Multiple G3 defective units UPDATED.

[Greg Henry82713]

Yesterday I posted a note about my new G3 taking photos that appeared "slanted" from right to left, as though the camera were being held a bit crooked. After leveling it up on a tripod and taking photos of a brick wall which was also level to the camera, it was revealed that this camera had a misaligned CCD.

I took the camera back to the retailer, and they pulled out a replacement. We powered it up and the clerk, wide-eyed, says, "Damn, this one does it also!" We take another camera out of the case. This one too, as does the last one they have, even moreso than my own did. By this time a manager was involved and he too, sees the "slant" on the LCD. He pulls the units out of the case to be sent back.

I then travel 3 miles up the road to Ritz Camera. They have only one display unit, but it too, shows this alignment problem.

Leaving, I make my final stop - Best Buys. They have 13 G3s in stock. We look at the display, and bingo! Same problem. They pull three new units and one "open box" unit out, power them up, and we see the same misaligned images. Only one came close to looking normal on it's LCD, but we displayed the image taken on a computer monitor and the slant became visible at this size.

Now, a couple of boo boos here and there are predicted. I guess it's even possible for a store to get a bad batch of an item that shipped before the maker was aware of this. Three stores however, and every unit? My guess and personal opinion, is eihter 1) There was a whole truck load of these defects and the truck/shipper made deliveries to all of these stores since they're close. Or, 2) Canon's quality control department is being overworked .

Anyway - that's the update.

 

[Greg Henry82713]

To address something someone emailed me about:

Someone emailed me a question about my post, but I'll just post a public reply so everyone can see it.

No, this problem cannot easily be seen when you're taking "everyday" photos such as your kids in the grass, pets, or things like that. You will see this problem when taking shots of level objects or subjects. I first noticed it when I was taking shots standing on level ground, holding the camera straight, taking landscape shots of areas that were directly in front of me and also level. They appeared slanted to the left, and were obvious. It went to the next level by putting the camera on a tripod with a bubble level on it, making sure it was level (using another level on top of the camera as well) and then taking pics of horizontal subjects that I leveled out the bubble to also make sure they were level with the camera. Very obvious "lean" to the pics.

And again, once I started hitting stores and we started testing out other units, everyone who tried them out could see this slant - some varied as well, with some cameras being worse than others. We even at one point put two of the G3s side-by-side and the slant was different as seen through the LCD on both. A third camera was added, and it's view/pic was level. At one retailer the salesman wasn't your typical "I just learned how to drive" store child - he was very experienced in digicam sales, and he almost immediately began yanking the G3s off the shelf upon seeing this (and making a Canon comment I can't repeat here).

I will repeat one thing however as this wasn't meant to start a "panic" for G3-ers: This MIGHT be just a regional thing. All of the stores I went to are close to each other, and received stock around the same time. These G3s could have been one huge bad batch that went out on the same delivery truck and were delivered to the same stores at the same time, and most other areas of the country may not have received any of these. At the same time, it's possible it affects huge numbers of G3s, too. Just something to pay attention to and check on your own.

----------------------------------------------------------------

Yesterday I posted a note about my new G3 taking photos that
appeared "slanted" from right to left, as though the camera were
being held a bit crooked. After leveling it up on a tripod and
taking photos of a brick wall which was also level to the camera,
it was revealed that this camera had a misaligned CCD.

I took the camera back to the retailer, and they pulled out a
replacement. We powered it up and the clerk, wide-eyed, says,
"Damn, this one does it also!" We take another camera out of the
case. This one too, as does the last one they have, even moreso
than my own did. By this time a manager was involved and he too,
sees the "slant" on the LCD. He pulls the units out of the case to
be sent back.

I then travel 3 miles up the road to Ritz Camera. They have only
one display unit, but it too, shows this alignment problem.

Leaving, I make my final stop - Best Buys. They have 13 G3s in
stock. We look at the display, and bingo! Same problem. They
pull three new units and one "open box" unit out, power them up,
and we see the same misaligned images. Only one came close to
looking normal on it's LCD, but we displayed the image taken on a
computer monitor and the slant became visible at this size.

Now, a couple of boo boos here and there are predicted. I guess
it's even possible for a store to get a bad batch of an item that
shipped before the maker was aware of this. Three stores however,
and every unit? My guess and personal opinion, is eihter 1) There
was a whole truck load of these defects and the truck/shipper made
deliveries to all of these stores since they're close. Or, 2)
Canon's quality control department is being overworked .

Anyway - that's the update.

 

[Tanglefoot1947]

Someone emailed me a question about my post, but I'll just post a
public reply so everyone can see it.

No, this problem cannot easily be seen when you're taking
"everyday" photos such as your kids in the grass, pets, or things
like that. You will see this problem when taking shots of level
objects or subjects. I first noticed it when I was taking shots
standing on level ground, holding the camera straight, taking
landscape shots of areas that were directly in front of me and also
level. They appeared slanted to the left, and were obvious. It
went to the next level by putting the camera on a tripod with a
bubble level on it, making sure it was level (using another level
on top of the camera as well) and then taking pics of horizontal
subjects that I leveled out the bubble to also make sure they were
level with the camera. Very obvious "lean" to the pics.

And again, once I started hitting stores and we started testing out
other units, everyone who tried them out could see this slant -
some varied as well, with some cameras being worse than others. We
even at one point put two of the G3s side-by-side and the slant was
different as seen through the LCD on both. A third camera was
added, and it's view/pic was level. At one retailer the salesman
wasn't your typical "I just learned how to drive" store child - he
was very experienced in digicam sales, and he almost immediately
began yanking the G3s off the shelf upon seeing this (and making a
Canon comment I can't repeat here).

I will repeat one thing however as this wasn't meant to start a
"panic" for G3-ers: This MIGHT be just a regional thing. All of
the stores I went to are close to each other, and received stock
around the same time. These G3s could have been one huge bad batch
that went out on the same delivery truck and were delivered to the
same stores at the same time, and most other areas of the country
may not have received any of these. At the same time, it's
possible it affects huge numbers of G3s, too. Just something to
pay attention to and check on your own.

----------------------------------------------------------------

Yesterday I posted a note about my new G3 taking photos that
appeared "slanted" from right to left, as though the camera were
being held a bit crooked. After leveling it up on a tripod and
taking photos of a brick wall which was also level to the camera,
it was revealed that this camera had a misaligned CCD.

I took the camera back to the retailer, and they pulled out a
replacement. We powered it up and the clerk, wide-eyed, says,
"Damn, this one does it also!" We take another camera out of the
case. This one too, as does the last one they have, even moreso
than my own did. By this time a manager was involved and he too,
sees the "slant" on the LCD. He pulls the units out of the case to
be sent back.

I then travel 3 miles up the road to Ritz Camera. They have only
one display unit, but it too, shows this alignment problem.

Leaving, I make my final stop - Best Buys. They have 13 G3s in
stock. We look at the display, and bingo! Same problem. They
pull three new units and one "open box" unit out, power them up,
and we see the same misaligned images. Only one came close to
looking normal on it's LCD, but we displayed the image taken on a
computer monitor and the slant became visible at this size.

Now, a couple of boo boos here and there are predicted. I guess
it's even possible for a store to get a bad batch of an item that
shipped before the maker was aware of this. Three stores however,
and every unit? My guess and personal opinion, is eihter 1) There
was a whole truck load of these defects and the truck/shipper made
deliveries to all of these stores since they're close. Or, 2)
Canon's quality control department is being overworked .

Anyway - that's the update.

--Seems to me that it is more than regional thing. Earlier in the week someone posted this same thing but with the S-50. I haven't checked mine yet but if it is I will wait untin the Sony V-1 comes out then I will take it back to Costco and make a switch to Sony V-1.

Tanglefoot1947 717, B-300, G-3, Sony P-7, Canon i950

 

[Todd B.]

Why would you switch to a new production camera right away? It could have problems as well. I'm not knocking you at all but I think you have "happy feet" when it comes to deciding what camera you want. If you have the money to keep switching I guess there is nothing wrong with that but it's hard to get to know your camera if you are always switching.

--Seems to me that it is more than regional thing. Earlier in the
week someone posted this same thing but with the S-50. I haven't
checked mine yet but if it is I will wait untin the Sony V-1 comes
out then I will take it back to Costco and make a switch to Sony
V-1.

Tanglefoot1947 717, B-300, G-3, Sony P-7, Canon i950

--
http://www.pbase.com/blade35

 

[MarekM]

--Seems to me that it is more than regional thing. Earlier in the
week someone posted this same thing but with the S-50. I haven't
checked mine yet but if it is I will wait untin the Sony V-1 comes
out then I will take it back to Costco and make a switch to Sony
V-1.

Tanglefoot1947 717, B-300, G-3, Sony P-7, Canon i950

--
http://www.pbase.com/blade35

MarekM wrote:

Almost everybody , it seems, posts messages that they are using LCD and not a viewfinder to frame the shots with G3. Particularly when, like you, they have a lensmate on. If that's the case, it really does not matter that much that CCD is slightly misaligned.

If you are happy with your pictures so far, why would you start being unhappy now?
Rgds

 

[Leo]

Greg,
I have tested my G3 and it does not display the described in your post problem.

Camera G3, S/N 6121409900

Rectangular white board 37”x 20” with wood frame.

Distance to the board is 14 ft. The image was aligned at low part of screen/viewfinder
Tripod.

Results

The bottom board horizontal offset = 152 pix (left) 152 pix (right) =no shift.

The top of the board horizontal offset = 15 pix (left) 9 pix (right). The total offset at the image top was measured as -6 pixels on the right side of the image.

There was no inclination added to the taken image at the bottom (152 pix from the bottom of the image to the low board line at the left and right sides).

The 6 pixels offset of the board top horizontal line was measured and it probably represents the lens distortion. The distortion = 6/1704*100 = 0.35 or 0.35%. I think is acceptable for x4 zoom.

Leo

Yesterday I posted a note about my new G3 taking photos that
appeared "slanted" from right to left, as though the camera were
being held a bit crooked. After leveling it up on a tripod and
taking photos of a brick wall which was also level to the camera,
it was revealed that this camera had a misaligned CCD.

I took the camera back to the retailer, and they pulled out a
replacement. We powered it up and the clerk, wide-eyed, says,
"Damn, this one does it also!" We take another camera out of the
case. This one too, as does the last one they have, even moreso
than my own did. By this time a manager was involved and he too,
sees the "slant" on the LCD. He pulls the units out of the case to
be sent back.

I then travel 3 miles up the road to Ritz Camera. They have only
one display unit, but it too, shows this alignment problem.

Leaving, I make my final stop - Best Buys. They have 13 G3s in
stock. We look at the display, and bingo! Same problem. They
pull three new units and one "open box" unit out, power them up,
and we see the same misaligned images. Only one came close to
looking normal on it's LCD, but we displayed the image taken on a
computer monitor and the slant became visible at this size.

Now, a couple of boo boos here and there are predicted. I guess
it's even possible for a store to get a bad batch of an item that
shipped before the maker was aware of this. Three stores however,
and every unit? My guess and personal opinion, is eihter 1) There
was a whole truck load of these defects and the truck/shipper made
deliveries to all of these stores since they're close. Or, 2)
Canon's quality control department is being overworked .

Anyway - that's the update.

 

[pvrnet]

I have the same problem with my new PowerShot A70. The CCD is misaligned and when taking a shot on a tripod level the photo is tilted a bit. I have also heard this was a problem with the A40 as well in some cases.

 

[Mike Hunt]

If I understand this correctly, you're basically saying that the camera body's base is not precisely aligned with the CCD sensor.

Have you tested other cameras, from other manufacturers, to see if this issue is unique to Canon or common among all digital cameras?

Yesterday I posted a note about my new G3 taking photos that
appeared "slanted" from right to left, as though the camera were
being held a bit crooked. After leveling it up on a tripod and
taking photos of a brick wall which was also level to the camera,
it was revealed that this camera had a misaligned CCD.

I took the camera back to the retailer, and they pulled out a
replacement. We powered it up and the clerk, wide-eyed, says,
"Damn, this one does it also!" We take another camera out of the
case. This one too, as does the last one they have, even moreso
than my own did. By this time a manager was involved and he too,
sees the "slant" on the LCD. He pulls the units out of the case to
be sent back.

I then travel 3 miles up the road to Ritz Camera. They have only
one display unit, but it too, shows this alignment problem.

Leaving, I make my final stop - Best Buys. They have 13 G3s in
stock. We look at the display, and bingo! Same problem. They
pull three new units and one "open box" unit out, power them up,
and we see the same misaligned images. Only one came close to
looking normal on it's LCD, but we displayed the image taken on a
computer monitor and the slant became visible at this size.

Now, a couple of boo boos here and there are predicted. I guess
it's even possible for a store to get a bad batch of an item that
shipped before the maker was aware of this. Three stores however,
and every unit? My guess and personal opinion, is eihter 1) There
was a whole truck load of these defects and the truck/shipper made
deliveries to all of these stores since they're close. Or, 2)
Canon's quality control department is being overworked .

Anyway - that's the update.

 

[Greg Henry82713]

Mike,

When I did my personal tests, I did use two other cameras to try it out as well, using them on the same setup and checking for level before I took the shots (Sony P30 and Olympus 2100). Both of them produced perfectly level shots. I redid the G3 shot and it was tilted to the left. Not a tilt you have to stare at for a minute to see - this stands out the second you look at the image.

Again, when they started checking these at the shops, the salespeople were shocked, as it is not something you see much of. Best Buys typically has kids working there, so I'm not sure if I'd classify anyone there as an "expert"; we did however, stand the G3 and a Sony next to each other on a level display and aimed at another display. Used the memory cards on a computer they had set up, and that G3's image was notably more tilted to the left - the Sony was level.

Someone else mentioned something about using the viewfinders - when I used the optical viewfinder on my G3, that is when the largest amount of tilt could be seen in the results. When I put the LCD flat against the back and used it, you could see the tilt via the LCD, and compensate by tilting the camera to the left a bit, to get a level photo. But my concern is WHY should you have to tilt a nearly $700 camera (or in this case in my area, apparently camera(S), in order to get a level photo? I'd expect that from a $150 H.P. camera, not a Canon G-series.

Greg

Have you tested other cameras, from other manufacturers, to see if
this issue is unique to Canon or common among all digital cameras?

Yesterday I posted a note about my new G3 taking photos that
appeared "slanted" from right to left, as though the camera were
being held a bit crooked. After leveling it up on a tripod and
taking photos of a brick wall which was also level to the camera,
it was revealed that this camera had a misaligned CCD.

I took the camera back to the retailer, and they pulled out a
replacement. We powered it up and the clerk, wide-eyed, says,
"Damn, this one does it also!" We take another camera out of the
case. This one too, as does the last one they have, even moreso
than my own did. By this time a manager was involved and he too,
sees the "slant" on the LCD. He pulls the units out of the case to
be sent back.

I then travel 3 miles up the road to Ritz Camera. They have only
one display unit, but it too, shows this alignment problem.

Leaving, I make my final stop - Best Buys. They have 13 G3s in
stock. We look at the display, and bingo! Same problem. They
pull three new units and one "open box" unit out, power them up,
and we see the same misaligned images. Only one came close to
looking normal on it's LCD, but we displayed the image taken on a
computer monitor and the slant became visible at this size.

Now, a couple of boo boos here and there are predicted. I guess
it's even possible for a store to get a bad batch of an item that
shipped before the maker was aware of this. Three stores however,
and every unit? My guess and personal opinion, is eihter 1) There
was a whole truck load of these defects and the truck/shipper made
deliveries to all of these stores since they're close. Or, 2)
Canon's quality control department is being overworked .

Anyway - that's the update.

 

[pete_f69]

I just had to try this myself. These are not the greatest examples but can you tell from these pics if my camera has the same problem? Could it also be perspective distortion from certain focal lengths?

Yesterday I posted a note about my new G3 taking photos that
appeared "slanted" from right to left, as though the camera were
being held a bit crooked. After leveling it up on a tripod and
taking photos of a brick wall which was also level to the camera,
it was revealed that this camera had a misaligned CCD.

I took the camera back to the retailer, and they pulled out a
replacement. We powered it up and the clerk, wide-eyed, says,
"Damn, this one does it also!" We take another camera out of the
case. This one too, as does the last one they have, even moreso
than my own did. By this time a manager was involved and he too,
sees the "slant" on the LCD. He pulls the units out of the case to
be sent back.

I then travel 3 miles up the road to Ritz Camera. They have only
one display unit, but it too, shows this alignment problem.

Leaving, I make my final stop - Best Buys. They have 13 G3s in
stock. We look at the display, and bingo! Same problem. They
pull three new units and one "open box" unit out, power them up,
and we see the same misaligned images. Only one came close to
looking normal on it's LCD, but we displayed the image taken on a
computer monitor and the slant became visible at this size.

Now, a couple of boo boos here and there are predicted. I guess
it's even possible for a store to get a bad batch of an item that
shipped before the maker was aware of this. Three stores however,
and every unit? My guess and personal opinion, is eihter 1) There
was a whole truck load of these defects and the truck/shipper made
deliveries to all of these stores since they're close. Or, 2)
Canon's quality control department is being overworked .

Anyway - that's the update.

--
Peter Flor
Canon G3
http://www.pbase.com/allegro917

 

[Tanglefoot1947]

Why would you switch to a new production camera right away? It
could have problems as well. I'm not knocking you at all but I
think you have "happy feet" when it comes to deciding what camera
you want. If you have the money to keep switching I guess there is
nothing wrong with that but it's hard to get to know your camera if
you are always switching.

--
http://www.pbase.com/blade35

--Yes I have happy feet. I bought the S-50 thinking that it would be a very good second camera. i take most of my shots indooors and I could not live with the red eye. I still had time left to return it so I did. I will not have a camera where I have to go into photo shop and adjust every eye shot. As far as switching have had my 717 for a long time and would not get rid of it. It doesn't take long to understand when a camera will not work for you and the S-50 was one of them.

Tanglefoot1947 717, B-300, G-3, Sony P-7, Canon i950

 

[Robert Hoffman]

I just had to try this myself. These are not the greatest examples
but can you tell from these pics if my camera has the same problem?
Could it also be perspective distortion from certain focal lengths?

You need to standardize the test, in order to better assess any problems.
To eliminate variables, attach a steel straightedge to a wall. You can do
this indoors or outdoors. I usually tape it on the wall. Take a good level
and adjust the straightedge so it is perfectly level. Take your tripod and
level the camera platform left-to-right and front-to-back. Now, the platform
and straightedge are level with each other. Mount the camera onto
the tripod and place the level onto the top surface. Not all cameras will
allow you to do this, but most will. For example, the S30/S45/S50 all have
a nice, flat surface on the top. Check to see if the camera is level left-
to-right and front to back, just like you did with the tripod platform. If
the camera is not quite perfect, adjust the tripod so it is.

Now, you are just about ready to shoot the tests. Take your tripod and
camera and set it up so the straightedge is in the upper half of the image
area. Once it is properly framed, the camera must be "square" with the
wall. In other words, the camera back must be parallel to the surface of
the wall. You don't want to shoot the target from the left or the right.
You want to shoot the target "straight on." You can do the final adjust-
ment by measuring the distance from the wall to the left and right sides
of the camera's front surface. I use a high quality, ruled straightedge to
do my measuring. The idea is to get the left and right sides of the camera
to be the same distance from the wall. Once you've got this nailed, you
will be to ready to take your test shots.

Set your zoom so it is one step away from full optical zoom. In other words,
set it to full telephoto and then take it back one step. This puts the lens
into a "sweet spot," where it will have no barrel distortion or pincushion
distortion. Take your test shots and analyze them in PS or any other
editing program that will allow you to draw a reference line. It won't take
long to tell whether or not your camera has a misaligned CCD.

RH

 

[Howard Louie]

I did a series of shots and this is my conclusion on my G2. It doesn't takes much of an offset to cause the tilt when shooting at the wide angle focal length. At this focal lenght you are more subjected to the lens distortion. I too thought I might have this problem with my G2. But after several shots and ensuring that I am squared to the wall, I think my G2 is working fine. But like I said earlier, it doesn't take much of an offset at the wide angle position to cause the tilt. But having to tilt the camera the other direction to compensate for the opposite tilt in the photo might be a way to compensate for the tilt, but doesn't make it right for a camera in this price range to have to do that.

I just had to try this myself. These are not the greatest examples
but can you tell from these pics if my camera has the same problem?
Could it also be perspective distortion from certain focal lengths?

You need to standardize the test, in order to better assess any
problems.
To eliminate variables, attach a steel straightedge to a wall. You
can do
this indoors or outdoors. I usually tape it on the wall. Take a
good level
and adjust the straightedge so it is perfectly level. Take your
tripod and
level the camera platform left-to-right and front-to-back. Now, the
platform
and straightedge are level with each other. Mount the camera onto
the tripod and place the level onto the top surface. Not all
cameras will
allow you to do this, but most will. For example, the S30/S45/S50
all have
a nice, flat surface on the top. Check to see if the camera is
level left-
to-right and front to back, just like you did with the tripod
platform. If
the camera is not quite perfect, adjust the tripod so it is.

Now, you are just about ready to shoot the tests. Take your tripod and
camera and set it up so the straightedge is in the upper half of
the image
area. Once it is properly framed, the camera must be "square" with the
wall. In other words, the camera back must be parallel to the
surface of
the wall. You don't want to shoot the target from the left or the
right.
You want to shoot the target "straight on." You can do the final
adjust-
ment by measuring the distance from the wall to the left and right
sides
of the camera's front surface. I use a high quality, ruled
straightedge to
do my measuring. The idea is to get the left and right sides of the
camera
to be the same distance from the wall. Once you've got this nailed,
you
will be to ready to take your test shots.

Set your zoom so it is one step away from full optical zoom. In
other words,
set it to full telephoto and then take it back one step. This puts
the lens
into a "sweet spot," where it will have no barrel distortion or
pincushion
distortion. Take your test shots and analyze them in PS or any other
editing program that will allow you to draw a reference line. It
won't take
long to tell whether or not your camera has a misaligned CCD.

RH

 

[Kolja Tatic]

Someone else mentioned something about using the viewfinders - when
I used the optical viewfinder on my G3, that is when the largest
amount of tilt could be seen in the results. When I put the LCD
flat against the back and used it, you could see the tilt via the
LCD, and compensate by tilting the camera to the left a bit, to get
a level photo. But my concern is WHY should you have to tilt a
nearly $700 camera (or in this case in my area, apparently
camera(S), in order to get a level photo? I'd expect that from a
$150 H.P. camera, not a Canon G-series.

Greg

Hello Greg,

We can see that big industry leaders don't care about 100 or 1.000 or 10.000 bad cameras... Only profit and profit and profit... Six months ago, I purchased Olympus C-4000Z, after I saw posts about "frozen G2's"...

In your country you can make the choice easy... What I can say about DC market in Serbia... Here cameras are exactly 1,75 x price in USA... And salary is about 150-200$... My C-4000Z is from USA... Hard for return, I think... Here, we have not the choice... Future is nothing except "gloomy world..." I think... And, Nikon F2S from 1971 is still excellent...

What we can do about this matter? Nothing, I'm afraid...

Best wishes from faraway province of dusty light...
Kolja

P.S. Sorry for my self-taught english...

 

[Greg Henry82713]

At first glance, there are some distortions in your images, but without having been there to see how you set it up, it might be hard to tell. The blinds test does look a bit tilted at the top like some of the cameras we tested in the stores that had a more mild version of the problem, but again, I'm not sure what you did to set it up.

As others and I have said in the posts - you need to make sure you are not at full wide angle or full tele when doing it so no pincushioning or barrel distortion is having an effect on the image, and, make sure the camera and subject are level with each other.

Greg

Yesterday I posted a note about my new G3 taking photos that
appeared "slanted" from right to left, as though the camera were
being held a bit crooked. After leveling it up on a tripod and
taking photos of a brick wall which was also level to the camera,
it was revealed that this camera had a misaligned CCD.

I took the camera back to the retailer, and they pulled out a
replacement. We powered it up and the clerk, wide-eyed, says,
"Damn, this one does it also!" We take another camera out of the
case. This one too, as does the last one they have, even moreso
than my own did. By this time a manager was involved and he too,
sees the "slant" on the LCD. He pulls the units out of the case to
be sent back.

I then travel 3 miles up the road to Ritz Camera. They have only
one display unit, but it too, shows this alignment problem.

Leaving, I make my final stop - Best Buys. They have 13 G3s in
stock. We look at the display, and bingo! Same problem. They
pull three new units and one "open box" unit out, power them up,
and we see the same misaligned images. Only one came close to
looking normal on it's LCD, but we displayed the image taken on a
computer monitor and the slant became visible at this size.

Now, a couple of boo boos here and there are predicted. I guess
it's even possible for a store to get a bad batch of an item that
shipped before the maker was aware of this. Three stores however,
and every unit? My guess and personal opinion, is eihter 1) There
was a whole truck load of these defects and the truck/shipper made
deliveries to all of these stores since they're close. Or, 2)
Canon's quality control department is being overworked .

Anyway - that's the update.

--
Peter Flor
Canon G3
http://www.pbase.com/allegro917

 

[thang]

Greg,

Is there anyway you can post couple samples you took with the "defective" G3s? Thanks.

Thang.

Yesterday I posted a note about my new G3 taking photos that
appeared "slanted" from right to left, as though the camera were
being held a bit crooked. After leveling it up on a tripod and
taking photos of a brick wall which was also level to the camera,
it was revealed that this camera had a misaligned CCD.

I took the camera back to the retailer, and they pulled out a
replacement. We powered it up and the clerk, wide-eyed, says,
"Damn, this one does it also!" We take another camera out of the
case. This one too, as does the last one they have, even moreso
than my own did. By this time a manager was involved and he too,
sees the "slant" on the LCD. He pulls the units out of the case to
be sent back.

I then travel 3 miles up the road to Ritz Camera. They have only
one display unit, but it too, shows this alignment problem.

Leaving, I make my final stop - Best Buys. They have 13 G3s in
stock. We look at the display, and bingo! Same problem. They
pull three new units and one "open box" unit out, power them up,
and we see the same misaligned images. Only one came close to
looking normal on it's LCD, but we displayed the image taken on a
computer monitor and the slant became visible at this size.

Now, a couple of boo boos here and there are predicted. I guess
it's even possible for a store to get a bad batch of an item that
shipped before the maker was aware of this. Three stores however,
and every unit? My guess and personal opinion, is eihter 1) There
was a whole truck load of these defects and the truck/shipper made
deliveries to all of these stores since they're close. Or, 2)
Canon's quality control department is being overworked .

Anyway - that's the update.

 

[Stefan V]

I noticed it first when I came back from my holiday. In a lot of
shots taken with my new S45 I had the idea that "next time I should
tilt the camera a little more to the right to get a horizontal
horizon".

Reading your posting I got a deja-vu. I sat up my tripod and shot
some horizontal aligned things... and damn! Every shot is tilted to
the left!

To give some proof of my experiences I created a Webshots album with some tilted pictures. All pictures where taken with the camera either on a flat surface or on a tripod.

I drew some horizontal/vertical lines in the pictures to make the tilting even more clear.

http://community.webshots.com/album/69587496Nzttzx

 

[Highlander]

Yesterday I posted a note about my new G3 taking photos that
appeared "slanted" from right to left, as though the camera were
being held a bit crooked. After leveling it up on a tripod and
taking photos of a brick wall which was also level to the camera,
it was revealed that this camera had a misaligned CCD.

.....

Have tested my A60 for this problem and guess what - SAME problem here in Germany!

 

[Highlander]

Yesterday I posted a note about my new G3 taking photos that
appeared "slanted" from right to left, as though the camera were
being held a bit crooked. After leveling it up on a tripod and
taking photos of a brick wall which was also level to the camera,
it was revealed that this camera had a misaligned CCD.

.....

Have tested my A60 for this problem and guess what - SAME problem
here in Germany!

here the link to a sample shot - the cam is placed on the hotplate bench!

 

[Highlander]

Yesterday I posted a note about my new G3 taking photos that
appeared "slanted" from right to left, as though the camera were
being held a bit crooked. After leveling it up on a tripod and
taking photos of a brick wall which was also level to the camera,
it was revealed that this camera had a misaligned CCD.

.....

Have tested my A60 for this problem and guess what - SAME problem
here in Germany!

here the link to a sample shot - the cam is placed on the hotplate
bench!

sorry, forgot the link: