Help...we're cruising and I'm having a problem with our A610!!

[Jeanne B]

We use our Canon A610 almost strictly for snorkeling with our u/w housing. Well today I pull it out for a get together on the ship rather than bringing along my heavier K100 and something is wrong with it...ahhhh!!! It seems to be working properly with the exception that my LCD screen is black and I can snap a picture but when I review it, it's black. Does anyone have any idea what the problem could be?? The lens is moving in and out properly, the flash is working properly, I can see all of the display information on the LCD screen with the one "small" problem of not being able to see what I'm taking a picture of. We tried changing batteries which didn't help and at this point both DH and I are stumped and we're thinking we're going to have to settle for a disposable u/w camera when we're in Grand Cayman Tuesday.

 

[AndrewWG]

We use our Canon A610 almost strictly for snorkeling with our u/w housing. Well today I pull it out for a get together on the ship rather than bringing along my heavier K100 and something is wrong with it...ahhhh!!! It seems to be working properly with the exception that my LCD screen is black and I can snap a picture but when I review it, it's black. Does anyone have any idea what the problem could be?? The lens is moving in and out properly, the flash is working properly, I can see all of the display information on the LCD screen with the one "small" problem of not being able to see what I'm taking a picture of. We tried changing batteries which didn't help and at this point both DH and I are stumped and we're thinking we're going to have to settle for a disposable u/w camera when we're in Grand Cayman Tuesday.

Does the A610 have a "Disp" button on it? I know on the S2, you can turn the display on and off using the "disp" button. That way, you can use the regular viewfinder instead. If that was accidentally hit, it would turn off the LCD and you would never know it. I ran into this problem in WDW a couple weeks ago. DD happened to hit the button at some point and we thought the camera was dead. The LCD turned right back on when we hit the button though. I just hit all the buttons until I realized that was the one.

 

[AndrewWG]

I think that is your problem. Check out page 15 of the user guide. Here is the link to the guide:

http://www.nycv.com/manuals/Canon/PSA620610CUGad-EN.pdf

Seems like if you hit the display button a couple times it does different things. I would just keep pressing it until the pics show up again. I sure hope this helps. The underwater disposables stink.

 

[Jeanne B]

Ship internet service is being VERY slow...couldn't get to the link AndrewWG (and I forgot to bring my manual with me). The first thing I did earlier today was change the display to the viewfinder because I thought that was the problem but we're getting black pictures no matter how the display is set.

Yes, underwater disposables stink, I'm SO frustrated because we love using the u/w housing with our Canon!!

 

[AndrewWG]

Well, the manual doesn't say much about that anyways. I'll check out the part about troubleshooting.....

Ok, I'm not coming up with much. The troubleshooting doesn't have anything about a black monitor. The display button has similar uses in both shooting and playback mode. They are as follows:

Shooting mode:

1. Standard
2. Detailed (information view)
3. Off

Playback mode:

1. Standard
2. Detailed
3. No information

I guess if you hit the button once or twice, you should get a picture on the monitor. It does say that the LCD monitor WILL NOT shut off if in a couple different modes. One of them is movie mode. Does it work in movie mode?

I guess the other modes it will stay on for are My Colors mode and Panoramic Mode.

Well, unfortunately other than that, I cannot find a reason why it would not display for you. I know it is stupid, but you don't have a lens cap on, do you? Just had to ask. I did try to take many pics with the lens cap on in WDW!

I hope it works out for you. If not, I would suggest that you or DH take a disposable and the other one take the A610. If you get pics from the A610, all the better. If not, well at least you have the disposable. Does the ship have a place you can download a card to see if it is working properly? May be worth a shot.

Well, I'm hoping for the best!

 

[Jeanne B]

Nope, no lens cap on (and I understand the need to ask ).

I haven't tried movie mode, I'll try that to see what happens.

The thing is, not only does the LCD have a black image, the pictures I'm taking are coming out solid black so the LCD is black and the image recorded is black so I'm wondering if something is going on with the camera internally.

Thanks so much for trying to lend a hand Andy, much appreciated.

 

[AndrewWG]

No problem! I had hoped for the best for you! I had a camera go bad on me on St Thomas once and those disposables, above and under water ones, really made my pics come out bad. Of course, I shouldn't have drank that Rum and dropped it in the sand, but that is another story...

Good Luck and don't let it be a vacation buster for you. Enjoy your trip!