I Killed My Camera!

[bdegroodt]

A very sad day for me today. I just got (December) a new S400. One of the neat things about it to me is how small it is...so it's always in my bag. Well, I pulled it out of the bag today to use it and realized that sometime between today and the last time I used it, the LCD took a hit. It now displays a weird spider web/test pattern instead of the normal viewfinder image. :(

Called Canon and they said send it in for repair. But., before I do, does anyone have any idea what a fair price for replacing the LCD might be? Am I going to pay $100 or $300? Any gut feelings? The CS rep from Canon (very friendly) didn't know.

[Suhit Gupta]

Broken LCD 8O. I am so sorry man.

Well, I am guessing that it isn't $300 since the camera itself is about that much. But since you bought the camera in December, shouldn't it still be under manufacturer warranty. It looks like Canon offers a 1 year warranty on most of its cameras. See if that warranty covers your damage.

Suhit

[Suhit Gupta]

Question asked, question answered - http://www.powershot.com/powershot2/customer/warranty.html says that it doesn't cover "mishandling". Sorry :-(.

Suhit

[bdegroodt]

Thanks Suhit. I can't say why it happened, but I'm sure I did it. Wouldn't expect Canon to cover it (my mom taught me this :D ) but if it's going to be a $300 repair bill, I may as well start thinking about buying a new one. Really love this camera, too.

Now...I need to find a case that protects, but doesn't bulk it up. Rhino Skin for an S400???

But before that, it's a call to Amex to see if the advertised purchase protection really is what they market. Keeping my fingers crossed.

[Lee Yuan Sheng]

That's rather unfortunate. =( I've had my own IXUS banging around my messanger bag for quite a while now and it's been taking it well so far. Perhaps that section of the bag was too crowded?

[bdegroodt]

Well call me the rapid traveler of the happy-sad-happy spectrum. I was so sad to see my camera like that, but willing to take the heat. Called Amex and in less than 3 minutes they took my claim. They are sending out a document for me to sign and they will have an adjuster determine if it should be repaired or replaced (either is fine by me) and issue the credit for that to my card in the next 2 weeks. Very happy to carry the card. Lesson learned.

Any suggestions on a cool case for the camera?

[Jason Dunn]

Nice to hear that it worked out for you! That was a close call - glad you got that Amex protection I bet! ;-)

In terms of cases, that's a tough one - I've seen some form-fitting cases, but they're all soft sided and not really good for much protection. When I travel I put my camera in a pouch inside another bag, so I guess I've never thought about finding a case to project it.

Maybe we'll have to find some to review. :D

[Lee Yuan Sheng]

This isn't a PDA, and I throughly dislike cases of any kind for my cameras. I normally dump them into a bag, padded or unpadded. If you want a pouch though, you can check out the ones from Lowepro.

[Gary Sheynkman]

sorry about your loss man :cry:

[bdegroodt]

This is the first digital camera that I've ever had that has the LCD always exposed. Every other digital camera I've owned had some sort of protection (swivel LCD with plastic on the back) to keep it from getting damaged. Since I didn't even have to describe the damage to the LCD for the CS rep, my guess is this isn't entirely uncommon.

[Janak Parekh]

This is the first digital camera that I've ever had that has the LCD always exposed.
Really? Most of the units I've handled have an exposed LCD. I think it's a function of the size -- adding a swivel would make an S400 larger.

I throughly dislike cases of any kind for my cameras.
I know what you mean, but you need 'em for some of these really small cameras. The Canon cases for the S series are very compact, and in there I don't mind bumping the camera (an S230 in my case) into something.

--janak

[bdegroodt]

This is the first digital camera that I've ever had that has the LCD always exposed.
Really? Most of the units I've handled have an exposed LCD. I think it's a function of the size -- adding a swivel would make an S400 larger.
--janak

Mostly Sony cameras...and one Apple digital camera that had no LCD to wreck.

[Lee Yuan Sheng]

I know what you mean, but you need 'em for some of these really small cameras. The Canon cases for the S series are very compact, and in there I don't mind bumping the camera (an S230 in my case) into something.


No you don't! =P Like I've mentioned, my own V2 is over a year old, has never been in a case, been bounced in pockets, several bags, and hardly has a scratch to show. It's one tough lil' guy.