Canon A70. Flash is not firing in auto or other modes. Camera turn off & report low battery charge.

Hi,

I have a Canon A70 and a year ago the flash stopped firing whenever required be it in auto mode or other modes (portrait, landscape, etc). Since the flash does not fire, the capture of image also does not work if flash is set on or required due to low light. Only without flash option I am able to use the camera�. Automatic flash or full flash mode camera is just not capturing the images!!

Canon fixed the CCD image sensor at the beginning of the problem� (I�m not sure if both problems could be related or not�).

Also, after some minutes, the camera turns off and report low battery charge. Thinking that low charge can explain the flash failure� I became a "pro" of NiMH batteries and chargers. I bought a smart charger (Lacrosse BC-900) and some new batteries (2600mah & eneloop) in order to solve the problem. Didn't work...

I tried to reset the camera according to the manual (restore the default settings). Didn't work at all....

I read carefully any discussion about similar problem reported and yet nobody gives any explanation for that (even if many people reported the same failure�). Firmware?, reset, new batteries and, simply, hit the camera (I'm not trying that one... come on!!!!), are the most common advices that you can read in this forum with relative success.

Some other/new advice other than send the camera to replace the flash�?
Does anybody know any trick to test if the flash is working...?

Your description seems to point to a damaged condenser that charge and fire the flash.
The damaged condenser can also cause current loss and early depletion of battery power.

As condensers can give you nasty shocks, no DIY cure or tests is recommended for this type of cases.
Get somebody in the know to do it , not necessarily Canon, and you would have your problem solved.

So far the batteries are not depleted of power after the camera turn off... (if you turn on the camera again... starts to work normally -except the flash) but after some minutes... shut off and “low battery charge” show up again & again & again...
I'm planning to bring the camera to canon for advice...
I will post the canon's answer (even if expensive...).
Be around...

Personally, I feel you should not pay Canon for an expensive answer, it's not worth it.
It should be a case of just pay for the repair of the flash or buy a new P&S instead.

I sent an e-mail to Canon Customer Service in Canada (customer_support@canada.canon.com) with the description that I did above...
They recommend me to send the camera to a “Service Facility” for inspection to their online access service (https://orderdesk.canon.ca/RepairOnline).

After a brief description of the problem and model of the camera... "immediately" I received a page with the estimate repair cost: $99 + applicable tax and shipping cost. The answer was too fast to be a "real" estimate for my problem. Undoubtedly... if you change the problem, and I did it!, the estimate is still $99 + tax & shipping cost... (probably I know now the real cost of my old A70...).

I will try to find another way, more reliable, to know what is the problem of my camera... (and the cost of the reparation... only!!!).

No harm asking for quotation but before agreeing to pay the asking price, do check the value of A70 in eBay. As on 14 Oct 08, there are 3 A70s for sale and bidding price are all below $50.

Using that as a benchmark, I wouldn't pay anything above $50 to repair your camera.