Camera won't show anything but black in the screen ... Or looking through the eye piece (canon S3 power shot) think the cold weather caused it

Your camera has a stuck shutter. There is a guy on eBay that fix this issue for a low price. Fix is for Canon S2, S3, S5 with stuck shutter. here is the link in case you need: http://www.ebay.com/itm/141414188140

This sounds like a common image sensor failure. Unfortunately Canon stopped fixing this problem over a year ago. Parts are NLA.

Most likely the shutter is jammed shut - this is commonly due to heat causing the oils in the lens to evaporate and then condense on the shutter blades.
The camera will need to be serviced, and this oild cleaned off the blades. Well worth doing, as these are great cameras :)

Double check if the viewfinder is operable (not the LDC but the little thing you look through with one eye above it). Try pressing the display button to flip through the different modes as you're looking through the viewfinder. If the viewfinder does work (and the LCD screen doesn't come on as you're scrolling through the modes) then it is most likely dead (broken). If the viewfinder works, you're can still use the camera otherwise it's probably time to get a new one.

You should remove the lens and see if the mirror is stuck in the up position.

I have a similar problem with my Canon S3 IS. Dark/black LCD in Shooting mode. However, I can view my existing photos in Display mode. I was about to spend money to get a Panasonic TZ5. Somehow I bumped into a solution post for S2 IS. Here is the link:

http://www.fixya.com/support/t1090569-black_screen

I tried their solutions twice and it WORKS. My S3 is working fine now.

It's very possible that the problem is that the shutter is stuck, which is a known Canon issue on the powershot cameras, mainly on the S2 and S3 models, which it happens after some time (weeks or months) thata camera is not used.

Unfortunately the repair of it requires a complete disassembly of the camera, including the lens, fix it, and then put back together everything.

Definitely requires the skills, tools and experience to do it, so it's recommended that a professional camera repair center is performing this type of repair.

If you look for a reliable and low cost repair service for it, you can look in ebay for such repair services.

Example, look for seller ID Great_items_2004 or with the keywords "Shutter black S3".

Best regards,

It's very possible that the problem is that the shutter is stuck, which is a known Canon issue on the powershot cameras, mainly on the S2 and S3 models, which it happens after some time (weeks or months) thata camera is not used.

Unfortunately the repair of it requires a complete disassembly of the camera, including the lens, fix it, and then put back together everything.

Definitely requires the skills, tools and experience to do it, so it's recommended that a professional camera repair center is performing this type of repair.

If you look for a reliable and low cost repair service for it, you can look in ebay for such repair services.

Example, look for seller ID Great_items_2004 or with the keywords "Shutter black S3".

Best regards,

call canon they will sell to you goto www.canon.com

I have a similar problem with my Canon S3 IS. Dark/black LCD in Shooting mode. However, I can view my existing photos in Display mode. I was about to spend money to get a Panasonic TZ5. Somehow I bumped into a solution post for S2 IS. Here is the link:

http://www.fixya.com/support/t1090569-black_screen

I tried their solutions twice and it WORKS. My S3 is working fine now.