Camera …issues (#E8)
Houston, we got a problem…
My Canon S100 died yesterday. Did a photo of the working Revox display (yup, that’s another blog post right there), turned it off, set it aside on the table. Later decided to take a picture of something else – lens error. Common problem with the S100/S110, mine carries a high 41xxx serial number.
Canon even acknowledged it, but unaffected (not-yet-failed) devices were not recalled or repaired, and mine didn’t fail that way in time. Well, until yesterday.
To Users of the PowerShot S100 Digital Camera
Thank you for using Canon products.
Update: Please note that the free repairs described below, which we announced on June 28, 2012, will end on September 30, 2017.
It has been confirmed that some PowerShot S100 digital cameras encounter a lens error caused by a disconnected part inside the camera. This announcement conveys the details of the issue and Canon’s service policy for affected cameras.
Canon continuously strives to provide our customers with high quality, reliable products that can be used with confidence. We offer our sincerest apologies to any customers who have been inconvenienced.
Phenomenon
Some PowerShot S100 units (with the serial numbers listed below) may encounter a lens error due to a part becoming disconnected inside the lens. In particular, this lens error may occur when the camera is used in certain environmental conditions such as high temperature and / or humidity.
Affected Products
Some of the PowerShot S100 Digital Cameras within the following serial number range:
The first and second digits of the camera’s serial number are any number from “29” through “41”.
For example: “29xxxxxxxxxx”, “30xxxxxxxxxx”….”41xxxxxxxxxx”(The [x] characters shown above represent the remaining characters of the product’s serial number.)
Market Support
Affected products that exhibit this phenomenon will be repaired free of charge, regardless of the warranty status, if it is confirmed that the lens error has been caused by disconnection of the part inside the lens.
Support
Please contact your nearest service center on the availability date for servicing.
I guess that’s a big FUCK YOU to the customer, September 2017 was just six years after release. Note this is a higher end compact camera at 450€ / $430 MRSP, so not some generic cheapo part that would certainly fight against smartphone cameras these days. I mean I won’t expect lifetime warranty for a thing that can fail due to wear and tear, but for a known fault? Fail early or pay more than the residual value for a repair? C’mon, that’s shitty.
Well, in my case it wasn’t a strip of flat flex coming loose which seems often the case, but the entire zoom mechanism was jammed. Poor motor wasn’t able to move it, some wee plastic bit came off somewhere. Got something out, creaky motion and lots of fun reassembling the entire thing. Moved a wider range after that, but didn’t move in completely. Nope, that thing won’t come back. It’s dead, Jim, until I get a replacement lens assembly OR can transplant parts to say one device with a damaged screen.
Looks like I have to churn out a few tinned posts before I can produce new content after deciding for a replacement. One thing is for sure: It won’t be a Canon…actually, nothing will be from Canon for me until 2030, as they pissed me off in terms of printers back when I was in the market for some color laser thingy. 2012, to be precise. As they did not publish current data on their website, I asked if their Linux drivers would also allow for scanning via USB/LAN, or if I needed to scan to mail/FTP/SMB.
Sehr geehrter Herr Bzzz,
vielen Dank für Ihre Anfrage bezüglich des MF8040
Grundsätzlich ist es unser Anliegen auch Nutzern von den nicht gängigen Betriebssystemen Treiber zu unseren Produkten zur Verfügung zu stellen.
Das Betriebssystem LINUX wird von Canon leider nicht weiterführend unterstützt, da es sich bei LINUX um ein Open Source System handelt.
Für einige ausgewählte Geräte bieten wir Linux Treiber an, jedoch leisten wir keinen Support für dieses Betriebssystem.
Uns liegen deshalb keine Informationen vor welche Funktionen für Linux unterstützt werden oder nicht.
Wir bedauern sehr, Ihnen nicht weiterhelfen zu können und werden Ihre Anregung gern an die entsprechende Stelle weiterleiten.
Mit freundlichen Grüßen
[ Dear Mr. Bzzz, thank you so much for your request regarding the MF8040 printer. In general, we’d like to offer drivers for every user, even those using non-common operating systems. The operating system “LINUX” however is not supported by Canon, because “LINUX” is Open Source. We offer drivers for selected devices without further customer support. We do not know which functionality is supported under Linux. I’m afraid I can not help you any further, but I will escalate your concerns to the appropriate office. Kind regards. ]
So because Linux is evil open source, they won’t supply drivers for their very own products, and for those that accidentally got support (by third parties?), they do not even know which features are supported because they do not fucking care. Well, that was a pretty decisive testimonial – and I’m 95% happy with my Samsung CLX-6200 that I got shortly after this response. There’s something wrong with the market if Samsung is your best option and you do not regret the purchase in hindsight, don’t you think?
Anyway, Canon is dead to me now, let’s see what I’ll get as a replacement. Fuck you, you fucking fucks.
