PowerShow A95 Shadow problem

[Guest]

Archived from groups: rec.photo.digital (More info?)

Hi all,

I just bought a Canon PowerShot A95. While the camera is great with
excellent quality all my pictures have a shadow (dark area) on the
corners. This is very noticeable on outdoor picture taken with clouds
in the background and with indoor pictures when taken against a light
wall.

I have arranged a refund and purchased another one from a different
retailer but I was wondering if my A95 was faulty or if this is a
normal thing? My Fuji FinePix camera never had this image and I find
it hard to believe every A95 is like this but wanted to check just in
case.

I have some sample images I can link to if you would like to see the
problem.

Thanks in advance all

 

[ECM]

Archived from groups: rec.photo.digital (More info?)

Morgan Pugh wrote:
> On Tue, 10 May 2005 21:14:26 GMT, "John Tucker"
> <johnREMOVE@REMOVEintegrity-web-design.com> wrote:
>
> >Please post your sample images somewhere and provide URL.
>
> I have uploaded 4 pictures to http://www.mpugh.co.uk/a95/
>
> Thanks for your quick response.
>
> shadow1.jpg is, IMO, the worst and the image that I _really_ noticed
> the problem. shadow4.jpg is almost perfect however I still feel the
> colour in the top left gets deeper so I can't help but think it is a
> lens problem.
>
> Anyone have any idea?

It looks like "vignetting"; the lens is cutting off the corners a bit.
AFAIK, this isn't supposed to be a problem with the A95. Were all of
these at full wide angle (most likely to cause vignetting)? Still, none
of the A95 reviews I've looked at had anything like this.

I'd be suspicious of a defect in the camera, and I'd consider either
returning to the store and exchanging it, or sending it to Canon for a
check if your store can't take it back.

Good Luck!
ECM

 

[ECM]

Archived from groups: rec.photo.digital (More info?)

ecm wrote:
> Morgan Pugh wrote:
> > On Tue, 10 May 2005 21:14:26 GMT, "John Tucker"
> > <johnREMOVE@REMOVEintegrity-web-design.com> wrote:
> >
> > >Please post your sample images somewhere and provide URL.
> >
> > I have uploaded 4 pictures to http://www.mpugh.co.uk/a95/
> >
> > Thanks for your quick response.
> >
> > shadow1.jpg is, IMO, the worst and the image that I _really_
noticed
> > the problem. shadow4.jpg is almost perfect however I still feel the
> > colour in the top left gets deeper so I can't help but think it is
a
> > lens problem.
> >
> > Anyone have any idea?
>
> It looks like "vignetting"; the lens is cutting off the corners a
bit.
> AFAIK, this isn't supposed to be a problem with the A95. Were all of
> these at full wide angle (most likely to cause vignetting)? Still,
none
> of the A95 reviews I've looked at had anything like this.
>
> I'd be suspicious of a defect in the camera, and I'd consider either
> returning to the store and exchanging it, or sending it to Canon for
a
> check if your store can't take it back.
>
> Good Luck!
> ECM

Sorry, one more thing - it looks like there's typical flash "fall-off"
in the corners of the indoor pics, that're making the vignetting more
noticable. But the vignetting is still visible in the last, outdoor pic
in the sky. I don't see anything like that in the pictures on
Steves-Digicams, for example, and that's why I suspect a problem; if
the lens is broken it could cause this issue. You should really talk to
your camera store, and at least compare your camera's images to a
fresh-out-of-the-box A95.

ECM

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: rec.photo.digital (More info?)

Morgan,

Please post your sample images somewhere and provide URL.

--
John Tucker
Integrity Web Design
www.integrity-web-design.com


Morgan Pugh wrote:
> Hi all,
>
> I just bought a Canon PowerShot A95. While the camera is great with
> excellent quality all my pictures have a shadow (dark area) on the
> corners. This is very noticeable on outdoor picture taken with clouds
> in the background and with indoor pictures when taken against a light
> wall.
>
> I have arranged a refund and purchased another one from a different
> retailer but I was wondering if my A95 was faulty or if this is a
> normal thing? My Fuji FinePix camera never had this image and I find
> it hard to believe every A95 is like this but wanted to check just in
> case.
>
> I have some sample images I can link to if you would like to see the
> problem.
>
> Thanks in advance all

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: rec.photo.digital (More info?)

On Tue, 10 May 2005 21:14:26 GMT, "John Tucker"
<johnREMOVE@REMOVEintegrity-web-design.com> wrote:

>Please post your sample images somewhere and provide URL.

I have uploaded 4 pictures to http://www.mpugh.co.uk/a95/

Thanks for your quick response.

shadow1.jpg is, IMO, the worst and the image that I _really_ noticed
the problem. shadow4.jpg is almost perfect however I still feel the
colour in the top left gets deeper so I can't help but think it is a
lens problem.

Anyone have any idea?

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: rec.photo.digital (More info?)

On 10 May 2005 15:06:07 -0700, "ecm" <thedeepabyss@whoever.com> wrote:

>It looks like "vignetting"; the lens is cutting off the corners a bit.
>AFAIK, this isn't supposed to be a problem with the A95. Were all of
>these at full wide angle (most likely to cause vignetting)? Still, none
>of the A95 reviews I've looked at had anything like this.
>
>I'd be suspicious of a defect in the camera, and I'd consider either
>returning to the store and exchanging it, or sending it to Canon for a
>check if your store can't take it back.
>
>Good Luck!
>ECM

Thanks for the reply. I have bought another one from a different
retailer (just incase the batch the first retailer got are faulty as I
have had this in the past), and bought another one from Amazon UK. It
should arrive Thursday so I will post back with how the new camera
does.

I checked out the A95 on Steve's Digicams and none of the samples had
this problem which made me think it was a faulty camera.

Thanks again and have a good evening.

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: rec.photo.digital (More info?)

On Tue, 10 May 2005 21:23:04 GMT, Morgan Pugh <me@privacy.net> wrote:

>On Tue, 10 May 2005 21:14:26 GMT, "John Tucker"
><johnREMOVE@REMOVEintegrity-web-design.com> wrote:
>
>>Please post your sample images somewhere and provide URL.
>
>I have uploaded 4 pictures to http://www.mpugh.co.uk/a95/
>
>Thanks for your quick response.
>
>shadow1.jpg is, IMO, the worst and the image that I _really_ noticed
>the problem. shadow4.jpg is almost perfect however I still feel the
>colour in the top left gets deeper so I can't help but think it is a
>lens problem.
>
>Anyone have any idea?

Morgan Pugh,
at 1st I though that it may be uneven flash lighting
due to the 1st 3 pictures but that does not explain the last outdoor
picture. So I looked trough over 300 pictures that I took with my A95
for the same effect but nearly all were taken outdoors @ a ski resort
where I set the camera to overexpose by +1 to +1-1/3 EV in order to
get correct exposure of the skiers. Yes this blows out the sky & much
of the details in the snow but that was unimportant, the skiers were
my subjects & they were properly exposed.

Also your editing software removed the EXIF metadata from all
4 pictures so there is no way to know the camera's settings which
makes it much harder to respond to your question or to try to recreate
the conditions with my camera to see it there is any sign the same
effect.

In 2 of my 300+ picture I did notice a very slight light
intensity drop off in the extreme upper left corner of the pictures,
but it is very, very slight & probably would never have been noticed
had I not been looking specifically for it.

My guess it that you most likely have a defective A95,
probably the CCD sensor is not in the exact center of the lens. This
would explain the light drop off in both corners if the CCD sensor was
shifted up just a little too far. This is all just my opinion based
on what I see & know about digital cameras, there could be other
reasons but this seems most likely. After all, the manufacturers are
not going to make the lens any larger than they need to in order to
minimize costs, so I suspect sensor placement is critical.

Exchange it & test the new 1 as soon as it arrives. The A95
may be the last such P&S camera in the Canon Axx camera line with CF &
4 "AA" batteries because Canon seems to be converting their entire P&S
line over to SD memory. With that said, it's still a great little
camera & I for 1 like the CF & 4 "AA" batteries since I have a
considerable investment in CF cards that I use with several digital
cameras including my DSLR.

If you can repost the pictures with the EXIF metadata intact,
that might help.

Best of luck.

Respectfully, DHB


..
"To announce that there must be no criticism of the President,
or that we are to stand by the President, right or wrong,
is not only unpatriotic and servile, but is morally treasonable
to the American public."--Theodore Roosevelt, May 7, 1918

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: rec.photo.digital (More info?)

On Tue, 10 May 2005 22:35:15 GMT, DHB <yoda2k@verizon.net> wrote:

> If you can repost the pictures with the EXIF metadata intact,
>that might help.

Here is the outdoor picture directly from the camera. I hope it has
the metadata you requested

http://www.mpugh.co.uk/a95/IMG_0007.JPG

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: rec.photo.digital (More info?)

On Tue, 10 May 2005 22:50:33 GMT, Morgan Pugh <me@privacy.net> wrote:

>On Tue, 10 May 2005 22:35:15 GMT, DHB <yoda2k@verizon.net> wrote:
>
>> If you can repost the pictures with the EXIF metadata intact,
>>that might help.
>
>Here is the outdoor picture directly from the camera. I hope it has
>the metadata you requested
>
>http://www.mpugh.co.uk/a95/IMG_0007.JPG

Morgan Pugh,
yes the EXIF metadata was there & it shows that the
camera was in full AUTO mode & the lens set to full wide angle,
shutter speed was 1/250th of a second @ f5. This is however a
different picture than the other 4 which exhibited the problem even
more, so there is no way to know what the settings were on those but I
will add what I can based on this picture.

Still looks like an off center CCD sensor to me but I
incorrectly stated the possible sensor direction relative to the
center of the lens. The placement error (if that's the problem) is
likely to be a little too far down, not up as I posted earlier. As I
recall the image is inverted by the lens in much the same way that the
lens in our eye focuses an image on the back of our eye. From what I
see in this picture & the others I would still return the camera &
test it's replacement just in case. Also does this problem show up
with the lens zoomed in a bit?

Sometimes problems can crop up in a few, or a few hundred
cameras depending on where the camera was made or from small
cumulative variations in the specifications of the components used.
This is why I recommend checking out the replacement well.

Last point, you may wish to consider using "P" Program mode
because Canon now sets the default programmed ISO=50 which will give
you noticeably less noisy (grainy) pictures in many situations.
Indoors if maximum flash reach is needed go back to full "AUTO" mode &
the ISO in that mode will then also be in auto which varies it from
ISO=50 to 140, if I recall the range correctly.

Good luck, hope you are happy with the new camera.

Respectfully, DHB


..
"To announce that there must be no criticism of the President,
or that we are to stand by the President, right or wrong,
is not only unpatriotic and servile, but is morally treasonable
to the American public."--Theodore Roosevelt, May 7, 1918

 

[morgan]

Archived from groups: rec.photo.digital (More info?)

On Tue, 10 May 2005 21:12:20 GMT, Morgan Pugh <me@privacy.net> wrote:

Update!

I have got my new A95 now and it seems to be ok. There is still a
small darker patch in the top left corner on a couple of indoor
pictures but I think that is the flash not lighting up that area as
well as it could.

Ourdoor pictures I have taken look excellent.

Thanks to all who replied for your expertise. I really appreciate it

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: rec.photo.digital (More info?)

Morgan wrote:
> On Tue, 10 May 2005 21:12:20 GMT, Morgan Pugh <me@privacy.net> wrote:
>
> Update!
>
> I have got my new A95 now and it seems to be ok. There is still a
> small darker patch in the top left corner on a couple of indoor
> pictures but I think that is the flash not lighting up that area as
> well as it could.
>
> Ourdoor pictures I have taken look excellent.
>
> Thanks to all who replied for your expertise. I really appreciate it
>
>
Flash units on P&S cameras are notorious for short ranges. Worse, most
people forget that zooming to frame a flash picture results in further
reduction in the useable flash range since it usually reduces the
effective light gathering ability of the camera.


--
Ron Hunter rphunter@charter.net

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: rec.photo.digital (More info?)

On Thu, 12 May 2005 07:26:09 GMT, Morgan <me@privacy.net> wrote:

>On Tue, 10 May 2005 21:12:20 GMT, Morgan Pugh <me@privacy.net> wrote:
>
>Update!
>
>I have got my new A95 now and it seems to be ok. There is still a
>small darker patch in the top left corner on a couple of indoor
>pictures but I think that is the flash not lighting up that area as
>well as it could.
>
>Ourdoor pictures I have taken look excellent.
>
>Thanks to all who replied for your expertise. I really appreciate it
>

Morgan Pugh,
glad to here you now have a good A95. It's a very
nice camera especially for the cost & it has a lot of semi-manual &
manual features that you can grow into if your so inclined. Battery
life with high capacity NiMH rechargeable batteries is great. There
are lot's of good brands of NiMH rechargeable out there, I personally
have had great performance with Panasonic batteries but that's just my
personal choice & experience.

If your interested, here is a great web sight to learn how to
use the "C" Custom mode on your new camera to reduce shutter lag down
to about 1/10th of a second. The information was written for the A80
but the principle in the same & worked great for me when I used it to
help me capture action shots of snow skiers. Here is the link:

http://web.tampabay.rr.com/onlinesharing/A80/review/

Lot's of useful information & what he calls "SNAP mode" is
what I referred to above. Pick the settings that work best for "your"
type of quick shots using the link that calculates Depth Of Field
(DOF), the area in relative focus.

Again, best of wishes with the new camera.

Respectfully, DHB


..


"To announce that there must be no criticism of the President,
or that we are to stand by the President, right or wrong,
is not only unpatriotic and servile, but is morally treasonable
to the American public."--Theodore Roosevelt, May 7, 1918

 

[morgan]

Archived from groups: rec.photo.digital (More info?)

On Thu, 12 May 2005 13:19:23 GMT, DHB <yoda2k@verizon.net> wrote:

<snipped>

Thank you very much DHB.

I am using 2500mAh rechargable batteries by UNiROSS and so far they
are lasting out fine.

Again thanks to everyone, you have all been great.