Broken digital camera question

[Richard Rasker]

Hi all,

Doing some house cleaning, I just stumbled upon a broken digital camera of
ours (A Konica Minolta DImage Z2 -- we quite liked it). Some two years ago,
it was dropped from a height of 1 meter (3 ft) on a kitchen floor, and ever
since, it has produced images like this:
http://www.linetec.nl/unrel/broken_cam.jpg

I disassembled the camera twice, but couldn't find anything visibly wrong
with it whatsoever; and after reassembly, it still took pictures -- but
only these sort of over-exposed pictures with RGB-like coloured bands all
over.

Just out of curiosity, I wonder if anyone could tell me what the cause of
this is? As far as I can see, there are no broken PCB's or connections (in
fact, the camera shows no signs at all of even the slightest physical
damage).

Richard Rasker

 

[[email protected]]

Hi all,

Doing some house cleaning, I just stumbled upon a broken digital camera of
ours (A Konica Minolta DImage Z2 -- we quite liked it). Some two years ago,
it was dropped from a height of 1 meter (3 ft) on a kitchen floor, and ever
since, it has produced images like this:
http://www.linetec.nl/unrel/broken_cam.jpg

I disassembled the camera twice, but couldn't find anything visibly wrong
with it whatsoever; and after reassembly, it still took pictures -- but
only these sort of over-exposed pictures with RGB-like coloured bands all
over.

Just out of curiosity, I wonder if anyone could tell me what the cause of
this is? As far as I can see, there are no broken PCB's or connections (in
fact, the camera shows no signs at all of even the slightest physical
damage).

Richard Rasker

My first guess would be damage to the image sensor CCD.

John

 

[Mike S]

My first guess would be damage to the image sensor CCD.

John

Or maybe the optics and/or iris have been knocked out of place.

 

[William Sommerwerck]

My first guess would be damage to the image sensor CCD.

Or maybe the optics and/or iris have been knocked out of place.

What it looks like is that the RGB components have not been de-interleaved.
What would cause that is something I don't have an answer to.

 

[Jerry G.]

From going by experience, it looks like damage to the imager (CCD
unit).

This is not something you can fix yourself. I would think that the
parts and service may not be worth the cost. You will find out for
sure when you send the camera in for service.

Jerry G.

 

[Richard Rasker]

From going by experience, it looks like damage to the imager (CCD
unit).

This is not something you can fix yourself. I would think that the
parts and service may not be worth the cost. You will find out for
sure when you send the camera in for service.

OK, thanks, we already suspected it wouldn't be worthwhile -- and indeed
sending it in for repairs was already prohibitively expensive, when we
asked two years ago.
I just asked myself what could be the actual problem -- and I'm still
wondering how a relatively minor shock, i.e. without any visible damage,
can cause this damage to a CCD device.

Anyway, thanks again, also to the others who took the trouble to reply

Richard Rasker

 

[Adrian C]

Anyway, thanks again, also to the others who took the trouble to reply

Richard Rasker

You like the camera, why not try eBay for another?

In the UK they sell for between 20-30 pounds.

 

[Jeroni Paul]

I disassembled the camera twice, but couldn't find anything visibly wrong

with it whatsoever; and after reassembly, it still took pictures -- but
only these sort of over-exposed pictures with RGB-like coloured bands all
over.

The overexposure could be a mechanical damage. Some cameras have two
iris sizes and they switch with an electromagnet.

 

[Trevor Wilson]

OK, thanks, we already suspected it wouldn't be worthwhile -- and indeed
sending it in for repairs was already prohibitively expensive, when we
asked two years ago.
I just asked myself what could be the actual problem -- and I'm still
wondering how a relatively minor shock, i.e. without any visible damage,
can cause this damage to a CCD device.

**A one Metre drop is a "minor shock"? In which universe might that be?

 

[1D10T]

Probably have damaged the CCD. They are fairly acceptable to G force
damage.

How many G's do they except?

 

[Richard Rasker]

**A one Metre drop is a "minor shock"? In which universe might that be?

OK, a one metre drop can be quite devastating to fragile equipment -- and
it's not so much the height as the G forces upon impact, plus the mass of
components.

Yet to the tiny, leightweight electronics inside, this type of shock can be
considered "minor". I've been in the repair business for over 30 years now,
and I've seen my share of impact damage. At this sort of height, damage
typically consists of cracks in the housing, and (around bigger, heavier
components such as transformers) cracked PCB's. And I've always been able
to find traces of such damage -- but not here. There isn't any sign of
physical damage whatsoever -- not even a recognizable scratch on the
plastic housing -- and AFAICT, the mechanics are operating just fine as
well. So I wondered what else could be wrong.

Richard Rasker

 

[Richard Rasker]

You like the camera, why not try eBay for another?

In the UK they sell for between 20-30 pounds.

Good idea, I'll give that a try -- we have a Kodak EasyShare C875 right now,
but it's infuriating how fast it drains the two (rechargeable 2500mAh
high-quality) batteries: with luck, they last perhaps three dozen
snapshots -- and half that with flash. And the flash must always be
switched off manually (and starts charging the moment you switch on the
camera). And it immediately forgets its date/time settings upon a battery
change. And its optical zoom isn't as good as the KM's 10x ... And it
doesn't sit in the hand as snugly as the KM ...
OK, it has double the pixel count, but we're quite content with the 4mpx the
KM offers.

Richard Rasker

 

[Jimw]

Probably have damaged the CCD. They are fairly acceptable to G force
damage.

I know the CCD is the device that actually "sees" the image, but WHAT
IS IT? I have a fair knowledge of electronics, but I have never done
anything with digital cameras, except fix one that had a battery
contact problem.

Jim

 

[Trevor Wilson]

OK, a one metre drop can be quite devastating to fragile equipment -- and
it's not so much the height as the G forces upon impact, plus the mass of
components.

Yet to the tiny, leightweight electronics inside, this type of shock can
be
considered "minor". I've been in the repair business for over 30 years
now,
and I've seen my share of impact damage. At this sort of height, damage
typically consists of cracks in the housing, and (around bigger, heavier
components such as transformers) cracked PCB's. And I've always been able
to find traces of such damage -- but not here. There isn't any sign of
physical damage whatsoever -- not even a recognizable scratch on the
plastic housing -- and AFAICT, the mechanics are operating just fine as
well. So I wondered what else could be wrong.

**About a million years ago (technologically-speaking) I dropped a film
camera from a height of about 1 Metre. The damage to the optical system
(which still exists in digicams) was terminal.

 

[Mike S]

I know the CCD is the device that actually "sees" the image, but WHAT
IS IT? I have a fair knowledge of electronics, but I have never done
anything with digital cameras, except fix one that had a battery
contact problem.

Jim

It is an IC with a window on top. The lens focuses the image onto the
surface of the IC where the image is scanned and coverted to digital
information. To put it simply, the IC senses the color and brightness of
each pixel and converts that to a number. Put all those numbers back
together and you get an image.