On August 5, I celebrated my 8-year anniversary of quitting smoking. Sometime at the beginning of the month, I ordered my anniversary gift--as I have done every year since 'the day.' My gift to myself is always something that I WANT and don't really NEED. This year was no different. The gift I selected this year was a hockey jersey with 'my boy's' name and number on it: 51-Filppula. I am happy.
So, my girls had to listen to me go on and on about this jersey from the time I began thinking about getting it to deciding to order it and through the ordering process and the wait for it to be delivered. The day it was delivered, I decided to spare them having to listen to me again, so I was going to take a picture and send it to them. This would keep me from having to mention the jersey to them and them having to try to pretend any interest in what I was saying. :)
I pulled out the digital camera to take the pic and, wouldn't you know it, the LCD monitor was showing a distorted image. It looked very Dali-esque (The Persistence of Memory)--'melting' colors--except it was more geometric and not as rounded as colors in the Dali painting. I thought maybe the problem was with the batteries, so I changed those. No help. Then I thought maybe the PICTURE would be fine and it was just the monitor that was screwed up, but that wasn't the case, either--the pic came out looking like the image on the monitor.
Of course, my first thought is pessimistic: the camera is four years old, so it must be garbage. This led me to researching new cameras--one of which I found that would be a good replacement for the Canon. But, before I ordered the new camera, I decided to see if there was any way to fix the old one. Wouldn't you know it, there WAS a known problem with the CCD image sensor in some of the Canon cameras and that is what this seemed to be. (As an aside: this is the SECOND camera of mine to have a faulty CCD sensor. The camcorder (NOT a Canon) needed to be fixed for the same problem--that is why I couldn't use it for A's wedding last year!) This little bit of info led me to call Canon to find out how I could have the camera fixed.
I decided to use the toll-free number and contact support by phone. It usually is a quicker way to do things. Surprise of all surprises, my call was answered immediately by a real, live person! I explained the problem I was having and he agreed that it sounded like the CCD sensor. He took some info from me and said I would get the rest of the instructions for sending in the camera by email. This call took place late in the day on Friday. On Monday, I got an email with the instructions AND I got a printable address label to be put on the package. I was to send the camera in POSTAGE PAID and it would be fixed for free. All this for a camera that is four years old, that has been out of warranty forever, and that I paid less than $300 for. I think I like this company!
The camera reached Canon on Friday, so I am waiting to hear from them this week. I am very impressed with the service I received. Oh, and yes, I ordered the new camera. It will be here on Tuesday. And it ISN'T a Canon! (Ooops!)
Lights! Camera! Action!
