A590IS - Dark band

Since this is my first post here I want to say hello, this site is really full of useful information. I have a problem with my Canon PowerShot A590IS , a dark band appears in the upper central region of the frame. It looks like this:

http://backup.cambridgeincolour.com/.../img0995f8.jpg

(f/8)

http://backup.cambridgeincolour.com/.../img0996f5.jpg

(f/5)

Has anyone any idea what could be the problem? I first noticed it after turning on my camera in daylight with apperture and shutter speed settings I had the night before resulting in an totally white overexposed image at the LCD for some moments, I am not sure if this could be related but I am mentioning it just in case. I have also tried to clean the lens with a microfiber cloth to no avail.

It looks like a hair on the sensor, if we're looking at the same thing (the black loop at the top of the frame)? Might be time to send it in? How old is the camera?

Yes I think we are talking about the same thing. I have highlighted it here for good measure:

http://backup.cambridgeincolour.com/...g0995f8hl2.jpg

I bought the camera back in August.

Hi beachcomber,

I made the pictures bigger, hope you don't mind - my eyes need all the help they can get :)

Is it possible to get an out of focus shot of the wall, or better still, say the sky?
The black line's focus shouldn't change and it should remove the unevenly lit surface.

I have to agree it does look like something inside on the sensor and given the date of purchase, I'd say it was a warranty issue.

However, I would definitely get a shot without a focused image, to prove the point before sending it in - I suggest this just in case it isn't visible by the time they get it (it could move while in transit) and if the give it back without investigating and then it returns after you get it back, you'll rightly be annoyed.

Any chance of a first name? ;)

Welcome to the CiC forums from ...

Beachcomber,

Do you have any other photos that have the same band? Also, what was the time of year this photograph was taken, temperature, etc.?

Thank you for your replies I appreciate it. My name is Kostas and I am writing from Greece :).

I have taken the above photos yesterday (it's winter here) and I first noticed this band on the 2nd of February, since then I have taken a few test photos (including those I posted) at room temperature. Yesterday night I shot some photos outside at what was probably a few degrees below zero (Celsius) and on returning home I noticed that the line was gone or at least I couldn't locate it. After taking some more test shots today it reappeared at the top left corner of the frame. This behavior seems to me consistent with what was said above about an object on the sensor. I have uploaded some of today's photos below:

http://i50.tinypic.com/10cvxaq.jpg

(f/8, auto focus, the band seems to have disappeared)

http://i47.tinypic.com/2mm9v2b.jpg

(f/8, manual focus at the minimum value allowed, it appears again, yes this is the sky :p)

http://i45.tinypic.com/2gwt638.jpg

(f/8, manual focus at infinity)

I took those in my room/from my window also and yesterday was the first time I noticed it moving/disappearing. By the way I have also had other issues with this camera specifically with malfunction of the low-battery indicator but it seems unrelated so I won't mention any details.

An easy way to check for objects on the sensor..................

Clean computor screen

Bring up a white layer in your editing program

Change color to sky blue

Turn off auto focus on camera

Set aperature to a high value (f/22)

Take picture of screen (hold camera a few inches away from screen), and move it around when it is exposing .(this will blur anything on the computor screen)

Download your photo and you will see everything on the sensor.

After looking again at the sky pictures above I have decided that they are not really helpful because of their low quality, so risking becoming too annoying and loading the thread too much I am posting some last photos of my wall I took yesterday where the band is a bit more visible although its still not good enough.

http://i50.tinypic.com/346xrop.jpg

(f/8)

http://i45.tinypic.com/e146m0.jpg

(f/8, out of focus)

Sorry for the awful photos and continuous posting.

Thanks Steve S, I did a quick trial of this but I can't locate the line again so will re-try next time I see it.