Camera error, most likely a shutter issue. What do I do?

Question

I'm pretty ignorant when it comes to the anatomy of a camera, so bear with me if my diagnosis is completely wrong or if I don't refer to camera parts with the right names.

I have a Canon Powershot A430. I recently had a problem while taking pictures. When I pressed the shutter button to snap a photo, I never heard the click of the shutter(?) inside the lens. It still took the picture, but it came out so bright that the subject was barely discernable, and there were horizontal lines running across the image. This happens every time I try to take a picture in good lighting. If it's dark and I need to use the flash, the picture comes out fine. Digital movies also come out flawless, proving that there is nothing wrong with the lens or LCD. To my untrained eye, it appears that the diaphragm simply will not close, which is why it lets so much light in. Is my hypothesis correct? Has anyone encountered a similar problem? How difficult/expensive is the repair?

Answer 1

have opened my camera. (it was useless anyway, right?) From someone else with the same problem.  Guess what I found, in the lens-assembly there is a ribbon cable that controls the two solenoids, one of the shutter, one of the diafragm (or what it's called). This one is broken, the electric circuits are discontinued and so there is no control. It seems to be a design error since it broke exactly where the ribbon bends at 180 degrees almost with no place for a loop most of the focussing time.

Answer 2

Good morning, Courtney;  

Sorry to hear about your camera difficulty.  The Canon A-430 is a nice camera, as you have learned.  

Unfortunately, there may not be an "owner quick fix" here.  You probably will need to find a camera repair shop to look at it.  There are some who specialize in digital cameras.  While looking for fixtures for my Kyoritsu camera tester, I ran across a supplier who provides parts just for cameras like yours, so repair shops are out there.  

While a camera repair shop might make a quick check for you, usually they will charge for opening up the camera to diagnose the cause of the problem.  That seems to run from around $ 35.00 to $ 75.00.  If you decide to have them make the repair for you, often they will credit you with the charge for the diagnosis against the charge for the repair.  Ask about their policy.  

There is also the question of the cost of the repair versus the cost of a replacement camera.  I cannot really answer that one for you.  I can say that I have cameras that I like that I have "put more into than they are worth" because I like the camera.  Your decision to be made with your camera technician.  

Try putting "digital camera repair" into your search engine for the internet (Google, Lycos, Dogpile, et cetera), and see what comes up, if you do not have a camera repair shop near you.  

Enjoy;  

Ralph Javins