Canon S2 IS black screen

To all that has and have the black screen with the S2 series Canon camera. I would like to thank you for your continued support in trying to find a fix for the camera.
I will consider myself one of the lucky few here. As I have stayed in contact with Canon on their site where I located a place to ask for help. I used this site and started letting them know what my problems with my Canon S2 series camera and exactly what I thought of a company that did not honor their product. With persistence and I am certain getting in touch with the right person, I have a camera that I can now use. They fixed my problem with out charging me anything at all. My camera is almost at the 2yr mark of ownership on my part. Canon came through for me and repaired this camera without a charge. Although they didn't extend any warranty at all on their repairs..But as it stands now, I do have a camera I can use again and get the same good pictures that I originally got when I first purchased the camera.
I would suggest that you do not give up on Canon and stay consistently on their behinds and you could possibly be as fortunate as I have been. Although not one of the us that own a Canon S2 series should have to contend with all of the **** that we have put up with to get Canon to honor their faulty product.

Amazing, i did not beleive my S2 IS would start working with these instructions until I realized it. It works but perform as instructed. I think the removing batteries exactly after 7 seconds is essential. It did not work well when i removed the batteries immediately i made a shot. Although the black screen does come back after i go to review mode when i switch it off and then switch on my camera works just normal.

Thank you so much for this solution.

Wow it did work.

Thanks. So many people with that problem I hope they find this site. :-)

This solution worked for me (several tries to get it to work). THANK YOU SO MUCH for posting this information!
I will probably follow the advise suggesting to take a few pictures daily for a while to (hopefully) prevent another iris issue.

Opening and closing the battery cover is what brought the viewfinder back to life for me. The problem was that the problem would come back all the time! The real trick (again, for me) for the fix to stick was to use the camera on a regular basis, several times a day, for several days. I would take pictures several times a day, 7 or 8 shots at a time. After a few days, I cut back to once a day and then to every few days. It is totally fine now. I do make a point of snapping a few pictures at least once a week...I don't want this problem to come back to haunt me!

go to the canon web site they have an advisory out on this I just got mine back actually they kept my S1 IS and sent me a new S5 IS because "they did not have the part and wanted to expedite my repair"

Here is another site I found when I encountered my problem
http://www.imaging-resource.com/NEWS/1164376280.html

I sent my camera in per Canons instructions, received an e-mail a few days later(1/9/08) confirming that they would repair it a few more days later (1/16/08)I received another e-mail confirming that it had been repaired and shipped. Today (1/17/08) I got it and to my very pleasant surprise the box contained a new S5 IS!!! I will be sending them a very nice THANK YOU for it after I post this.

PS: e-mail accepting repair 1/9/08
1/16/08 e-mail stating it shipped on 1/15/08,
received 1/17/08 via FED EX

This is really so helpful to me. Thanks a lot 4 this thread first.

If anybody has any problem how to set the S2IS in 15" exposure mode. Just set the wheel to TV mode first and thn tap the jog dial(left/right/up/down-keys) to the left till it sets to 15".

This technique works for me ....gr8!!!!!!

Thanks again 4 the information...

S1is problem was faulty Sony CCDs - the S2is problem is related to a sticking iris. Canon will not play ball at the moment.

Methinks a consolidated action is required to make Canon realise how many people are suffering with an expensive lump of junk!

My S2is has just started doing the same thing (24 months old) and having researched it appears that it's a very common failure of the camera - the iris seizes and doesn't open. Setting the camera to AV mode, 15 sec exposure, firing the shutter and then opening the battery cover sometimes solves it, albeit temporarily. The S1is had a recall based on the CCD failure, but so far Canon have refused to do anything with the S2is. I contacted them last week in the UK, and the response was "tough"! I'm very p***ed off with them - it cost me £400. Hoping that eventually it will be recalled and I'll get it fixed.

I am so excited! This technique fixed my camera and most likely saved me a lot of money! I was ready to buy a new camera! Thank you Thank you Thank you!!!!!!!!!!!

thank you frozen 80, i work at a camera shop and some one brought a camera in with this problem and went on about it was all our fault, our manager ended up giving him a free S3 is, he was going to throw out the camera but i said i'd have a go at it. after about an hour of trying your technique it finally worked. Thank you greatly for this your going to make me look like a genius in front of my coworkers who said it was hopeless :) health and happiness to you sir!!

amzingly, i experienced the same problem with my S2IS, it've been 1 month ago when it's starting to show horizontal lines for all pics i took...
dunno what's caused it, but several weeks before, i see blank image after taking pictures...
here in indonesia, it cost about $30 just to have your camera inspected, not included to fix the problem

I had the same problem. The solution given fixed the issue. Why is Canon not recalling S2 IS models?

How can I set the exposure time to 15 sec???

Normal 0 BLACK SCREEN OF DEATH – FIXED AT LAST - After doing several hours of research on the internet, I have been able to eliminate the problem on my Powershot S2 IS. I started with the “fix” as suggested by guidofoc in a post on the “flickr” site. Thanks guidofoc! His procedure did fix the problem for me but it only lasted a day. The next day, back to the same old black screen. For the next few days/weeks, when I wanted to use my camera, I did the same procedure and it would come back to life but would be black again the next time I powered up the camera or a day later.
Back to internet research! On the “Fixya” site, I found a picture of the camera shutter and diaphragm blades. This picture was posted by “andyhutton” who was also having the same “black screen” problem. He had disassembled his camera and found what appeared to be an oil exuding on the shutter diaphragm blades. He disassembled the camera, cleaned it thoroughly, and reassembled it. This fixed his camera. Other information I found indicated that what appeared to be oil was a little “stiffer” than oil, almost hard. It was thought that this was happening after leaving in a hot car other high temperature environment.
All this made sense to me but I didn’t relish the thought of tearing the camera apart and reassembling it. This procedure reportedly took about 6-8 hours. And this was by a person who considered himself, to have a reasonable amount of mechanical ability. I definitely DON’T RECOMMEND this approach unless you have tried all else and are ready to junk your camera. Using this information I theorized that if I used the temporary fix procedure and then repeatedly activated the shutter, perhaps the “wiping action” may wear down the frictional areas and free up the shutter blades to move more freely. I tried it. Voila! It has worked now for the last 6-8 weeks without a failure. Here is my final procedure:

Set the camera in Tv mode, (delayed shutter mode) set the shutter at 15 sec, click to take a picture and during that 15 secs (like, after 7 seconds) open the battery, compartment which cuts contact with the battery circuit. Close the battery cover. At this point the camera works fine for me but only temporarily as noted above. Sometimes however, this procedure had to be performed more than once. Here is the key to the permanent fix. While the camera is working via the temporary fix, take many, many pictures. Hundreds! I probably snapped 400-600 pics. The idea is to wear down the little patches of hardened oil on the shutter blades. For the next three of days I took hundreds of pics each day. Basically, I just aimed the camera at the wall or whatever and snapped off several hundred pics.

Now that I seem to have my camera working permanently, my plan is to NOT leave my camera in a high temperature environment, and to try to use it regularly. Maybe, not unlike many other things, if it gets no regular use, it may start to deteriorate.

No guarantees but I do hope this helps someone.

My Canon S1 IS has a black screen and have tried the Tv solution recommended for the S2 IS buthis does not work. Any other suggestions, please.

I had the same problem and with the solution that Frozen80 posted it worked (note took about 15 attempt). I can not thank you enough. Like everyone else I love my S2 but did not want to pay to get it fixed...

This is what causes the problem. Oil on the shutter and diaphragm blades. I still don't know where the oil is coming from. Cleaning diaphragm, shutter and all surrounding plastic parts has worked well for me. Not a really easy part to get out though. Some places will repair for around $99.

Awesome! Excellent! Thank you so much! Certainly saved me a lotta bucks for the service!

Ive got some possibly good news. My camera got to the point every time I shut it off even for a few seconds I had to do the TV/open battery door several times. Well I stuck it off in a corner for a couple months. I got it out the other day and it took me about 20 minutes of doing the trick to get it to work but when it finally broke free I swear I felt it. Ever since that it has not messed up once. I just picked it up after it sit a day and a half and it worked when I hit the power button 1st time. Only time will tell if it is fixed. In the mean time I have contacted the BBB. No answer yet but its only been a week and with the holiday I figure give it a couple more weeks.

I am thankful, too for the solution. It worked! Same two-year-old camera, same problem as everyone else. I don't see where anyone has answered the question submitted a couple of times about how to set the exposure to 15". Here's how: With the camera set to Tv mode, I saw a 1/125 setting at the bottom. I pressed the left arrow button on the back of the camera repeatedly until the setting changed to 15". Then I snapped a picture (while the screen was still black), counted to seven, and opened the battery door. When I put the batteries back in, it worked!

Had the same prob. Just had to add my kudo's to everyone else's. Frozen80, you da man! Question tho: how you come up with such an arcane solution? I mean, you just sitting round, and say "Hey, try dis! Set to TV mode, etc, etc, etc..."? Really, where dat come from???? Still, thanks again. I got my camera back in working order!!!

I also kept fighting with Canon, and finally sent a letter to the Better Business Bureau and to Canon's Corporate office.

That seemed to do the trick, I got a call back from CS yesterday, and after arguing with them some more, they said they would do a one time courtesy repair that won't be waranteed.

I'll take it, I just want a working camera again. I'm sorry, but a $500 camera should not die after 2 1/2 years.