Does the S2 have a different image sensor than the sensor used in the S1?

My S2 IS just had a similar failure to those described in this list (lost viewfinder image, only icons visible). Default reset didn't help. Repair center wants $119 to fix. I finally got an operations supervisor who told me that the S2 has a different sensor than the sensor used in the S1, but wouldn't give me any details about vendor, package type, or sensor failure mode. He said the failure diagnosis for my S2 was different from the failure covered in the Canon CCD sensor advisory, but wouldn't give me any details about that difference. I asked the supervisor to return my S2 while I do a little more research. Any suggestions are welcome. P.S. Many thanks, especially to Diane G., for all the info submitted so far.

Did you purchase the camera using your credit card? Often credit card companies offer a an extended warranty as a benefit of being a card holder.

Unfortunately, putting $119 into an S2is is a painful proposition given the alternative pain of putting $119 into a new S5is or other desirable new digital camera. Lots of improvement has occurred since April 2005 when your camera was released. It may be time for the new camera you have had fleeting thoughts about.
Larry

Thanks for the suggestions, James and Larry. James, unfortunately my credit card doesn't offer that extended warranty protection. Larry, I agree that the idea of sinking another $120 into a camera which may just have the same failure in another 18 months is not very attractive. After all the baloney I got from the Canon operations supervisor, I'm more inclined to try a Nikon SLR. In the meantime, I'd appreciate any info I can get from anyone about reliability problems with digital cameras in general, as some reports I've read indicate that image sensor failures have been widespread across many manufacturers and models.

According to "a popular consumer magazine" indeed among the main players they are generally statistically even and run 5-10% repair rates over 3-5 years of ownership. You can say that's not too bad percentage wise OR you can say that amounts to millions of people every year! Since almost all manufacturers buy their CCD's from someone else (i.e. they don't manufacture CCD's for their own cameras) the CCD problem can explode at any year across several camera brands. Price wise the point and shoot market is VERY competitive and had eaten up some very old names such as Minolta and Konica as well as Afga and others. Since Canon has the largest market share that means they have the most money for research whether they spend it on that or not is up to them. Any company who think about doing something different than the mainstream and becoming a niche manufacturer has to be willing to risk everything by doing so. So far it has been a pixel race but that has really run its course UNLESS they start making larger CCD's which is the next logical step and would be a step toward solving the low light problems with non-SLR's in general. My personal take on it is that Nikon has decided that point and shoot is not where they are putting their R & D money. Nikon is an SLR company IMHO. Canon is the leader in P&S's and Nikon will be a follower. IMHO-despite occasional blips and blurps, Canon still has the best overall reputation in P&S cameras and gets my dollars for now.
Larry

And it did. The CCDs in question were provided by SONY and they affected Canon, Nikon and Sony products!

James and Larry,

Thanks for the background info. I'm in discussions now with some Canon people about the failure in my S2. The claims by one of those people that 1) the S2 has a different image sensor than the sensor used in the S1, and 2) that the failure in my S2 is different from the image sensor failure covered in the Canon CCD sensor advisory are important factors in determining whether my camera merits a repair covered under that advisory. If you or anyone else has any knowledge of the validity of that first claim, any info related to that claim would be very useful to me as these discussions proceed.

I appreciate your assistance. Info from other camera owners is often the best way to resolve problems like this one.

Thanks, Larry.

You can find a discussion going here, including a user who got an S5 from Canon as a replacement.

There's also a rather lengthy our own discussion on the S2 which mentions the censor issue.

Thanks, James.

I had a copy of the 2nd link discussion, but not the first link discussion. The first one is encouraging to me, because I'm assuming that the failure-prone image sensors had been flushed out of the supply chains by the time the Canon S5 went into production.

I think that's pretty spot on. Canon has enough faith in the S5 to use it as a "make good" for lesser more problematic models. That speaks to me as well.

Though, the S5 is not failure free... After 5 months I've just had my sent in for repair for a sensor failure. (covered by an extended warranty I got because of all the E18 issues w/ my S2)