Ixus (aka Digital Elph) 430 - Lens Barrel Alignment

Hi

I bought a Canon IXUS 430 two weeks ago, and I'm very happy with it. But I have noticed a few features which I'd appreciate any other owners' comments on.

1. When the camera lens is fully extended, it seems to lean slightly to the left (as you look at the front of the camera). Perhaps 'lean' is not the most accurate word, it's more that the lens barrel is offset slightly to the left. At the left hand side, the barrel is tight against the housing; at the right, there is a slight gap, maybe enough to slide a piece of paper into. Inside this gap you can even see a little curve of metal, about a centimetre long, which is presumably part of the housing which holds the lens barrel in place.

2. Perhaps unrelated to this is the fact that when the camera is switched off and the lens retracts, it retracts almost completely, then comes back out a little, then fully retracts. Also, when lens is retracted and the camera is switched off, the two sections which form the lens cover do not quite meet up. There is a small gap and the sections are slightly out of alignment.

3. I have noticed that the auto-focus mechanism takes significantly longer when the lens is zoomed to telephoto, and this is accompanied by a loud-ish grinding noise.

Does anyone know whether these are normal features or if the camera may be faulty?

Thanks

JC
ps. very nicely designed forum

Hi JC,
Just checked out my IXUS400 (the precursor to the 430) and....

(1) Yes, there is a very slight 'lean' to the left but it seems to be the way the lense is housed in the surround.

(2) Yes - mine retracts like this too. Mine leaves a tiny gap about the thickness of a piece of paper or two.

(3) Yes - focusing takes a little longer on full zoom than without. It doesn't make a grinding noise though - more like a not-too-unpleasant whirring noise.

Hope this helps - I'm sure your camera isn't faulty, although you might want to check out the grinding noise against another model, maybe in a shop perhaps ?

Mike.

Hi Mike

Thanks for you reply. I emailed Canon about the problem, but that was before I realised that rather than leaning to the left the lens barrel is just offset slightly to the left, so they may have assessed the problem as more serious than it is. Anyway I don't really want to follow their suggestion of packing the camera off to their repair centre, for all I know it could get damaged in transit. Frankly, I'd prefer a replacement camera but I have yet to hear back form the (online) vendor I bought it from.

I'm quite reassured by what you've said and I think I'll stick with the camera as it is for now since there doesn't seem to be any problem with image quality.

Thanks again
JC