- Average user rating: 3.5 stars out of 133 reviews Back to product review
- My rating: 0 stars
Full user review
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28 out of 31 people found this review helpful
0.5 stars
"CANON SD300 - CRAPY LCD"
Pros: Small, you can carry it anywhere. Quick to turn on and take pictures
Cons: The LCD is extremenly fragile and seems to have a design problem
Summary: I bought a SD300 on month ago. I went on a little trip in the US. If was the first time I used the SD300 outside of my home. Since it was new...I took very good care of my new baby. I never dropped it, I never hit it and I never sat on it. The temperature was 15 celcius outside, so it's not the cold factor. Even with my special care, the LDC died on the 3rd day of my trip !!! Maybe it's stupid, but initially, I tought that I broke it by taking a sunset picture. That was the only logical reason, since it broke after that last picture. I tought that maybe the light was too intense for the LDC liquid.
It happens that I also meet an Italian chick on the same trip. She had the SD200 (same as the SD300 but 3MP). Since my SD300 broke for no reason that I could understand, I told her to be extra
carefull with hers and she was. Her SD200 LCD broke down, just like mine 3 days after.
Both problems & symptoms are identical. The glass is not broken or scratched. The damage is internal and behind the glass. It started with a liquid line in diagonal that was started to expand has the liquid emptied itself between the glass. Both LCD are dead and not functionnal. If you still want to get this ***** camera...do one last thing before you buy it...Do a Google search with the following: SD300+Broken+LCD. You will probably buy a different camera when you see the 100s of people with the exact same problem. Yet, CANON, says that there is not defect and the problems are caused by the user. Most people were denied warrantee by Canon who says these cameras were abused. The repair is quoted between $150-180. I got the same kind of answer from Canon. I complained and complained and complained before they told me they would do the repair "as a favour" to me. I translate the "as a favous" to me as "We, Canon, know there is a design defect, so we will repair it"
Good luck....
- 10 replies to this review
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It failed once during warranty. After use,it was put in a locked cabinet for safekeeping, but failed during power up with a pink/black screen. Canon repaired it, and it lasted another six months before failing exactly the same, during power up after a few weeks storage in a cabinet. It a roll of the dice if this LCD will survive a power off/on cycle.
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According to Canon, the metal clasp of the strap may be the culprit. It will often position itself over the LCD, and with pressure, especially while in the Canon leather case, break the LCD. My screen failed after 8 months, and was repaired under warranty, with no hassle.
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It may have been that USA models had a defect in them for a while but Im sure they fixed the problem. Anyone else have this camera from USA in perfect condition??? Mine is from Canada!
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Take a look around the internet. Do a Google search as Techno-Luigi suggested - you'll see that every negative review of this camera was posted by this same person. It's fairly obvious, because this person can't spell or use grammar properly. ("crapy"?). Also, there aren't any reviews that mention cracked LCD screens before February of this year, when this person began posting reviews. It's a smear campaign against Canon because Techno-Luigi had a bad experience and they would not fix the camera. DO NOT beleive it when someone tells you an LCD screen cracked and leaked liquid without any provocation.
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I had the exact same problem with the SD200. When I had it in the case it was fine. I had it in my pocket for one hour - and there it went. Even *without* banging into anything. What's the point of a "pocket sized" camera that you can't put in your pocket?!
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TL's suggestion to head towards Google lead me to many other posts, not just about the broken LCD, but that these ocurred on other SD models.
Most important though were the reports by others of a denial-of-warranty experience that was similar to TL's. That led me to Canon's own website. Under their Warranty section for the SD300 was this tidbit:
"Without limiting the foregoing, water damage, sand/corrosion damage, battery leakage, dropping the camera, scratches, abrasions or damage to the body, lenses or LCD display or damage to the connectors or cables, AC adapter or CompactFlash memory card, will be presumed to have resulted from misuse, abuse or failure to operate the PowerShot Digital Camera as set forth in the operating instructions."
Note the word "presumed".
In all fairness to Canon, you can find the full text of the entire Warranty for the SD300 using this link:
http://consumer.usa.canon.com/ir/controller?act=PgComSmModDisplayAct&keycode=2113&fcategoryid=224&modelid=10599
That being said, I certainly know what I'm NOT going to buy in the near future... -
I have been using digital cameras since 1996 and this is by far my favorite. The LCD is easy to see, even in bright sunlight. The pictures are fantastic for such a small camera and the battery life is excellent. My brother and father bought the same camera and love it.
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Look I am sure that Techno-Luigi?s LCD broke. It is true the digi cams LCD are more fragile than we would like; it does not take much to of a bump in the right place to damage the screen. I managed to do it on my old Pentax Optio S and it cost me $150 and 6 weeks to get it replaced. But come-on this guy thought that maybe the taking a picture of the sunset broke the LCD, anyone with half a brain knows that this is just not possible.
Bottom line is that you need to protect the LCD and keeping the camera in some sort of case is the best way to do this. Do a search on E-bay for ?SD300 cases? and you will find a nice selection of cases that are much nicer than that ugly and bulky black leather case that canon offers. I found a nice neoprene one that fits the camera tightly so that it will still fit in your pocket and also offers a decent amount of shock protection .
Just my thoughts but for the money, this camera offers the best combination of pic quality, size, build quality, shot to shot performance (with Ultra II card), and zoom.
Check out dell.com, they have the camera priced at $296, plus when you buy a memory card (suggest 1 GB Ultra II for $78) or anything else to put you over the $300 mark you can used coupon code GV377LSW212XB4 to get you another $35 off. Check out Techbargains.com and search for dell coupons to get the latest coupon code.
PS Luigu I am sure your internet wide smear campaign against canon has probably paid off and they would have been better just paying to fix your darn LCD -
I will complain with my pocketbook in the future and will never purchase another Canon product. Unfortunate, because I love Canon cameras.
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Hi, this isnt a review so much but more of a friendly warning. Im in the market for a digi and canons new line of SD cameras caught my eye. The pocket size, large screen, and no hassle features really had me intrigued. However, when i decided to check the user reviews i was kinda dissapointed to find Techno Luigi's review so negative. So i took his advice and did a google and i brought up a wopping 577 results for the entire world wide web. that made me happy. Maybe things werent as bad as he made me think they were. so i started clicking on the first few sites and what did i find? Our friend Luigi has been visiting the web forums telling anybody and everybody about his one bad experiece(copy and pasted no less). i saw the same bitter post on about 6 web links and i called it a day.
moral of the story, dont believe everything you read on the net. it could just be one upset monkey spreading his story like the plague.
Where to buy
Canon PowerShot SD300:
$549.95
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Amazon.com Marketplace
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$549.95 | Yes |
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