Vertical lines on my pictures?

[appleb]

I currently own a Canon Powershot SD970IS that is about 3 years old. Just recently my pictures have been turning out terrible, with vertical lines appearing on the image. Here are some examples:

http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y254/pj117/IMG_3484.jpg
http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y254/pj117/IMG_3486.jpg

The lines also show up on the lcd screen before I take the image. I tried auto/manual mode, also changing image resolution, but it still does the same thing. The lines appear in about 50% of my pictures.

I imagine I will need to get this fixed. Is this a lens issue or are the electronics getting faulty?

I did drop the camera twice... once about 3 months ago and again about a month ago... I am not sure if that is related or not.

[jbnc_]

doesn't look like the lens. Prob the sensor has some damaged connections :(

[ShadowVlican]

lines appear random too...

[spiralspirit]

try a different memory card as well.

[appleb]

try a different memory card as well.

I tried two different memory cards and it didn't make a difference.

[Reggie T]

Did you or someone attempt to clean the sensor of your camera? Those could be streaks or scratches on the sensor filter if they appear in the same place in all your pictures.

[appleb]

Did you or someone attempt to clean the sensor of your camera? Those could be streaks or scratches on the sensor filter if they appear in the same place in all your pictures.

No, I don't even know how to clean the sensor. The lines appear in random spots. Even when I take a video, the video can start off fine, then lines start appearing in the middle of the video and vanish by the end.

[drunag]

reminds me of the canon recall on faulty sensors from sony

http://forums.redflagdeals.com/canon-recall-a60-a70-a75-a300-a310-a40-a80-a85-s230-sd100-sd110-368982/

ur camera is much newer (that recall was from 2006) but most probably ur issue is with the sensor.

could have happened from the drops maybe?

time to go camera shopping lol :)

[thericyip]

Sensor is finished. Time to buy a new camera.

[appleb]

How much is a new sensor approximately?

I know these point & shoots are cheap enough to be disposable, but I actually like the features on this camera... 5x optical zoom, nice rubbery dial, and the lcd viewfinder is very good.

[thericyip]

The repair will cost as much as a new one.. IF Canon will even repair it.

[RCGA]

It's 3 years old, don't bother fixing it.

[WangChung]

This problem looks very similar to the recall a while back.
I got my old PowerShot A75 fixed for free even though it was out of warranty.

Maybe you should give it a try. It would seem very likely they will fix it for free.

[bhrm]

sensor is toast