A70 Frequent Error Message: CHANGE THE BATTERY PACK

[Stereobox]

don't say A70 .. i had a similar problem recently with my A80, whose warranty is also over. it was during my sister's wedding, no less. i was bragging to my brother's gf the 'good' points of the A80. i was telling her how long the batteries could last, as i didn't have to change them during my 4 days trip to bangkok.

and then the a/m error occured :bsmilie: "change the battery pack". i had to change 2 sets of fresh batteries before i could manage to solve the problem. now, i know i'm not alone with this problem. thanks for bringing this up, agnoxis

 

[agnoxis]

OK guys, check this out...and you'll know what a bomb the Canon A70 is...

http://forums.photoi.org/showthread.php?t=972455

We've got 8 guys over here who've problems with the Canon Powershot A70, and another 6-8 over at PhotoI who've CCD problems. According to the thread over there, Canon HQ offered some of the people a $140 trade-in to the Canon A95, but I wonder how much that would pacify us Canon supporters. This incident has really made me lose faith with the QC at Canon, especially for the A70...

Meanwhile, I'll publish any reply they send to me with regards to the e-mail I sent to them. At worst, I'll print out both the PhotoI and Clubsnap threads and demand some explanation for the multiple failures.

 

[actionman]

yah that was what canon offered me too they told me only just now, wonder if i shd accept it, but i guess it sure beats paying 140 for the sensor replacement.... hmmmm

 

[trenzterra]

Was referred here by photoI as well.

Let's do a general consensus... When did you buy your A70s?

Because it seems that the bad batch came around mid-2003. Canon probably is aware of this problem, if not they wouldn't have offered the A95 for $140.

 

[trenzterra]

yah that was what canon offered me too they told me only just now, wonder if i shd accept it, but i guess it sure beats paying 140 for the sensor replacement.... hmmmm

Haha, of course get it... I'm collecting mine tomorrow

Even if you lose faith in Canon, at least you can sell your A95 instead of having a white elephant.

 

[agnoxis]

Haha, I think we've really found a time-bomb here...

Zorrus from HWZ and I both bought our Canon A70s mid-2003 as well. It's really that batch that has got some problem...at last count, I've consolidated 14 people who've some form of problem with their Canon A70. I'll be going down with zorrus to Canon HQ real soon and hopefully, we can work out a reasonable settlement for us.

I'm not too sure whether I want to pay $140 to upgrade to the Canon A95, because I don't really need that powerful a camera. I wouldn't mind if they offered me a free replacement A520 though. ;p

 

[zorrus]

Haha, I think we've really found a time-bomb here...

Zorrus from HWZ and I both bought our Canon A70s mid-2003 as well. It's really that batch that has got some problem...at last count, I've consolidated 14 people who've some form of problem with their Canon A70. I'll be going down with zorrus to Canon HQ real soon and hopefully, we can work out a reasonable settlement for us.

I'm not too sure whether I want to pay $140 to upgrade to the Canon A95, because I don't really need that powerful a camera. I wouldn't mind if they offered me a free replacement A520 though. ;p

actually i din realised this case can be so serious. i tot i was juz being suay to hv bought a camera tt failed me 2 times: once during warranty period, and then after the warranty period.

well looks like probably i'll be a more appeased man soon.

juz a qns, how long did canon take to process u guys' cases? cos from wat i see at the service centre, the CSO after taking a look at my cam could immediately deduced that my cam has a CCD fault and replacement charges = $140.

 

[trenzterra]

Wah zorrus u so good. Mine they take my cam, say call me back this week, nv call me back, have to call them chase them, then they say trade-in cost $594... but later they mention the replacement program of $140.

Zorrus, when are you going? I am going tomorrow.

Actually I didn't know that this problem was widespread to. My CCD failed in August 2003, before that there was some flickering which I thought was normal. I thought it overheated because left in car while in Malaysia, but turned out to be so common... I have an A80 since and no problems YET.

 

[zorrus]

Wah zorrus u so good. Mine they take my cam, say call me back this week, nv call me back, have to call them chase them, then they say trade-in cost $594... but later they mention the replacement program of $140.

Zorrus, when are you going? I am going tomorrow.

Actually I didn't know that this problem was widespread to. My CCD failed in August 2003, before that there was some flickering which I thought was normal. I thought it overheated because left in car while in Malaysia, but turned out to be so common... I have an A80 since and no problems YET.

hey, maybe we can all go together...wat time u gg? i nid to be somewhere else by 2pm...so prob morning - noon time?

 

[agnoxis]

Zorrus, I got test from 2-3pm lah, let's make it after 3pm can? Tranzterra, can we meet you at the Canon service centre? Contact me at 81127014.

 

[timas]

wau lau....look abit scary.... I also bought my set around august 2003..What do you mean my flickering CCD cos my screen will flicker abit only when I press the button to take the shot. So is mine ok? However, I do encounter the battery pack problem. Make me throw away 12 pcs of sanyo 2100 battery. Thought my battery spolit liao. Same thing happen even I change to new energizer battery. SO should I call them up? or it's not serious at all?

 

[actionman]

Zorrus, I got test from 2-3pm lah, let's make it after 3pm can? Tranzterra, can we meet you at the Canon service centre? Contact me at 81127014.

hmm i bought mine in June 2004 during the PC show at Expo....
agnoxis is it possible that u post the outcome of ur trip to the service centre tomorrow for the benefit of all the lemon A70 users?
many thanks

 

[agnoxis]

Not a prob at all, I shall relate my experience here...so all the A70 users here can benefit from this...hopefully, they'll allow us to do the trade-up to A95, although personally, I'd prefer to pay less and get a A520 instead...

 

[timas]

should i send in in for repair for the battery pack problem? How much will they charge? Cos my warrenty over liao. Any brudders can help?

 

[sunnyday]

i oso got the batt pack prob
can't rem when i bought my a70 though
how to check for ccd prob?
flickering lcd?

 

[agnoxis]

CCD = image sensor. The flickering LCD is unrelated to this, although I do believe there might be some connection. From the very first shot I took with this camera, there has been a flickering LCD at times, but recently, it has occured with a lot more frequency. In fact, lines started appearing in the pictures themselves. That's when you know that your CCD is about is conk out. Mine was definitely a gradual process: increasing flickering -> lines in pictures -> totally gone CCD.

I'm not sure what Canon will do about the battery pack problem (which was actually my initial grouse), but there seems to be a substantial number of users here as well who suffer from this problem. Let me contact them and see what they say. Definitely something to do with the electrical contacts inside, and it's caused a good many of us to throw away our totally-usable batteries!!! ;( ;( ;(

 

[sunnyday]

let us noe the details of yr conversation with canon regarding both issues..
both the batt pack prob
n the ccd prob
will go back tonite check my a70 out again..haven't been using it for a long time..hope it's still oki..or should i hope for damaged ccd n get the a95 for $140 then sell for ard $500?? :bsmilie:

CCD = image sensor. The flickering LCD is unrelated to this, although I do believe there might be some connection. From the very first shot I took with this camera, there has been a flickering LCD at times, but recently, it has occured with a lot more frequency. In fact, lines started appearing in the pictures themselves. That's when you know that your CCD is about is conk out. Mine was definitely a gradual process: increasing flickering -> lines in pictures -> totally gone CCD.

I'm not sure what Canon will do about the battery pack problem (which was actually my initial grouse), but there seems to be a substantial number of users here as well who suffer from this problem. Let me contact them and see what they say. Definitely something to do with the electrical contacts inside, and it's caused a good many of us to throw away our totally-usable batteries!!! ;( ;( ;(

 

[zorrus]

ok i juz came back from the service centre from the harbourfront. as expected, the CSO after taking a look at my cam, told me i gotta change this/that and quote me $140. Note, she din tell me anything abt the exchange to a A95. Hence i bring to her attention to this issue and she say she will consult with her manager.

after a while, a guy came out and spoke to me. he said only if my camera satisfied certain conditions, then he can allow an exchange. moreover he insisted that there is no QC problem with the A70 and that the camera has been one of canon's best-seller (meaning there are a lot of A70s out there), so our cameras that have the CCD probs are a minimum percentage out there. the exchange policy is due to the fact that there is a shortage of replacement parts and not because of canon trying to appease angry A70 customers.

well, nonetheless, they took my camera and will inspect it, and i juz gotta wait and see when they will contact me again.

 

[sunnyday]

keep us in the loop regarding the details
anyway it's true that a70 was beri popular then..wat he said could be true..that the percentage is beri low..but then again..he couldn't have said anything else rite?

ok i juz came back from the service centre from the harbourfront. as expected, the CSO after taking a look at my cam, told me i gotta change this/that and quote me $140. Note, she din tell me anything abt the exchange to a A95. Hence i bring to her attention to this issue and she say she will consult with her manager.

after a while, a guy came out and spoke to me. he said only if my camera satisfied certain conditions, then he can allow an exchange. moreover he insisted that there is no QC problem with the A70 and that the camera has been one of canon's best-seller (meaning there are a lot of A70s out there), so our cameras that have the CCD probs are a minimum percentage out there. the exchange policy is due to the fact that there is a shortage of replacement parts and not because of canon trying to appease angry A70 customers.

well, nonetheless, they took my camera and will inspect it, and i juz gotta wait and see when they will contact me again.

 

[trenzterra]

ok i juz came back from the service centre from the harbourfront. as expected, the CSO after taking a look at my cam, told me i gotta change this/that and quote me $140. Note, she din tell me anything abt the exchange to a A95. Hence i bring to her attention to this issue and she say she will consult with her manager.

after a while, a guy came out and spoke to me. he said only if my camera satisfied certain conditions, then he can allow an exchange. moreover he insisted that there is no QC problem with the A70 and that the camera has been one of canon's best-seller (meaning there are a lot of A70s out there), so our cameras that have the CCD probs are a minimum percentage out there. the exchange policy is due to the fact that there is a shortage of replacement parts and not because of canon trying to appease angry A70 customers.

well, nonetheless, they took my camera and will inspect it, and i juz gotta wait and see when they will contact me again.

the shortage of parts is probably bullcrap... they won't give a95 lor. if give will give a lousier model or something.

i cannot make it by 3... maybe 4pm.