S2 IS reading memory card locked when clearly all 5 of mine are not!

I don't have the black screen issue...yet. Mine is another...I purchased my S2 IS back in June of 2005 and in the last week, all 5 of my memory cards are now reading "card locked", when none of them are locked at all! One of them was "locked" this morning, then not this afternoon, only to lock again once I put it back in.

I called customer service, was very polite, and stated my problem. My issue is that Theresa tried to help me troubleshoot it, and tried to get me to format it which you can't do with a locked card. She was no better help than myself. So, I got the standard fare of "send it in and we estimate the repair at $127" - oh of course don't forget to remove everything and put it in 2 inches of bubble wrap and a box of peanuts...etc.

Has anyone else had this problem? You all seem to very helpful and knowledgeable on the black screen issue. I have been a loyal customer of Canon for 17 years now with first an EOS rebel in 1991 (film SLR), then an Elan 7 (film - broke this year and too much to repair, but I figured I had my S2 IS), and the S2 IS - plus a videocamera. I expected better...

Thanks for your help in advance!
Stephanie

Sorry! When I registered, I didn't understand the "points" thing - does anyone know how I can award more of the "initial 20" that I got for this question? I'd gladly give all 20 to learn the answer to this question!
Thanks!
Stephanie

Hi Andrew!
My cards are in the unlocked position - I even tried switching to locked and back. I thank you for the thought though, because if it were true, case would be solved. I do believe you are right though, it is most likely a camera problem. I just don't think it's worth the $127 to fix it, or Canon's idea of a "loyalty program" to give me a refurbished S3 IS, or was it S5 IS for $185. For 100 more, I could get a new S5 IS. My camera is 2 and 1/2 years old so it is well out of warranty. It's just that my Elan 7 (film) and my S2 IS have both quit on me within the last 5 months! You are telling me what I most suspect, that it is most likely a camera problem! I am going to call Canon and see, since locking memory cards and memory card errors seem to be quite a pattern for these cameras, if they will do better for me. I have been a loyal Canon user, but if I can't trust them to work more than 2 years, I need to switch to a more reliable company. It's too bad, because I had my eye on a smaller compact camera - the SD870 IS with only 4x optical zoom, but so small for my pocket. However, I like my 12x optical zoom on the S2 IS, that I would instead go with the SX100 IS with the 10x optical zoom, just a little bulkier. I may have to look at another camera brand to see if I can get what I want instead.

Thanks for the help!
Stephanie

Stephanie,

If you're looking for a different brand extended zoom camera that is a little less bulky, you might try the Panasonic TZ3. It has 10x (28-280mm equivalent) optical zoom and fits into the compact camera category. Other features included are a widescreen shooting mode, a much larger ISO setting range (100-3200), image stabilization, and its an 8.5MP resolution camera. It measures only 4.2" wide, 2.37" high, and 1.47" deep. This is much smaller than your S2 IS. It might be worth a look.

Andrew