g1 locked up, worth fixing?

[dapgar]

Hi,
I'm new to this forum and have a G1 that I bought in 2001. I haven't had any issues with this camera until now. I tried turning it on today and the lens extracted out but the lcd was dead and when I turned it off, nothing happened.
I have read that several people on this forum have had this problem a while back and had their cameras fixed under warrenty.
Is it worth sending this camera out to be fixed? how much will it cost?
It's a few years old, but I think the camera still takes great pictures for what I need it for.
if it's going to be too expensive, i'll just put that money towards a newer camera that might not have this problem.
thanks
Dan

[Ballen Photo]

I tried turning it on today and the lens extracted out but the lcd was dead and when I turned it off, nothing happened.
I have read that several people on this forum have had this problem a while back and had their cameras fixed under warrenty. Hello Dan, and WELCOME to the forum. I'm not 100% sure of what you said the symptoms are. Is it only the LCD that quit working? Or did the camera just die completely, leaving the lens extended? Either way, if it's just the LCD, do a search here for LCD failure. A few folks have reported this problem, and the fix was simple enough that some of them did it themselves at home. It seems that the wires in the LCD can become unplugged with normal use, and when you remove the cover on the LCD it becomes obvious. You then just plug it or them back in and replace the cover. ;)
If the camera died full stop, there is reportedly an internal fuse that is blown.
I personally have not had either of these problems, but have followed the threads of folks that did, and they said that as long as you're careful, you can fix these problems at home. Good luck. :cool:
-Bruce

[DocFrankenstein]

They lock up like this because of a blown fuse. The lens extends and then the camera dies.

The quality of the pics is good, you might want to call canon repair center and ask them how much it should be. There's even a chance it's no longer serviceable.

Once you have that information you can make a better informed decision as to what you should do with the camera.

Good luck

Doc

[Roumen]

Hi,
I'm new to this forum and have a G1 that I bought in 2001. I haven't had any issues with this camera until now. I tried turning it on today and the lens extracted out but the lcd was dead and when I turned it off, nothing happened.
I have read that several people on this forum have had this problem a while back and had their cameras fixed under warrenty.
Is it worth sending this camera out to be fixed? how much will it cost?
It's a few years old, but I think the camera still takes great pictures for what I need it for.
if it's going to be too expensive, i'll just put that money towards a newer camera that might not have this problem.
thanks
Dan
Hi Dan,
It could be the loose screw problem or blown fuse problem, discussed many times. Canon has a fixed price for repair (155USD, 155euro, ... yes too much) and it seems to me that a new 7-8 mp camera would be a better decision, since the prices are going down. Check for example Canon Powershot A620, G6.
Greetings,
Roumen
http://community.webshots.com/user/trifonov2

[dapgar]

thanks for the quick responses guys,
yes, it was more than just the LCD. sorry that I didn't mention that. the lens is extended out and nothing works at all.
is there a way to replace the fuse myself by ordering it from somewhere online?
i did just have the front cover off. i didn't want to take too much apart and not know how to get it back together.
I am in need of a new digital camcorder at this time, to replace my really old 8mm camcorder.
that's why I was hoping to replace this instead of dropping several hundred on a new digital stillshot. the thing that would be really nice about having a new digital still is that I can get one that takes pictures one after another faster than this g1 does.
so should I be looking at the digital SLRs? i'm not a huge photography guy, just take pics of the jobs that I build, and our 5 month old baby that we can't seem to take enough pictures of.
any help would be greatly appreciated.
thanks!
Dan

[Maureen Souza]

Or you could use this as an excuse to buy yourself a new toy........

[dicky109]

so should I be looking at the digital SLRs? i'm not a huge photography guy, just take pics of the jobs that I build, and our 5 month old baby
The G-1 takes great pictures right out of the camera, however d-SLR's require post processing, which many people don't realize and is time consuming. Based upon your useage I would recommend absolutely that you do not go for a d-SLR. I upgraded from the G-1 to the d-Rebel XT earlier this year, however, did so with open eyes as to the positives and drawbacks. Still have the G-1 and am considering selling, however, so far am reluctant to part with it

If you want to try & fix the fuse problem yourself, here is a link to a number of discussions and instructions for repair. Basically, you've got nothing to lose by trying to fix it, since its useless in its current condition and dollarwise is simply not worth sending to Canon for repair.
http://forums.dpreview.com/forums/read.asp?forum=1010&message=7483125
Good luck

[Roumen]

Hi Dan,
Unfortunately many of the long links discussing the "G1 died" problem were removed from Canon censors - here and at other web sites. That didn't remove the problem - make a search for "G1 died" at Canon Talk forum dpreview.com - the result could scare you, starting from 26.01.2001 ????
Here are some links with information:
http://forums.dpreview.com/forums/read.asp?forum=1010&message=12205109
and http://hunterftp.hunter.com/~dav/ shows how to perform the repair.
It is not easy anyway.
You may expect however the "loose screw" problem. It is a very very short screw left down behind the LCD. If you press stronger the camera case on its back side behind the LCD (it is quite flexible) - you are pressing directly the small electronic board below. Finally you would cause the very very short screw supporting this electronic board to fall down. It is designed to fall down. After that the loose screw could make a short circuit in some electronic board and only a repair at Canon would exchange that electronic board. One advice - remove your battery from the camera for more than 5 min and try to swith on your camera later - sometimes it could help at least to take in the lens.
Regarding the fuse - it is designed to blow and to protect the circuitry. However there are fuses which are resettable - read this paper:
http://www.littelfuse.com/PDFs/AppNotes/ec611.pdf
IMHO if the Canon in-camera charger circuitry is designed properly (problems such as early deterioration of battery characteristics of Li-Ion battery may occur if the charge voltage and current are not regulated below a certain value) it would not "eat" your Li-Ion batteries. It should be a design problem in this circuitry.
Regarding the DSLR - it is a nice idea however I can not imagine a camera without articulated LCD display (it is really helpful). A DSLR together with the lenses is pretty heavy and the difference in the quality at ISO50 is not significant. IMHO A620 or G6 would be a better idea.
G1 is a nice camera (I had more than 45000 shots with mine, shooting mostly in Raw), however a new 7-8mp camera could make large paper prints.
Greetings,
Roumen

[dapgar]

well. after reading that repair site, i think i'll pass on trying to fix it myself. i don't have the necessary equipment to do it right.
so, i won't be going with DSLR. what camera out there is a good buy?
i wouldn't mind something smaller than the g1, but i also like that the g1 had a great flash, some people have told me that the really small cameras don't have great flashes.
how much smaller is the a620 than the g1. i haven't seen one in person.
i'm going to my local camera shop this week, the one where I bought my g1 from.
i'd like to stick with canon. i just hope this doesn't happen with a new camera.
any other recommendations for a new camera would be great!
thanks!
Dan

[Roumen]

Dan,
G6 is a nice camera (Raw, external flash) and you could use your G1 batteries, CF flash cards and filters (using 52mm lensmate adapter and 52mm-49mm stepping ring). A little bit thicker than G1, a little bit smaller size, great battery life, not very bright LCD like G1 though. The internal flash is like G1 flash. Great quality 20x30cm large prints. Check my G6 photos at: http://community.webshots.com/user/trifonov2
Check also the reviews and download the manual:
http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/canong6/
http://babelfish.altavista.com/urltrurl?lp=ru_en&trurl=http%3a%2f%2fwww.videozona.ru%2fphoto_tests% 2fReviews%2fCanonG6%2fG6_page00.asp
http://www.canon.co.jp/Imaging/psg6/index-e.html
You could go also for Canon Powershot Pro1 if you need a better zoom lens. The lens zoom control is not the same, no optical viewfinder, some troubles with quality control reported, shorter battery life.
A620 is the same size like A95 but lighter, almost pocket size, SD memory flash cards, better movie, no Raw format, AA batteries and you would need a charger. Check the Canon site for more info: http://www.canon.co.jp/Imaging/psa620/index-e.html
Greetings,
Roumen

[dapgar]

i'm not a photographer. most of my shots are in the auto mode for my g1. i'm thinkng maybe i don't need something like the g6 with all the manual controls. maybe even the g1 was more than I need for what I do. one question. what is RAW format? and why is it better to have it?

the only thing i don't like about the 620 is the bulge for the batteries.
there is something really nice about a ultra compact camera, but i don't want to buy one that is so small that it doesn't take good pics or has a bad flash.
seems like the 620 is somewhere in the middle between the really small cameras, and the bigger g6's.
i want to visit my camera shop and hold a few to see what they are like in person.
i'm the kind of person who reseaches a lot before i buy something, so i'll be doing that this week before i make a purchase.

[Roumen]

Raw format was the main advantage of G1 (all Gx cameras and DSLR cameras) and I have been shooting almost exclusively in Raw format with my G1 - it overcomes the problem with magenta cast with G1 and has many possibilities in postprocessing (changing WB or choosing custom WB later in postprocessing, converting to Tiff and then Jpeg and achieving excellent quality). New cameras have excellent Jpeg and Raw format is nevertheless still advantage.
Regarding the flash - you could always buy an external flash if necessary (G6/Pro1/ has a hot shoe for external flash and A620 has an optional Canon slave flash).
Greetings,
Roumen

[uberG]

I've just gone thru this with my G3 which was exactly 24 months old - - very discouraging :o

I called two capable camera shops and they both said they'd "look" at it but it was most likely it would have to go back to Canon. My camera had the loose screw/non extending lens problem. As crazy as it may sound, these cameras appear to be a disposable commodity, nobody wants to open them up.

I did the Canon upgrade routine to a G6, they said no other choices. The camera just arrived this morning. Cost was $300 + tax + ship.

[dapgar]

hey guys
just to inform you, I went to my local camera shop. they sell pretty much every brand digital camera on the market. I went in, steering towards a canon, but got sold on a casio(don't laugh) EX-p505.
it's a very small 5 mp 5x zoom digital camera. it's not the slim line look of the elphs but it's because the zoom is larger and it's all internal.
i'm not locked into this camera. i have 10 days to return it, or up to 30 days to exchange it for something else.
they weren't really big fans of the canon's for some reason.
the main issue I see with this camera is when using the flash, it takes way too long to cycle before you can shoot again. i have it set on the largest file setting, and the res. to fine.

what are you guys opinions on casio? i never thought that they'd make a good camera.
this shop didn't have the a620 canon in stock yet, but had a bunch of other canons, along with the g6. i'm not sure i want to have another bulky heavy camera like the g1 was.
one other camera that caught my eye is the new nikon coolpix p1 8mp, and takes decent short video clips.
this casio's selling point is the great video it takes. up to one hour on a 1 gig SD card. which is the card that I got. i still have to sample some of the still pictures and compare them to the g1's pics.
i might still be leaning for a canon, just not sure which one yet.
i'll take any suggestions.
i mainly want it for point and shoot, but more advanced than just the bare bone idiot proof cameras that are out there.
i wasn't thrilled with the software that came with the casio.
i think this camera will most likely be returned. the video clips are great, a lot better than the g1's. but know that digital stills aren't meant to take great video.
if anyone knows someone that has this casio model, let me know how they like it and if it's held up over time.
thanks again
Dan

[danielchtong]

Hi,
I'm new to this forum and have a G1 that I bought in 2001. I haven't had any issues with this camera until now. I tried turning it on today and the lens extracted out but the lcd was dead and when I turned it off, nothing happened.
I have read that several people on this forum have had this problem a while back and had their cameras fixed under warrenty.
Is it worth sending this camera out to be fixed? how much will it cost?
It's a few years old, but I think the camera still takes great pictures for what I need it for.
if it's going to be too expensive, i'll just put that money towards a newer camera that might not have this problem.
thanks
Dan
i had the same problem a yr ago
it sound like you have a blown fuse (surface mount one) the same problem i had
after fixing , i had the web pages all saved with lengthy and very detailed pict as to what to do
expected 4 hours of work if you are not familar with soldering
it is worth fixing it
email me danielchtongAT Yahoo Dot Com

[danielchtong]

http://hunterftp.hunter.com/~dav/PrepareTheCamera.htm
the site is still there.
i thought it has been closed.
anyway see if you wish to try your luck.
i still have a couple of fuse around
i just have to find it
daniel

[dapgar]

yeah. i have seen that site. i just don't have the very small soldering iron. i will get around to fixing it, but just don't have the time right now. maybe over the winter.
where did you buy your fuses, i'd like to pick up a few incase it happens again. i did end up buying the a620 as my main camera, but would love to still have the g1 as a backup. my wife likes to have a digital camera a home when i'm at work, but sometimes i take it with me to photograph my construction jobs, and then she can't use it for the baby pictures until i get home.

[dicky109]

Try Canon service center or maybe micro-tools.com has them. Can't find it on the web site, but they have a parts list http://www.micro-tools.com/pdf/Canon/POWER%20SHOT%20G1.PDF and exploded diagrams. The fuse number is on the very last page

Good luck

[civis]

I did the Canon upgrade routine to a G6, they said no other choices. The camera just arrived this morning. Cost was $300 + tax + ship.
All things considered, 300 bucks isn't half bad for a new G6.

[SteveHansen]

I just called Canon to have my G1 fixed. The price was going to be $175 to fix it. But then they offered me the exchange program as mentioned above where for $299 plus tax and shipping, Canon sends a refurbished G6 with a six month warrantee-second day air. When the G6 comes I send them back the old G1. I don't know how long this program runs or if it is offered to anyone with an older G series camera but this is a good option to try.