29 April 2008

In memoriam: Canon Powershot S2iS


I bought the Canon Powershot S2iS a couple of years ago from a friend. Prior to my possession of it, he had the camera for a little over a year. He gave me a good package: the camera, 8 pieces Energizer rechargable batteries with recharger, bag. When I got the camera, I instantly fell in love with taking photos; it was a fun companion in our treks and family outings.

Alas (or shall I say, malas? hehe), the camera simply stopped functioning a couple of weeks ago. I was taking some shots and then suddenly it was giving me "whitwashed" photos. 80-90% of the photos were white. My companions said it just might need some rest, so I gave it a break and tried again. Same result.


A few days later, it finally started working again but this time there were fine, horizontal lines.

It was time to bring it to the Service Center.

I dropped by the Canon Center along Pasong Tamo in Makati one morning to have it checked. The front-line service took a look while I described the symptoms. He then said that the lens assembly was malfunctioning. Did I happen drop the camera recently? Nope, I said. And then he proceeded to explain that the aperture is supposed to close when taking shots, but it's not doing so, thus the overexposed shots. And the horizontal lines mean that there really is something wrong with the lens.

Then he said "thank you."

How much will it cost to repair the camera? He took a quick look at his laptop and wrote the cost on a piece of paper. 10,000 pesos!

I asked... what if I purchase one of those wide angle lens / photo lens thingies instead? The agent said that the malfunction is in the integral part of the camera, so that won't work. I really need to have it fixed.

Then he said "thank you".

And then, like an afterthought, he said that they can "buy back" the camera and deduct this price from a new Canon camera. And how much rebate can I get from this? 1,800 pesos. Whaaaatttt... I bought the camera at around 20k, and all I get is 1,800?

And then he said "thank you."

Man, the "thank you" parts were really very irritating, like he wanted me to scoot the soonest possible time.

I feel that giving away the S2iS at the price of 1,800 is really unfair, even when it's malfunctioning. I would have expected that Canon thinks more highly of their products. But that's consumer products for you I guess.

And so I left the service center feeling that I did not get the service a customer deserves. Well, Jo-Lo now has a new toy to play with (he's a wizard with gadgets! At two years old!) and I hope I can have a new camera soon. I need to save up; the Canon S2iS was a great companion and preserved a lot of happy memories, but this time I'm getting a Nikon.

Anybody need a part-time writer / contributor? :-)

18 comments:

  1. Anonymous5:10 pm

    sorry bout that earlier posted comment! what i wanna say is,good luck! u deserve a new cam alright! :)
    best regards from davao!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Anonymous5:32 pm

    mura na lang ang mga digital cameras ngayon check mo online www.circuitcity.com kaya www.bestbuy.com or www.bhphotovideo.com at least may idea ka on how much they are selling for in the US and then you can kinda make an assessment on how much Philippines camera stores tack on for profit...

    john paras

    ReplyDelete
  3. Sharon: thanks!

    john: Uy kumusta! Ina-update mo na blogs mo? Salamat sa tip!

    ReplyDelete
  4. Anonymous12:54 am

    Hmmm... you deserve a better cam, time to save for a new companion. Kunin mo na yung 1,800, konti na lang kailangan mo! Hehehehe!

    ReplyDelete
  5. Buy a DSLR na. You won't regret! Good luck!

    ReplyDelete
  6. Anonymous10:19 am

    kuyaaaaaaaa..... i misssssyyyuuuuu!!! ang tagal kong hindi nakadalaw dito ah. sana ay lagi kayong okay ng family mo.

    naku, bumili ka na nga lang ng bago kung talo ka rin naman pagdating sa presyo. o, isama mo na rin yan sa wishlist mo. hehehe!

    ingat ka lagi kuya! God bless po...

    ReplyDelete
  7. Master: hanep ano? 1,800 lang ang makukuha ko for it?

    Abaniko: Saan ako kukuha ng pambili? Saan!? hehehe

    rho: uy kumusta ka na!!!! May update ka na ba? Super busy ang life mo na kasi... dalawin kita mamaya!

    ReplyDelete
  8. Anonymous3:27 pm

    Sorry to hear about your camera Kuya. Actually, I had a Canon S3 is before which was my companion for almost all the things I know now in photography. Then I bought my Nikon :) Right now, I have another point and shoot, it's a Panasonic Lumix FZ-18 (you might want to check the specs Kuya and it might tickle your fancy) and I love love love it :) I bring it almost anywhere I go :)

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  9. SQ: Salamat sa tips! Mag-iipon pa ako :-(

    ReplyDelete
  10. RIP to your beloved camera. I'm sure it gave you a lot of wonderful memories naman. :)

    (Napa- "huh?" ako dun sa thank you thank you na yun. ^ ^; )

    ReplyDelete
  11. Oh no. RIP to the camera. :(

    ReplyDelete
  12. kakainis naman yung puro "thank you".
    tsk.tsk.tsk. poor camera. better buy one.

    ReplyDelete
  13. Anonymous2:36 pm

    In these types of situation, we can't really do a whole lot. It's best taking the 1,800 or take it to another place and see if you can get more than 1,800.
    I can almost sense that in two weeks, that same old camera will be fixed and on sale for more than 5k. Agree with some commenters, bili na lang ng bago, hi-tech na ang panahon, hehe.....cheers!

    ReplyDelete
  14. Meowok: Talagang nainis ako sa kaka-thankyou nung customer assistant. Gusto na akong paalisin agad?

    Toni: Uy! Nakita ko ulit yung Akazukin Cha Cha photo mo!

    Jho: Penge pambili. hehe

    TruBlue: Sige, I will think about it... but if I get the 1,800 value it will definitely not be used for another Canon camera.

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  15. awawa.... i know how great a prosumer cam an s2 is... yan din nga prob sa canon cams talaga...they're good when they're okay pero ang mahal sobra ng pa-repair...

    Mec

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  16. All those 'thank you' does seem irritating as if he was in a hurry to end the transaction.

    Sorry about your camera. Did you ask for a second opinion from another service center?

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  17. my camera is five years old already (in camera life, that's what? 20 years? hehe) and if ever that I will be getting a dslr (which is NOT soon), i will still bring it me. ganyan na sya ka-close sa akin hehe.

    why not make a trip to hidalgo in quiapo?

    ReplyDelete

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