? What do you think, whats your experience with Canon Powershots?

Cheers,

Tom

Hi John,

Great photographs in your G15 gallery. My screen feels like looking out of a window.

I will give it a try buy a solid case and hope that I will not run into the same trouble again.

A pitty because I like the little S95 so much - and if the G15 would have the same lens control ring I would have already bought one.

Thanks for sharing your photographs.

Tom

mjdundee wrote:

I really love taking photographs and I used to carry a small PnS as a backup and lightweight only option besides and lately as a replacement my heavy DSLR for many many years.

Well - the last 12 months were quite an experience with three different Canon Powershot models and I am really at a point to say: Great cameras - but does it make sense to buy no. 4 if they never last longer than 9 months before a major failure?

In July 2012 I bought a wonderfull SX260 from Amazone. I was really satisfied eith the results and it was a pleasure to use and very easy to carry.

Unfortunatelly the bad design of the lens cover blades caused multiple scratches to the front lens and in October 2012 I had to send it back to the Canon service. They replaced the lens and shutter element within 10 days & I sold the camera in November because I felt that a smaller Powershot with faster lens and better detail was best for taking winter landscapes.

The S95 fullfilled all my dreams. Small, fully manual + RAW and a fantastic lens.

The only thing I was missing was the long zoom of the SX260.

For that reason I bought a SX240 (never used the GPS on the SX260) on ebay in ment condition in March 2013.

After a trip to Scandinavia in June the lenscover blades caused a scratch on the front lens - same story as with the SX260 in 2012 - shadow visible on each and every picture again. What a pitty!

The camera is under warranty until November 2013 - so I sent it to the Canon Service.

This time they denied repair under warranty without explanation. What a shame!

Since I still had the trusty S95 I was disppointed but not lost. I am still trying to achieve a solution here.

Now - although I take extreme care of my cameras and lenses and always carry them in a lowepro hardcase, the S95 pictures show a fat dark stripe on every picture with aperture smaller than f 3.5 since last week. No damage or scratches visible - must be dust between the lenses or the sensor. Not under warranty - what a shame!

Slowly but for sure I doubt that this means just bad luck. I remenber that even my first PnS - a Casio Q30 back in 2003 lasted more than 3 years before the lens collapsed.

Is my experience systematic for Canon PnS cameras?

Will a G series (G15) mean another frustrating experience after a couple of months or is it just me - the guy with bad luck? What do you think, whats your experience with Canon Powershots?

Cheers,

Tom

I do have a small scratch on my SX260 lens but it doesn't seem to be causing a problem on photos.

I guess I only think of these cameras as almost throw away items, mine only costed $AU200, so when I bought it from a Hong Kong seller I realised that the warranty wasn't worth the paper it wasn't printed on, so if mine fails then it is a bin job.  I buy it realising this, if it lasts two years it will be obsolete anyway so that is only $100/year or $2/week, not bad value.

Of course I am very careful with mine and only keep it in a belt bag and try not to let dust or grit get on it, but its difficult at times when travelling in dusty environments.

They say you can improve the lens scratch by putting something dark on the scratch like a black marking pen or maybe flat black paint, then clean it away only leaving the scratch filled, this is supposed to reduce any light flare at that point.  Try it on your SX260, they are an amazing camera.

Good luck.

Brian

mjdundee wrote:

Is my experience systematic for Canon PnS cameras?

I've owned a number of Canon P&S cameras with this lens cover design (S90, S100, SX230, SX280, G10, G15) -- still using G15, S100 and SX280 -- and I've never experienced this problem. This makes me wonder if there is something systemic in your use of the cameras which could be causing this problem? For example, if you carried or handled the camera in such a way that your hand or fingers pressed in on the blades when the camera was off it seems that could press the blades inward so they can contact the lens.

PC Wheeler wrote:

mjdundee wrote:

Is my experience systematic for Canon PnS cameras?

I've owned a number of Canon P&S cameras with this lens cover design (S90, S100, SX230, SX280, G10, G15) -- still using G15, S100 and SX280 -- and I've never experienced this problem. This makes me wonder if there is something systemic in your use of the cameras which could be causing this problem? For example, if you carried or handled the camera in such a way that your hand or fingers pressed in on the blades when the camera was off it seems that could press the blades inward so they can contact the lens.

Hi Phil.

You are absolutelly right - it seems to be always a similar problem with the SX series.

Once you press the ON switch while the camera is still in a case or pocket the lens will not extend completely and the camera tells you to restart again. This does not necessarily mean that the blades are pressed but it probably helps causing the scratches. If the blades would be worked out properly by the supplier such deep scratches as on my lenses could never have happened. So I am convinced that the bigger part of the problem are the badly shaped blades

Cheers,

Tom

Tom,

I have to agree with Toomanycanons.  I've owned the G5, 6, 7, 9, 11, 12, and 15; the S50, 70, 80, and 90; the SD800IS, 850IS, 870IS, 880IS, 950IS (2); the A710IS; SX230HS (3), and the SX260HS; and no scratches on any of them.  I've had the S90 for 4 years, and had the G7 for 4 years.  I've carried them in shirt, pants, and jacket pockets, in tote bags tossed in with water bottles and other odds and ends, although usually in a soft case.  Those kind of blades were used with film PnS cameras and I had a number of those from Canon, Ricoh, Pentax, Yashica, and Olympus, and no problems there, either.

I never use a wrist strap, as the camera dangles and tends to bang into things as you use your hands. Like when using a hand rail on the stairs, or reaching for a door knob.  Instead, they have all been used with a lanyard (neck cord) on the smaller ones and a neck strap on the G5 and G6.  I am also extremely caseful to keep them away from sand or grit.

Those blades are aluminum and should be too soft to scratch glass.  They could damage the lens coating if pushed in while opening.  However, I think it's more likely that some kind of hard, abrasive grit like sand has gotten between the blades and the lens, and the opening or closing of the blades has ground it against the lens.  If it were the blades themselves they would have to held inward against the lens while camera is turned on.  Or, permanently deformed to touch the lens - but then they would probably jam open in their recesses.

You said you were very careful with your cameras.  Have you let anyone else use them?  Taken them to the beach?  You're not the first to have these problems - I can recall a number of posts.

GeraldW wrote:

Tom,

I have to agree with Toomanycanons. I've owned the G5, 6, 7, 9, 11, 12, and 15; the S50, 70, 80, and 90; the SD800IS, 850IS, 870IS, 880IS, 950IS (2); the A710IS; SX230HS (3), and the SX260HS; and no scratches on any of them. I've had the S90 for 4 years, and had the G7 for 4 years. I've carried them in shirt, pants, and jacket pockets, in tote bags tossed in with water bottles and other odds and ends, although usually in a soft case. Those kind of blades were used with film PnS cameras and I had a number of those from Canon, Ricoh, Pentax, Yashica, and Olympus, and no problems there, either.

I never use a wrist strap, as the camera dangles and tends to bang into things as you use your hands. Like when using a hand rail on the stairs, or reaching for a door knob. Instead, they have all been used with a lanyard (neck cord) on the smaller ones and a neck strap on the G5 and G6. I am also extremely caseful to keep them away from sand or grit.

Those blades are aluminum and should be too soft to scratch glass. They could damage the lens coating if pushed in while opening. However, I think it's more likely that some kind of hard, abrasive grit like sand has gotten between the blades and the lens, and the opening or closing of the blades has ground it against the lens. If it were the blades themselves they would have to held inward against the lens while camera is turned on. Or, permanently deformed to touch the lens - but then they would probably jam open in their recesses.

You said you were very careful with your cameras. Have you let anyone else use them? Taken them to the beach? You're not the first to have these problems - I can recall a number of posts.

Gerald,

Thks for your advice.

In fact the scratsches are manly caused by a handling problem which appears as soon as the lens tries to extract while the camera is still in a bag or pouch if the ON button gets touched incidently or if the REPLAY button got touched before and the shutterbutton gets a light touch afterwards.

I also never use neck strap or strap at all. I am the very only user of my cameras and I do not take them to a sandy beach exept if there is no wind and I am only taking photographs there. If not in use I carry my cameras in a case/back around my waist.

In theory you might be right that Aluminium is a very soft metal but are you sure the lenses are made of glass and not plastic? In case of my SX260 Canon replaced the lens/shutterbox without hesitation. Do you think they did so if there was any doubt that sand or something else than the lenscover blades would have rsulted the scratches?

toomanycanons wrote:

Like some have said here, I've had many many Canon point and shoots and never had the problem you're having again and again.

It has to be user error. Sorry, man, you're doing something wrong that you're just not noticing.

OK - lucky you, but twiche the same scratches on the same model of camera can also mean that it is a construction or material fault. DOn't you think so?

I have an SX240 that that developed a long scratch in the front element. It was visible in photos. I sent it back to Canon and they changed the lens assembly under warranty.

Before the SX240 I had an SX220 where the blades got pushed in to the extent that they did not open and close properly when turning the camera on/off. I had to us a piece of plastic to try to push them back into place. I managed to get it working again but even though the blades looked pretty rough  I never had a problem with any damage to the lens or lens coating on that camera.

I always thought the lens scratch on the SX240 must have been caused by something getting stuck between the lens cover blades and the lens (grain of sand or small rock). After I got the camera back from Canon I make sure that I am pointing the lens downward every time I turn the camera on/off so that if there is anything there it will hopefully fall out instead of getting stuck and scratch the lens.

So far I haven't had any more problems with the SX240

Erik