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I have a Canon PowerShot A470. One day, while taking photos, it has gone from taking perfect pictures to being massively overexposed (almost white) pictures; however, this is not a problem with taking videos - they are absolutely fine.

I have gone through all the settings that I can find (most importantly, changed the exposure done to as low as possible - no help). Does anyone have any suggestions, or is something fundamentally broken?

Philip Kendall
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Sam OT
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  • reset settings to factory default? (somewhere in the menu...). Check also the dial : are you not in "Bulb" mode ? (the dial can move unexpectedly...) – Olivier Dulac Mar 19 '14 at 15:24
  • I don't believe the A470 has a bulb mode :-) It's a very basic P&S. – Philip Kendall Mar 19 '14 at 15:59
  • @PhilipKendall indeed. But it could be set on "Scene" with some long exposure scene? or "Manual" (= semi-auto) with some weird setting? returning to "default" to test the camera would then be a good step. – Olivier Dulac Mar 19 '14 at 16:59
  • Move your dial to Auto mode (i.e. the camera icon, without an M next to it), to make sure you're not in some crazy mode. Does that help? Now take a picture in a dark room without flash. Is the photo dark (as expected) or still overexposed? If the latter is true, you might have a light leak from the LCD to the sensor or with the analog-to-digital converter. If not, it's probably your exposure meter that's off. – Tony Mar 19 '14 at 23:10
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    I've tried resetting to default, changing the "scene", using auto, using manual and changing the exposure.

    I've tried taking a photo underneath tables / behind settees, which should be very dark, but the pictures are still bright (pretty good actually, considering!) - unfortunately, in normal light, they are mostly white!

     – Sam OT Mar 19 '14 at 23:15
  • Is there some way of doing a hard reset (there isn't even a physical reset button that I can find)? Sometimes shorting it works (but may this damage it otherwise)? – Sam OT Mar 19 '14 at 23:17
  • Also strange that the video works without any problems... – Sam OT Mar 19 '14 at 23:18
  • Actually try taking a photo in a completely dark room, with your hand over the LCD so it doesn't light up the room. Are photos still bright in that scenario? – Tony Mar 20 '14 at 08:19
  • When it's completely dark, it doesn't light up. When there is some light, however, it does make it a lot brighter. – Sam OT Mar 20 '14 at 12:28
  • Highly likely a faulty lens. – BBking Mar 24 '14 at 22:01
  • @BBking Not denying it, but why would a faulty lens work fine in video mode? – Philip Kendall Mar 24 '14 at 22:26
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    Because it's not using the mechanical shutter in video mode. It could be repairable (simply a stuck shutter lever) but who can be bothered dismantling a compact lens these days? – BBking Mar 25 '14 at 03:35
  • @SmileySam Is there a reason you reverted the changes to the question? I'm probably biased, but I think they were an improvement. – Philip Kendall Mar 26 '14 at 20:04
  • @PhilipKendall - personally I liked it. To be honest, I don't really mind. If you'd like to put it back in, then that's fine! =P – Sam OT Mar 26 '14 at 22:26
  • Mine is doing the same thing Kelly – user62418 Apr 14 '17 at 00:17

3 Answers3

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I've had this problem and it is the ribbon cable to the electonic shutter that has broken. Sadly it is not an easy fix as the camera is difficult to dismantle and ribbon cables are difficult to solder.

uwidavid
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I probably know an answer.

Cameras almost always have aperture open if not recording anything - to make the optical viewfinder brighter or electronic viewfinder display better image.

Then, cameras close aperture for each exposure to arbitrary or automatically selected F value.

Cameras know how much light will be cut if they close down to F if they know the open objective speed.

Now, if the aperture is stuck in the middle, camera will always overexpose photos when set F is bigger than initial F, and will do so even more if the aperture does not move at all.

The video mode may be unaffected because in this mode camera meters in real time, just the noise may be bumped.

Euri Pinhollow
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  • Interesting idea. If it is the case, any idea how I'd fix it? =D – Sam OT Mar 25 '16 at 18:32
  • @smiley-sam: you'd better check if it's the case - look into the objective and see whether aperture moves. If it does not move at all, you may be sure in that it is the case.

    What next? I would take it apart and see what is wrong. The technology is quite tough nowadays and most malfunctions are caused with small defects - like, big dust particle got somewhere into mechanics.

     – Euri Pinhollow Mar 25 '16 at 18:37
  • @smiley-sam: or, the ribbon cable may be damaged, and that would be even easier to repair (give that you have a source for spares). – Euri Pinhollow Mar 25 '16 at 18:57
  • Thanks. I'll have a look into that. Need to find the camera again first! =P – Sam OT Mar 27 '16 at 07:48
  • @smiley-sam: it is sure worth it, at least for trying CHDK. You may as well remove IR mirror from there. – Euri Pinhollow Mar 27 '16 at 08:51
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Same issue with My Canon Powershot SX430IS. The image goes whitewashed after a particular zoom range. Just before that range there is no problem and i can hear the shutter release sound. Butter just after passing that range no shutter clicking noise and images are over exposed. There is no problem with Videos. Something to do with aperture. Went to canon Master service center. The service center seems very familiar with this issue. And for Powershot XXX series they only provide replacements, No repairs. I am out of warranty by 3 weeks. So now i have to pay RS. 8000+ for replacement. And i bought the camera 2 years back for 12999.

Arunlal Mathew
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