everything is black

when i turn on my S2IS, everything is black! the settings show up, but the whole visual field is solid black both on the display and through the viewfinder. (yes i have checked and the lens cap is not on!). the batteries are good. i can't find my owner's manual since i moved so i am hoping someone on here can steer me in the right direction! i bought it in 6/2006.

may not apply as I know nothing about your particular camera...but my Canon powershot has a switch to go from shooting to display. If there is nothing on the memory card, it shows as black. Do you have a setting or switch?

Hope it's something simple!

Try switching the settings. It's been ages since I had my S3 but I remember something like that happening when I was trying to use the "through the viewfinder" (rather than the lcd) setting....there were 3 options, I think...so try to check that particular setting out and see if you can switch it to the lcd again.

mopardog wrote in post #4173377
...(yes i have checked and the lens cap is not on!)...

Then I'm stumped.

i emailed canon today about my problem. i have lost my manual (i moved recently) and i went through all the settings and tried everything but nothing worked! i still just have a black screen on the display (except the zillions of icons i have now) and when i look through the viewfinder, it is the same, black, with icons. if i get rid of the icons (can't remember how i did that) i still have one that looks like a circle with 2 or 3 brackets on either side, don't know what that is or if it might be the problem.

can anyone help? i am afraid they (canon) will tell me to take it in to be serviced and then i will cost me lots. i never liked this camera that well except the 12x zoom. but it was not cheap and it's only 17 months old! i sure don't want to have to spend lots on it or get a new one.

i keep hoping there is some easy fix i have missed.

any ideas?

ok, i went home and reset everything to default. now i can hear the shutter click (i read on another posting that it might be a stuck shutter). i downloaded all the test pix to my computer and there are 12 pix, they are all black. so it seems as though the camera actually did try to take a pic. the other thing i noticed is that after i push the button it takes probably 2 seconds to take the picture, much slower than usual. i am so totally frustrated. i need my camera to take product pictures for my website (www.doggypanache.com).

i got a response from canon that it would cost $117 to send the camera in plus $8 shipping. then of course there is the cost of parts, etc. or for $175 they would trade it for a refurbished S3IS. i am not biting, i am pretty disgusted with canon right now.

Try removing all batteries overnight. Not just the main power batteries but also the coin sized backup/memory battery. It's located between the front two AA battery slots, labeled CR122 or some such.

i will try removing the batteries. thanks.

Start with a new manual, which may be downloaded from Canon here.

Good luck.