A70 sensor alignment

[Marios Athineos]

I took an image of the camera through a mirror and as you can see the camera is not aligned with the frame of the picture. No matter how you turn the camera this misalignment doesn't seem to go away.
Any comments ?

 

[tony gant]

i had the same problem with mine,but mine also had trouble with out of focus shots at full zoom,so i returned it for one with a level ccd and perfect focusing,

I took an image of the camera through a mirror and as you can see
the camera is not aligned with the frame of the picture. No matter
how you turn the camera this misalignment doesn't seem to go away.
Any comments ?

 

[Marios Athineos]

But my understanding is that this problem doesn't really affect the actua images. It's olny the mirror tha can exposure this problem.

I took an image of the camera through a mirror and as you can see
the camera is not aligned with the frame of the picture. No matter
how you turn the camera this misalignment doesn't seem to go away.
Any comments ?

 

[Alan Lau]

I remember somebody had discussed same topic about A40 on this forum. No manufacturer can guarantee every of its product is defectless. I believe the best solution for you is to ask Canon to replace one for you.

 

[Marios Athineos]

This whole story about replacing cameras with defects makes me think about all those people that don't read forums like this. They might have seriously defective cameras without knowing it.

Is this fine ? Isn't it a bit of a bad practice from the manufacturer's side to assume that most consumers are not going to be knowlegable enough to detect the defects ?

I remember somebody had discussed same topic about A40 on this
forum. No manufacturer can guarantee every of its product is
defectless. I believe the best solution for you is to ask Canon to
replace one for you.

 

[Alan Lau]

Yes, I understand your point. But the sad thing is that we don't have a way to let all of those people know this potential problem. I'll tell everyone I know who's buying or has a digi cam to check their toy when they get it the first day. I don't know what else we can do. I believe those who make lot of defective products will die soon.

Cheer up and find a way out.
Alan

This whole story about replacing cameras with defects makes me
think about all those people that don't read forums like this. They
might have seriously defective cameras without knowing it.

Is this fine ? Isn't it a bit of a bad practice from the
manufacturer's side to assume that most consumers are not going to
be knowlegable enough to detect the defects ?

 

[Richard Homeyer]

Cheer up and find a way out.
Alan

This whole story about replacing cameras with defects makes me
think about all those people that don't read forums like this. They
might have seriously defective cameras without knowing it.

Is this fine ? Isn't it a bit of a bad practice from the
manufacturer's side to assume that most consumers are not going to
be knowlegable enough to detect the defects ?

Two other things to check. Go to a brick wall or anything with several level lines. See if when the lcd is level with the lines, if the image comes out level with the lines. Do the same with the viewfinder. I don't use the viewfinder but mine was noticably off which might make it hard to sell a few years down the road if I chose to upgrade. Canon seems to have problems with ccd/viewfinder alignment. I was aware of the problem but the a70 was just too much camera for the money for me not to get it. Knowing I might have a problem I bought locally so I could exchange easilly. The second one I got was fine and I love it. Like I said, a lot of camera for the money (I paid 200$ with a free 128cf and a card reader last week when office max was substituting it for the advertised s300, so defanatlly a lot of the camera for the money for me).

 

[Alan Lau]

You know what, Richard, I just checked officemax's website and saw there's no Canon digital cameras showing on their site. Maybe they are aware such subsitution and removed all Canon links. Frankly say, after reading your reply I really want to copy your success by intendedly order an S300 from them and go to the store to pick up an A70.

Man! so sad I missed this good deal, hah.

Cheer up and find a way out.
Alan

This whole story about replacing cameras with defects makes me
think about all those people that don't read forums like this. They
might have seriously defective cameras without knowing it.

Is this fine ? Isn't it a bit of a bad practice from the
manufacturer's side to assume that most consumers are not going to
be knowlegable enough to detect the defects ?

Two other things to check. Go to a brick wall or anything with
several level lines. See if when the lcd is level with the lines,
if the image comes out level with the lines. Do the same with the
viewfinder. I don't use the viewfinder but mine was noticably off
which might make it hard to sell a few years down the road if I
chose to upgrade. Canon seems to have problems with ccd/viewfinder
alignment. I was aware of the problem but the a70 was just too
much camera for the money for me not to get it. Knowing I might
have a problem I bought locally so I could exchange easilly. The
second one I got was fine and I love it. Like I said, a lot of
camera for the money (I paid 200$ with a free 128cf and a card
reader last week when office max was substituting it for the
advertised s300, so defanatlly a lot of the camera for the money
for me).

 

[Bob Anderson]

I took an image of the camera through a mirror and as you can see
the camera is not aligned with the frame of the picture. No matter
how you turn the camera this misalignment doesn't seem to go away.
Any comments ?

--
Hi,

Until I joined this group, I thought that I was manic about items that I had purchased. After following this group for a while, I'm relieved to find that many people are a lot worse.

This extreme and bizarre behavior is characterized by such activities as:

• Taking repeated photos is a pitch-dark closet.

• Taking photos of a camera in a mirror.

• Peering into the lens of a camera to see if any dust or other particle can be detected.

• Obsessing whether a camera should have a tag of some sort attached.

• Returning for replacement camera after camera in the hope of obtaining that elusive perfect camera.

Perhaps Phil should retain the services of a professional to counsel us all.

Bob Anderson

 

[Nothlit]

OfficeMax does have a special this week on the A70, with a free 128 MB CompactFlash card, in-store only, for $299. Click the in-store specials link on their web site to make sure it's available in your area.

 

[Manish Mehta]

OfficeMax does have a special this week on the A70, with a free 128
MB CompactFlash card, in-store only, for $299. Click the in-store
specials link on their web site to make sure it's available in your
area.

I just called up OfficeMax in my area. Although they have this deal going on and they also have the A70 in stock...guess what..you cannot return it back to the store. For Canon and Sony you have to return it to the manufacturer. I knew there would be some strings attached to this kind of a deal.

Now I don't feel bad about spending $60 for the 256 MB CF card.

Manish

 

[Medic Laviña]

I took an image of the camera through a mirror and as you can see
the camera is not aligned with the frame of the picture. No matter
how you turn the camera this misalignment doesn't seem to go away.
Any comments ?

--
Hi,

Until I joined this group, I thought that I was manic about items
that I had purchased. After following this group for a while, I'm
relieved to find that many people are a lot worse.

This extreme and bizarre behavior is characterized by such
activities as:

• Taking repeated photos is a pitch-dark closet.

• Taking photos of a camera in a mirror.

• Peering into the lens of a camera to see if any dust or other

particle can be detected.

• Obsessing whether a camera should have a tag of some sort attached.

• Returning for replacement camera after camera in the hope of

obtaining that elusive perfect camera.

Perhaps Phil should retain the services of a professional to
counsel us all.

Bob Anderson

These only emphasizes the reality that quality assurance has now been neglected by manufacturers of electronic products.
--
Medic

 

[Paul Leibowitz]

I just checked my A70 and I think it's so in my camera, too.

To be sure, it makes most sense to use a leveling device to properly stabilize and position the camera with it's horizontal subject. The subject should ideally be a grid of some sort, but a horizontal line will do.

I just photographed bathroom tiles (without using a leveler). However, I took about 20 photographs of many subjects and noticed something quite obvious. If I aligned the bottom of the LCD with various horizontal lines around my apartment (e,g, the tops of picture frames, bathroom tiles, door frames, etc.) then I could get the horizontal line perfectly parallel to the bottom of the LCD frame - but the camera was crooked!

Let's take a vote and see how many of us have misaligned "you name its."

Paul

I took an image of the camera through a mirror and as you can see
the camera is not aligned with the frame of the picture. No matter
how you turn the camera this misalignment doesn't seem to go away.
Any comments ?

 

[Paul Leibowitz]

We need to know if the LCD shows information differently than is recorded on the chip, and viewed (for example) on our monitors. I haven't done this yet.

Paul

To be sure, it makes most sense to use a leveling device to
properly stabilize and position the camera with it's horizontal
subject. The subject should ideally be a grid of some sort, but a
horizontal line will do.

I just photographed bathroom tiles (without using a leveler).
However, I took about 20 photographs of many subjects and noticed
something quite obvious. If I aligned the bottom of the LCD with
various horizontal lines around my apartment (e,g, the tops of
picture frames, bathroom tiles, door frames, etc.) then I could get
the horizontal line perfectly parallel to the bottom of the LCD
frame - but the camera was crooked!

Let's take a vote and see how many of us have misaligned "you name
its."

Paul

I took an image of the camera through a mirror and as you can see
the camera is not aligned with the frame of the picture. No matter
how you turn the camera this misalignment doesn't seem to go away.
Any comments ?

 

[Manish Mehta]

You guys are freaking me out. I bought my A70 yesterday. I am at work right now but thats the first thing I have to do when I reach home
tonight. I thought I was all set to be one trigger-happy dude...

Manish

Paul

To be sure, it makes most sense to use a leveling device to
properly stabilize and position the camera with it's horizontal
subject. The subject should ideally be a grid of some sort, but a
horizontal line will do.

I just photographed bathroom tiles (without using a leveler).
However, I took about 20 photographs of many subjects and noticed
something quite obvious. If I aligned the bottom of the LCD with
various horizontal lines around my apartment (e,g, the tops of
picture frames, bathroom tiles, door frames, etc.) then I could get
the horizontal line perfectly parallel to the bottom of the LCD
frame - but the camera was crooked!

Let's take a vote and see how many of us have misaligned "you name
its."

Paul

I took an image of the camera through a mirror and as you can see
the camera is not aligned with the frame of the picture. No matter
how you turn the camera this misalignment doesn't seem to go away.
Any comments ?

 

[Marios Athineos]

I think that we are reaching the point at which a book on how to test a newly received camera for defects needs to be published. A book like that would first introduce the potential buyer to the various problems of digicams. It would then proceed by listing simple test procedures for identifying them, you know, aluminum foil shots etc.

Whoever writes that book can go to Canon, Nikon and all the rest and ask how much money thet'd give her in order not to publish it. She would be rich !

You guys are freaking me out. I bought my A70 yesterday. I am at
work right now but thats the first thing I have to do when I reach
home
tonight. I thought I was all set to be one trigger-happy dude...

Manish

 

[Marios Athineos]

your A70 is going to have a lot more problems than that. It's just poorly constructed and that's about it. I had to return 2 of them before I kept mine. One was DOA. Personally I prefer to buy the cheapest camera that can fit my needs so I don't have to worry about breaking it etc. In that mindset I don't really care about some minor defects ...

You guys are freaking me out. I bought my A70 yesterday. I am at
work right now but thats the first thing I have to do when I reach
home
tonight. I thought I was all set to be one trigger-happy dude...

Manish

 

[Paul Leibowitz]

Hi Manish,

Assuming you and we find a problem, and the problem is one you don't want to live with, you can return the camera. In your case, you probobaly still have that option.

There is a workaround - unless you (we) show the misalignment is only in the picture shown in the LCD - and not the final print (jpeg, etc.). If so, then this is (to me) a more serious problem because it means the image in the LCD isn't reliable.

If, however, the file itself is exactly what one sees in the LCD then the trick is to make sure you like what you see in the LCD before taking a picture - regardless of the tilt of the camera in one's hands. In my mind, that's not as hard to do (It's ridiculous to have to do, but it can be done).

Still, it's a workaround and if it's widespread and found in many cameras, then Canon should do a factory recall at no cost (meaning they even pay for insurance and shipping) - even if the problem is noticed years from today.

This is a clear factory defect. If it's widespread, then Canon's reputation is on the line. Manufacturing defects are rare but they happen. But, if it's widespread, it's shoddy manufacturing. It makes one want to buy a Nikon, or Oly, or Sony, or ....

Paul

 

[Paul Leibowitz]

Marios,

Of course you're right. It's only a camera.

But it is irritating, and you should admit to at least that.

On two separate but related topics - not everyone has equal discretionary funds to buy cameras and it does hurt those who don't more than those who do. Cameras are different than other toys we buy. A camera is often used to capture a moment in time that has meaning. One expects it to perform, and one relies on it for that.

On a third topic (important perhaps only to me), we have become too grateful for too little and our expectations are self-diminished. Shame on us.

Paul

You guys are freaking me out. I bought my A70 yesterday. I am at
work right now but thats the first thing I have to do when I reach
home
tonight. I thought I was all set to be one trigger-happy dude...

Manish

 

[Manish Mehta]

I also found last night that my A70 has the same sensor problem. I am going to take it back to Fry's tonight. What a bummer....

Manish

Hi Manish,

Assuming you and we find a problem, and the problem is one you
don't want to live with, you can return the camera. In your case,
you probobaly still have that option.

There is a workaround - unless you (we) show the misalignment is
only in the picture shown in the LCD - and not the final print
(jpeg, etc.). If so, then this is (to me) a more serious problem
because it means the image in the LCD isn't reliable.

If, however, the file itself is exactly what one sees in the LCD
then the trick is to make sure you like what you see in the LCD
before taking a picture - regardless of the tilt of the camera in
one's hands. In my mind, that's not as hard to do (It's ridiculous
to have to do, but it can be done).

Still, it's a workaround and if it's widespread and found in many
cameras, then Canon should do a factory recall at no cost (meaning
they even pay for insurance and shipping) - even if the problem is
noticed years from today.

This is a clear factory defect. If it's widespread, then Canon's
reputation is on the line. Manufacturing defects are rare but they
happen. But, if it's widespread, it's shoddy manufacturing. It
makes one want to buy a Nikon, or Oly, or Sony, or ....

Paul