How to break a CCD sensor in 1 second

[cwinhall]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KAniVvYA-gE



Was taking a video to prove the flashgun I was about to post was fully working... :bang:

 

[The Matt]

Oh dear
Did it recover? My fuji ccd used to behave very oddly when something as bright as the midday sun was in shot but went back to normal afterwards.

 

[aligibbs]

It was actually broken in like 1/20,000th of a second

 

[swatches]

What camera was it?

 

[cwinhall]

Oh dear
Did it recover? My fuji ccd used to behave very oddly when something as bright as the midday sun was in shot but went back to normal afterwards.

Nope

The menu system and viewing pictures all works fine, it is just unable to take any photos or videos anymore. Just a bright white screen shows up in liveview and if I take a picture, it performs the action of it fine, but the picture is just white.

 

[cwinhall]

What camera was it?

Fuji Finepix F31fd

 

[smooth]

This guy got his mended:

• aston...Haha... it is indeed working! Actually the repair shop where I took that camera couldn't figure out what happened and they repaired it at no cost 8 minutes ago

 

[cwinhall]

This guy got his mended:

• aston...Haha... it is indeed working! Actually the repair shop where I took that camera couldn't figure out what happened and they repaired it at no cost 8 minutes ago

Do you have a link to this thread??

I bought mine from jessops but I think it wll over 2 years ago, maybe even 3.

 

[smooth]

Tis a reply to your youtube vid!

 

[cwinhall]

Tis a reply to your youtube vid!

oops

Ok, seen it now, if only youtube would let me reply to my own video... just getting an error right now.

 

[Voyager]

How does light break a sensor?

At least if you overexpose film you just wind on a new 'sensor' and take another picture!

 

[trencheel303]

How the heck....????????

 

[neil_g]

id just take the battery (inc any backup battery) out for a while and/or do a factory reset.

 

[trencheel303]

I really don't think that will do it Neil... I had a bridge camera with a dying sensor and it would show highlights as pink not white... look at the end of the video and the whole screen is pink... classic 'your sensor has died' colour. How the heck the flashgun did that, I do not know.

 

[neil_g]

fair enough, was just a no cost option for possible fix.. likewise i cant see why a flash would cause that issue unless the camera software threw a hissy? :shrug:

 

[trencheel303]

Either that or the power of the flash actually nuked the sensor. Over time sensors do begin to die by exposure to light... I think?

I remember someone on here saying he did a lot of long exposure work and saying his sensor was completely shagged out because of it. Amp glow and everything.

 

[neil_g]

interesting..

dont sensors get hot(ter) on long exposures? maybe that shortens lifespan. maybe the burst from the flash like you say nuked the sensor like a super long exposure?

or sommat lol

 

[cwinhall]

I have taken the battery out and plan to keep it out for the rest of today.

I have tried to think of a few other theories such as the software throwing a hissy as already mentioned. For example it trying to compensate for the massive chang ein exposure and konking out. Althought this seems unlikely.

I have done a software reset to default settings. There doesn't seem be a hardware reset for this camera.

Any other opinions on possible fixes?

I got a quote from a local repair shop. They estimate about £80 to replace the sensor.

I can't work out if it is worth it or not.

 

[wack61]

Looking on ebay they seem to make between £90-£110, the trouble with estimates is they're just that so it could be more, I know it was a top compact 3 years ago but there must have been improvements that have at least caught up by now

 

[Harvey_nikon]

Why not write to the manufacturer and ask them if they can figure out why it happened?

Then ask why it doesn't say in the instructions not to do this?

 

[FLANNERS]

I hope that this little accident wasnt for my benefit colin! i would have taken your word for it that it worked!!............................and just hunted you down if it didn't! he he!

 

[Trig's]

Why not write to the manufacturer and ask them if they can figure out why it happened?

Just tell them that someone with a flash flashed in front of you... ( :nono: with a camera that is & not a mack)

 

[cwinhall]

Why not write to the manufacturer and ask them if they can figure out why it happened?

Then ask why it doesn't say in the instructions not to do this?

I can't seem to find a specific email address to write to. I can only find this link:

http://www.fujifilm.co.uk/technical/camera_repair/

I guess I will have to do that tomorrow.

I hope that this little accident wasnt for my benefit colin! i would have taken your word for it that it worked!!............................and just hunted you down if it didn't! he he!

I'm afraid it was flanners, its ALL YOUR FAULT! :razz:

(I tend to take a video of something showing it working before I post it, as that way I can prove to the buyer, or mores the case, the P.O that it was infact working before delivery if things ever go bad).

Just tell them that someone with a flash flashed in front of you... ( :nono: with a camera that is & not a mack)

I may as well come clean about it, it shouldn;t make a difference to them who did the flashing. Just the fact that something as simple as this broke the sensor should be their main concern and ho to prevent it happening again.

 

[unclened]

would have been ok if you werent filming, because then the CCD would have been covered by the shutter!

 

[cwinhall]

would have been ok if you werent filming, because then the CCD would have been covered by the shutter!

I do realise that. Unfortunately, filming was the only way to properly convey that the flash was working.

 

[unclened]

I do realise that. Unfortunately, filming was the only way to properly convey that the flash was working.

lol, ofcourse!

I wasnt trying to rub salt in your wounds :bonk:

 

[The Matt]

do compacts have shutters?

 

[cwinhall]

do compacts have shutters?

Every camera has a shutter. Even a pinhole camera needs one.

 

[The Matt]

Every camera has a shutter. Even a pinhole camera needs one.

even digital permanently-in-live-view point and shoots? Never found one when I took an old digicam apart.

 

[Trig's]

I take it that this is still "cream crackered" then even after leaving the batteries out etc etc...

 

[Thmaga]

even digital permanently-in-live-view point and shoots? Never found one when I took an old digicam apart.

The shutter's usually within the lens of a compact camera.

 

[cwinhall]

I take it that this is still "cream crackered" then even after leaving the batteries out etc etc...

Fired it up and still the same problem.

I have emailed Fuji about the problem and am awaiting a response from them. :shrug:

 

[trencheel303]

Tis probably cattle trucked mate.

 

[Trig's]

....I got a quote from a local repair shop. They estimate about £80 to replace the sensor.... I can't work out if it is worth it or not.

I think that that is something that you only have the answer to to be perfectly honest... Was you thinking of changing camera's in the for-see-able future?

If so then used the £80 for a new/secondhand camera....

 

[Trig's]

Curious to know if there is any update or what you done in the end :shrug:

 

[dinorock]

Fired it up and still the same problem.

I have emailed Fuji about the problem and am awaiting a response from them. :shrug:

dear mr cwinhall weve seen your utube vidieo so NO

 

[loplyg]

In all the Nikon SLR manuals I have read, it's given a warning that pointing the camera at bright sources of light like the sun can damage the sensor.

I think because the lens is focusing the light onto the sensor, I would guess it's a bit like a magnifying glass effect, and too much light probably burns the sensor.