Techie gadgets gone awry

If you own a digital still or video camera, read this!

Have you ever sat inside a service center's waiting area and found yourself looking at almost half of the people in the same room clutching a defective gadget that has uncanny similarities with the one in your hand?

I have.

I am an owner of a Canon Ixus II, 3.2 megapixel digital camera, one of my prized possessions and well-loved techie toy. It has accompanied me to my journeys here and abroad the past few years since I purchased it from Tony Leung (not the actor) in Hongkong in August 22, 2003. Not a single precious moment in any of my gatherings with friends, weddings, baptisms and any other significant event escaped my ever reliable Canon. And so, when I decided to finally bring to life the beautiful fondant cake I've lengthily imagined myself making, I just knew my good old camera will surely capture the moment my masterpiece will come into existence, ready to be shown to friends and family.

And so on October 9, 2005, a Sunday, I carefully loaded my newly charged lithium ion battery pack into my camera to take a snap at my two-days-in-the-making apple walnut fondant cake, adorned with my hand-crafted fondant flowers, pretty as it sat on top of our living room center table. However, much to my shock and horror, my camera's view screen showed a mangled, blurred cake in a dark background even if the living room was bathed in sunlight. I took a few shots and I'm sharing these hideous pictures with you here.

I would have ran straight to Canon that very same day to have my camera fixed but I soon found out that Canon cameras are serviced only at the head office of Canon Marketing Philippines, Inc. at Marvin Plaza at the corner of Pasong Tamo and dela Rosa Streets in Makati City, whose office hours are from 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., Mondays to Fridays only. Add to that, I was informed over the phone that they charge a minimum service fee of P1,200. I had no other choice, I had to schedule my trip to Canon along with other errands since my office is in Ortigas, So, one leave of absence and more than two months after the discovery of the defect, I was finally able to go to Canon.

It came as a bit of a shock to see all those people holding "clones" of my camera. While at least 12 people were ahead of me in the queue, it didn't take long for me to be called. Apparently, most of the camera owners were complaining about the same problem and Canon already had a ready solution. The customer service representative (CSR) declared that my precious Ixus II's CCD is busted. CCD or charge-coupled device is that part of the camera which is instrumental in capturing images. Inquiring further, I found out that models similar to mine are the subject of a product recall wherein Canon undertakes to replace all defective parts of the camera free of chage for service and parts. I wonder why I never came across any ad informing Canon owners of this product recall. Nonetheless, I found out further, though the CSR was quite reluctant to answer, that Canon camera models Ixus, Powershot and the digicams (practically their entire line of digital cameras) manufactured between 2002 and 2004 have defective CCDs and are covered by the "product recall" campaign.

And so I left the service center with the assurance that, upon arrival of the replacement for the defective part, I will get back my camera. But since I do not want to spoil my Christmas, I have resigned myself to the idea that it will take quite a while before I get it back. I will be camera-less for Christmas, camera-less for my friend's wedding on the 27th, camera-less during get-together with friends and camera-less for the New Year.

But before anyone of you condemn Canon and expect their product engineers' heads to roll or swear you'll never lay your hands on any Canon camera ever again, I came across numerous internet articles which actually say that defective CCDs are pervasive and the problem is not limited to Canon. Apparently, most digital cameras in the market, manufactured between 2002 and 2004 have defective CCDs. (For a comprehensive list of these digital cameras, please click here.) Most camera manufacturers have offered its customers free repair and parts replacement even if the camera is no longer within warranty. As for Canon, the CSR advised me to ask my friends who are also owners of Canon digicams to pay them a visit only if they have discovered malfunctions in the camera. Personally, I'd advise my friends to go visit Canon at a time convenient and when they still have no immediate need to take snapshots of precious moments. Besides, it seems that there is a worldwide demand for replacement CCDs so better be in queue as early as possible can.

So what exactly is wrong with these CCDs? To have an idea what is exactly wrong with these techie thingies, it is important to understand what really is a CCD. Surfing the net, I quickly found several articles describing what CCDs are. Succinctly and in very plain terms, CCDs or image sensors are what a film is to your good old "analog" camera. CCDs have been in use not only for digital cameras but also for telescopes, scanners, bar code readers, digital still and video cameras, even some PDAs, and other similar gadgets which require in its operation the capture and storage of data. Unlike film cameras, CCDs are more sensitive to light such that it can capture images under low light conditions or without flash. However, it is interesting to know that in terms of megapixels, film cameras are comparably bigger in megapixels than digital cameras.

As usual, Wikipedia has an article on CCDs. However, it does not mention anything about the supposedly pervasive CCD problem in digicams as discussed in more specialized websites.

You may also view an article in computerworld.com on charge-coupled device (CCD) by clicking here.

For more on how a digital camera works, click here. But if you want a nerdy explanation, here is where you should look.

I found this website explaining in detail what causes the problems in these defective cameras and I was amazed to see samples of images taken using these cameras which are very much like the images I took with mine. Not only that, I also read that reports of problems with CCDs stated to surface at around late September with a significant increase in incident reports at the early part of October 2005 - almost exactly the same time I discovered the defects in my camera! Apparently, according to the article, the manufacturer of the defective image sensors is Sony (please see service advisory). Naturally, it has the greatest number of affected products. Incidentally, Sony's free repair offer will only be applicable until October 7, 2007. Several theories have been submitted to solve the mystery of the defective image sensors ranging from use of inferior epoxy chip packages rather than ceramic chic packages on the CCDs to weak or faulty wiring. Be sure to check the "What caused the problem?" portion at the bottom of the page if you want to read more on the theories. I tried reading it but my aptitude for the applied sciences hinders me from narrating what these theories are.

A couple of hundred days without my digital camera, I am no longer in a state of disappointment and disbelief. Waking up one day and finding out that my digital camera is already a dud has been a nightmare considering that since I purchased it at the outset of the digicam boom, it was still quite pricey. On the other hand, discovering imperfections of technology is actually like waking up from a dream of having everything easy, convenient and without compromise. I was one of those over-eager techies who couldn't wait to get my hands on the "gadget of the future" and an imperfect technology is the price that people like me has to pay. Oh well, as with anything, we can always aspire for better things. I would have blamed all concerned camera or CCD manufacturers for putting in the market these gadgets whose defects they must have been absolutely sure to manifest at a certain time. A classic case of hidden defects in products. I just hope that these manufacturers are not aware of these defects prior to putting them in the market. If they are, the gamble evidently paid off for them, as there are now more digital camera owners than film camera owners, the numbers growing at an exponential rate. The defects on cameras have not affected their sales at all as a lot of owners, possibly due to lack of time like myself, have been content with having the cameras repaired and its defective parts replaced, free of charge even beyond warranty. For this, I commend them for taking this action. However, everything had been put to a hush, so that thousands or probably even millions of digital camera owners worldwide are unaware of the ticking bombs right in the palm of their hands. As long a they do not know, we can be sure that more memories will be uncaptured and forever visually lost. And this, ladies and gentlemen, is a perfect example of something that is incapable of pecuniary estimation.

As for me, despite assurances that the CCD problem is no longer present in recent models, I am still very much apprehensive of acquiring any new devices with cameras. Well, I guess I just have to wait for my resuscitated Canon Ixus II and hope that it never fails me again.

If you own a defective Canon camera, you may call Canon Marketing (Philippines), Inc. at 884-9000 local 9121 or 9128 between 8 am to 5pm, Mondays to Fridays.