Pictures are only noise, with horizontal band of gray

[Htromada]

Hi folks, I apologize if this has already been answered somewhere. I did look.

My problem is that my photos conist of what i can only describe as white/pink noise pcasssionally crossed horzonally by a band of gray. It doesn't seem to matter what setting I use. When I swtich to video, I get thin vertical lines of alternating black and white. My camera has not suffered any trauma and has not been in a dusty or otherwise hostile environment. When not in use, I keep it in a case. 

I have cleaned the lens and camera body contacts, used the camera to clean the sensor and have reformated my card.

Yesterday, my Canon 70D started displaying an error message and then died. Alas, I did not make note of any identifying numbers because I assumed it was a problem with the pop-up flash. In the past, I have had a problem with it hiting the bill of my cap. The camera died just as these problems started happening.  I assumed the battery was the issue. I charged the battery this morning and it fired right up. Everything otherwise seems to work fine.

I do not have another lens to test mine, but I can clearly see the image I am trying to take through the view finder and the lens seems to be communicating its settings accurately to the camera display. 

I suppose I will have to send my camera in to be repaired, but wanted to check first with knowledgle people to make sure there isn't a simple fix. Thank you for any help you can provide. I have tried to include a photo. If successful, it will apear below. It apears to be much more pink than what I see on the camera, if that matters at all.

 

[Htromada]

Yep, I sure will post what I hear back from Canon. I have another question for the group: If I do repair my camera, will it still have this vulnerability? In particular, I’m concerned about not being able to shoot video without overheating.

[Hes2ire]

I guess that would depend on whether Canon have replaced the component with a better and more robust one that will be more resistant to heat. They must obviously know about this as there have been numerous complaints about it. One does not go and spend the kind of money this camera costs and expect it to break down within such a short time. I too bought the camera for the video quality which is great but it still needs rectifying at the manufacturing level. Consumer wise this is unacceptable

[Htromada]

OK, just heard back from Canon. As you folks suspected, it estimates $454 to repair my camera, about half for labor and half for parts. "At this time the PCB ASS'Y, MAIN W/LI BATT will need to be replaced." 

I have been doing some reading and have learned that Canon Brazil is fixing this problem for free, but not Canon USA. There is some indication that the repair will be more robust than the original, but nothing official on this from Canon. Some people are getting the repair done for less from third-party repair shops, but no indication if this is working out for them. I doubt it will.

There are Facebook pages dedicated to protesting Canon's refusal to issue a recall on this camera. I am shocked and saddened to learn just how many photographers have my exact problem. I switched from Nikon to Canon in large part because the interface was much more intuitive and I have not regretted that decision until now. I love my Canon but how can I trust a company that won't stand by its product? The answer, of course, is that I cannot. 

I have no idea what I will do now. I am about to start a video interview project that has emptied my wallet, so shelling out more than $400 to get a camera that may fail on me at any time is really not an option. Well, I'll find a way, of course. But first, I am going to spend some time giving Canon hell and I suggest others with this problem do as well. I guess there is an outside chance it will do the right thing. 

If anyone is interested, this forum has an informative thread on this topic. Just search for 'Canon 70D died." It started August 2015 and has 132 replies, last time I checked.

Thank you to everyone who replied to my question. This is a great forum and I really appreciate it.

I’m going to try and attach the estimate I got from Canon.  

[Htromada]

I thought I posted this earlier, but I guess not. So, here goes: 

OK, just heard back from Canon. As you folks suspected, it estimates $454 to repair my camera, about half for labor and half for parts. "At this time the PCB ASS'Y, MAIN W/LI BATT will need to be replaced." 

I have been doing some reading and have learned that Canon Brazil is fixing this problem for free, but not Canon USA. There is some indication that the repair will be more robust than the original, but nothing official on this from Canon. Some people are getting the repair done for less from third-party repair shops, but no indication if this is working out for them. I doubt it will.

There are Facebook pages dedicated to protesting Canon's refusal to issue a recall on this camera. I am shocked and saddened to learn just how many photographers have my exact problem. I switched from Nikon to Canon in large part because the interface was much more intuitive and I have not regretted that decision until now. I love my Canon but how can I trust a company that won't stand by its product? The answer, of course, is that I cannot. 

I have no idea what I will do now. I am about to start a video interview project that has emptied my wallet, so shelling out more than $400 to get a camera that may fail on me at any time is really not an option. Well, I'll find a way, of course. But first, I am going to spend some time complaining to Canon and I suggest others with this problem do as well. Perhaps it will do the right thing.

If anyone is interested, this forum has an informative thread on this topic. Just search for 'Canon 70D died." It has 132 replies, last time I checked. 

Thank you to everyone who replied to my question. I really appreciate it. I’m going to try and attach the estimate I got from Canon.  

[Hes2ire]

That is absolutely criminal.They should be taking responsibility for the fact that it is a design flaw, as mine has exactly the same problem as do many other peoples.Why are they saying that when they got it wouldn't turn on.That probably wasn't the case when you sent it in or was it. Mine has no problem turning on i,t just won't take a **bleep** picture. I bought mine in 2014 summer and paid 1300.00 euros for a package deal. It was so new at the time there were no reviews on it.

[Htromada]

My battery cover has a broken prong. It wasn’t a problem for me because I use a battery grip that screws into the bottom of my camera with the cover removed. And, yes, I’ve only had Canon batteries in my camera.

[Hes2ire]

My wife has been scouring the internet and has found out that this is a world wide problem.But good old Canon are just fluffing it off as normal camera wear and tear or anything else they can come up with except the truth they've created a flawed camera and will accept no responsibilty for doing so.People who live in warmer climates are having the biggest problems--Spain Portugal,Argentina,Brazil etc etc because of the heat.

[Htromada]

It is a worldwide problem, but apparently only in enough numbers — so far — to warrant action by Canon in Brazil. I am going to raise the issue with them in a variety of ways: on Twitter, Facebook, in the comment field of every Canon 70D review I can find and in emails and letters to the company. I suggest you and others with this problem do, as well.

[Htromada]

Update: I eventually coughed up the $450-some to repair my camera. It arrives Thursday. My plan is to shoot the hell out of it during its 6-month warranty. I won’t abuse it, but I won’t let it sit idle, either. If it bricks again, I will get Canon to fix it. If it holds up, I will feel better about staying with Canon.

Lessons learned:
I will buy extended warranties for complex devices like cameras from now on. There is too much that can go wrong, no matter what platform you pick.

Canon support folks are super nice and well prepared to answer technical questions. If they don’t know the answer, they try to find someone who does. However, they somehow had no information about Canon Brazil fixing my problem for free.

The 70D is not robust enough for serious video work of any length. For that, you have to pay a lot more.

Canon is not your friend. No matter how outrageous your problem is, it will not back its products unless a significant — by Canon’s standards— number of people have the same problem.

[Waddizzle]

I have yet to hear someone complain of a camera failure after a repair for similar issues.   I suspect that they may have a redesigned main PCB.