[Angoid]

Last weekend, my trusty old Canon Powershot G6 decided it was time to give up the ghost.

What seems to have happened is that it was switched off with the lens partly extended, and when I tried to switch it on, it was as dead as a dodo.

I've Googled this to death and taken most of the advice given:

1) removed the battery and put the other one in (both have a good charge) - no difference
2) Removed the CF card (yeah, it uses those!) and tried again - nothing
3) Tried switching the camera on in playback mode (as well as shooting mode) - nothing
4) Plugged a USB cable in (which typically brings the device on) - again nothing
5) Tried carefully inserting a piece of paper round the lens mounting to dislodge any grains of dirt - no difference

I'm not getting any errors (for example the dreaded E18 error); it's just not powering up at all.

The only things left are the ones involving taking the camera apart, but is there any hope for this camera or will the best fix be to buy a new one? I've never pulled a digital camera apart before and am aware that the flash capacitor can give quite a jolt so will have to watch out for that if I go down that route!

Anybody got any ideas as to what to try next?

Thanks!

 

[WereBo]

Hi Angoid :wave:

It's very likely that the camera has finally given up the ghost and died, it's done well for a 12 year-old camera :sigh:

However, there's still a few tricks to try before replacing it. Some of the tricks are what you've already tried, but there's also some others here that might just do the trick for you :wink: - NOTE: These tips are generic for all camera-makes, they might not work as listed for your specific Canon :wink: - Camera repair tips


If you decide to try fixing the fault yourself, you can get the Canon G6 service-manual from here (.pdf), if you choose not to register for the download, there's a few seconds delay before you can get it and you're limited to 2 downloads per day.

 

[Angoid]

Thanks WereBo, a little weekend project I think to at least give it a try!

I figure that if the camera is not working at all, as you say it's 12 years old or so, long disowned by Canon now, there's nothing to lose.

I did find the first article, and that's where I got a lot of what I'd already tried from.
As for the second link, I didn't see that one in my searching but I kept turning up lots of sites with big green "Download Now!" buttons which are usually bad news.

 

[WereBo]

Also, new cameras can take far better quality pics from further away, my Nikon 'bridge-camera' (P610) has a 60x zoom, equivalent to a 1440mm lens on a 35mm film-camera, the equivalent lens for that would be approx 5'~6' long and weigh a ton :lol:

These 2 photos (from my front-door) were the first 2 pics from my camera when new and straight out of the box (after a couple of hours to charge the batteries :grin - #1 is maximum wide-angle (24mm), #2 is max optical zoom (1440mm), there's also a 4x digital zoom, but the quality drops off then.

If you look closely between the low-rise block and the tree next to it in the above pic, this is on t'other side of the River Thames....

 

[Angoid]

Thanks WereBo, I've been having a fiddle with the camera in question but still no joy so may well be time to consider a new one. It is, after all, about 12 years old as you pointed out in your first post....

But there again, I've been context switching between looking at that, doing some work to a model aeroplane and upgrading my computer .... :whistling:

 

[Angoid]

OK, thought it was worth a go to take it to a repair shop but it's a disowned model now and they said that it wouldn't be worth the estimate fee as it is unlikely that they would have the parts to fix it once diagnosed.

So I've bought a new camera - kept with Canon and purchased a PowerShot G5 X. The unit I bought was actually one that had been bought online and returned to the shop in brand spanking new condition, so it was £120 cheaper than I would have paid.

I thought it would come to this, but I don't like to get rid of anything until I know it really has had it.

 

[WereBo]

Wow! You'll definitely notice the difference in quality, especially with a 20Mpixel sensor :grin: - I look forward to seeing some of your pics here, :wink:

 

[Angoid]

Yep - I'll be sure to upload some! Just haven't been anywhere worthy of taking pictures with it so far though, I described this time of year to my wife as being "not very cameratic"
Maybe once autumn sets in and you get some amazing colours on the trees, that sort of thing ... or maybe down at the model flying field I might get a chance to get some...

 

[WereBo]

Depending on what you enjoy photographing, from aircraft (lots of RAF bases around the Midlands areas) to scenic countryside, historic towns to wildlife, there's a lot more options than here in SE London :grin:

Mind you, the extreme temperatures haven't helped much, the few times I went out, perspiration kept smearing the viewfinder and it was too bright to use the fold-out panel :lol: