Another solution for S2IS with black screen!

I also have an S2IS wich turned to a black screen just after the one year warrantee run out. I searched all sites and forums for a solution. The best I could find was the idea of turning the wheel on top of the camera to TV and set the timing to 15 seconds by pressing the left button until it ends on 15". Then take a photo and wait about seven seconds before opening the battery compartment and closing it again. This caused the camera to reboot, but after doing it more than 100 times, it did not worked for me, although it worked for a lot of other people.

In South Africa all Canon products are repaired by Cameratek and according to them this camera does not have the same problem as the S1 with the CCD. As the camera was out of it's warrantee, I'll have to pay for all quotes and repairs. This costs could be more effectively spent on a new camera. I threw the camera in the cubboard, hoping that one day Canon will issue a statement that the S2 will also be repaired free of charge, like the problem with the S1. After more than a year I took it out this weekend and tried the abovementioned proposed solution again, but to no avail.

Some people on the forums suggested that the problem is a stuck iris. This give me the idea of warming the camera. I have put the camera on my car's dashboard, which was parked in the sun with a outside temperature of about 22 degrees celcius. After about an hour I took it out and put it on the washing machine which was busy with it's spinning cycle. I repeated the procedure of taking a photo on TV mode with the timing on 15 seconds and opening and closing the battery chamber. To my amusement it worked the first time. I supose the fact that all components inside the camera was warm and the vibrations on the washing machine turned the stuck component loose again. The colour returned to the screen, at first it was very bad quality photo's, but as the camera returned to normal temperature, the photo's became normal again.

At last it was working again. I will make sure to take at least every week photo's, because previously I only used it twice a year when on vacation. I supose not using it may have contributed to the problem. May be other people who also have the same problem can try it out. Just make sure that it don't get too hot, as some other components can be damaged. If it worked, please let us know.

I had the exact same problem with the S2 IS. I searched and found an easy solution that worked for me. Turn on the camera. While it is ON, open and close the battery compartment. I did not have to switch to TV. The key is, you must have your camera ON and then open the battery compartment. This worked on my first try after an agonizing hour of turning it off and on, re-setting stuff, etc., and missing my photo op. That said, I have been checking it every so often and noticed that I still have to open and shut the battery compartment every couple of pictures or every couple of times I go to use it. It's a pain, but it works. This is not a long term solution, but at least your photo op of the moment can be salvaged. I will be calling Canon for repair.

for DIY dismantling of S2 IS this might be helpful

http://sriramblox.blogspot.com/2008/01/canon-s2is-autopsy.html