CANON POWERSHOT A95 WON'T PHYSICALLY ACCEPT COMPACT FLASH CARD

[offbohan]

I have a Canon Powershot A95. it's been working ok but I want to take 4-5 min. videos. it only had a 32 Mb Compact flash. So I bought a 2 Gb Compact Flash. When I first got it I mistakenly tried to insert it sideways. I didn't push too hard but obviously that didn't work. When I tried it correctly it wouldn't seat properly - also the original 32 mb won't seat fully now either. Both stop about 1/16 inch short of proper insertion. Tried several times never pushing too hard. I looked deep into the male pin area and I don't see any bent pins so what is keeping this from seating ? i do see a small steel pin in the area - wonder if there is some other trip mechanism that could release whatever is blocking it ???

Being mechanically inclined I wished to see better deep into the socket. I noticed several phillips screws holding the frame together.. I've removed 6 from the outside frame and one from just inside the Compact flash cover. But the frame is till held together by something. And what I am afraid of is that there are 27 finely placed springs which only a 10 year camera expert with specialty tools and all that experience could ever get back in there correctly. Any suggestions ?

[Tronhard]

Welcome to the forum.

Well,  you certainly have a bit of a museum piece there... 🤔  I am actually surprised that you could even try to insert the CD card sideways.  Given that the sides of the CF card don't have holes and won't engage with the reader slots, it is possible (although if you didn't use much force, unlikely) that you have pushed the whole pin array in by a small amount.

More likely, looking inside the CF card slot, about half-way along the slot on one long side (depends on how you view it), there is a metal shaped pin that curves up, along and down again.  This seems to be a device to indicate that the card is fully seated.  I would first check that this pin is not bent, or otherwise damaged. If it is the card will not be seated properly.

As to getting the card slot repaired.  Given this camera is vintage 2004, it is extremely unlikely you will get any repair shop to look at it, and if they did the cost of doing so would be way more than the camera is worth.

As to taking movies, the A95 is about as primitive as you can get, and according to the Canon Museum site the specs are: 

Movies

AVI (Image data: Motion JPEG; Audio data: WAVE (monaural))

Frankly, if you have any kind of modern cell phone, it will take better videos than the A95.

[offbohan]

Thanks

Tronhard for your tech info & personal advice on this relic.  I am not looking for money pit on this pwershot.  I'm looking at the various metal pins/bars in the area.  Any further suggestions on what is still holding the frame together ?  27 springs awaiting me ?  I see 2 screws @ hinge for batteries - don't know if they are the key leading to frame release or some deeper screws revealed if they actually allow the removal of some intermediate frame section ????   Unless you offer some hope, I've spent all the $$ I will on this adventure.   Back to SAmsung SL202 🙂  w/ bigger SD card .   And its rechargeable dedicated battery seems more reliable than recharging AA's ??

[Tronhard]

Personally, from what I can understand, the camera is not going to work in the current condition, is not worth repairing, and I am not inclined to disassemble my cameras. However, if that is your preference to tear it down to see what you can do: then frankly, you don't have a lot to lose! 😊   If the object of the exercise it to make videos, then I would move to an alternative like your Samsung.  As an exercise in exploring the inner workings for a camera, it may provide an interesting experience.

[Zachariah]

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@offbohan wrote: Optonline Email Login

I have a Canon Powershot A95. it's been working ok but I want to take 4-5 min. videos. it only had a 32 Mb Compact flash. So I bought a 2 Gb Compact Flash. When I first got it I mistakenly tried to insert it sideways. I didn't push too hard but obviously that didn't work. When I tried it correctly it wouldn't seat properly - also the original 32 mb won't seat fully now either. Both stop about 1/16 inch short of proper insertion. Tried several times never pushing too hard. I looked deep into the male pin area and I don't see any bent pins so what is keeping this from seating ? i do see a small steel pin in the area - wonder if there is some other trip mechanism that could release whatever is blocking it ???

Being mechanically inclined I wished to see better deep into the socket. I noticed several phillips screws holding the frame together.. I've removed 6 from the outside frame and one from just inside the Compact flash cover. But the frame is till held together by something. And what I am afraid of is that there are 27 finely placed springs which only a 10 year camera expert with specialty tools and all that experience could ever get back in there correctly. Any suggestions ?

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It sounds like your card is locked. You need to unlock it. On one of the sides you should see a piece that can move back and forth. Move it from the position it is now to the other side. This should unlock your card. When locked the files are unaccessible to anyone. This also means that files on the SD card cannot be deleted while the switch is in lock position. When the switch is in up-position, then all files located on the card are accessible to anyone, and that files may be deleted from the card.

[Tronhard]

If you read through the thread or even the title, you will discover that the A95 takes CF cards, and does not have a locking device like SD cards.  The camera is 18 years old.