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shutter release not working S100

sandysorlien
Apprentice

Hello,

I am suddenly having problems with my S100. It will not take the picture when I press the shutter release. In case I had accidentally changed something, I did a Reset to Defaults. Then it worked, briefly, before returning to not working. It also would not let me change My Colors.  Everything else seems to be working fine.  Any ideas?

575 REPLIES 575

Yeah Canon won't care once your warrantee is over.

In my case, I sent my camera in 3 (THREE) times while it was under warrantee to fix the shutter issue.  The first time I sent it in they replaced the lens assembly.  It didn't fix it.  The second time I sent it in they returned it to me untouched, saying they could not duplicate the issue.  Argh.  I immediately sent it straight back and this time around they replaced the top frame assembly. But the issue still wasn't fixed.  Now my camera is out of warrantee and my camera is useless due to the shutter button only focusing but not actually taking pictures.

Thats awful ! If you still have all the documentation from sending it in you have a good case to present to the BBB in addition to the numerous other complaints in this thread.

Unfortunately I don't have the documentation papers of me sending it in.  However I did talk to customer service at Canon after my second return, and I remember they were able to see that I sent in my camera based on the serial number of my camera.

 

I don't think I'll be able to get help from the BBB because I don't have the documentation of warrantee work on hand (I doubt Canon will be forthcoming in sharing that).  Plus the warrantee on the camera expired for me around May 2014.  I was too peeved at the time and gave up on the camera and didn't think to utilize the BBB.

My shutter release has not been working for over a year. At first I occasionally missed a picture. I thought I probably had a setting wrong. Now the shutter will never release. No matter what mode or setting I have set. Very frustrating. Can you help?

Canon quoted me $160 to send it in and fix, so I ignored that.  Tried the fix suggested in this forum of removing just the (6) perimeter screws, then spraying some shots of Deoxit into where the shutter button contacts.  I sprayed (1) 1-sec burst followed by (2) more short bursts, all at least 30 sec.'s apart.  This was before 12/25/14.  Thus far, probably close to a thousand pictures later I have yet to encounter a delayed shutter release.  Seems to have worked.  You can find Deoxit on ebay and elsewhere around $10.  Good luck

...As a disclaimer, another forum contributor stated that Deoxit might only be a temporary fix, his shutter delay problem poked out it's ugly head again after several months. Time will tell if mine reappears. At that point I'll just spray it again since that's easy. If doesn't work, I might take out additional screws, pull out the innards, and physically swipe the contact areas w/ a cloth, reapply Deoxit Gold, etc.

$160 ? Canon was selling refurbished S100's a few weeks ago for $139 !

I thought that I should add my comment as I had this same shutter problem as well. Too often we forget the forum which helped us out, once our problem is gone. Here's my story to date:

 

I bought my S100 as early as I could in Jan 2012.  I love the thing!  However after 10,000 pictures it had the well-known lens problem.  I sent it back to Canon (Canada) and they said getting lens assemblies was slow at the time, so they destroyed my camera, revoked the serial number and included a brand new camera in the box (obviously less the battery, charger, strap and cord).  Fine service - and I certainly appreciated it!

 

Ten thousand pictures later and the new camera developed the bad shutter button.  It started to slow down, then quit entirely (same story I have read here a number of times).  I read the forum and decided I wouldn't try Canon service this time as the camera was nearly three years old. The Deoxit plan sounded plausible, so I headed out to a music store and spent $29 plus 14% tax on a can of Deoxit F5 for conductive plastic faders (slide volume controls on audio control boards).  I told the sales guy I only needed one drop of the stuff, but he showed me no mercy!

 

I carefully removed both case halves of the camera and sprayed Deoxit on the end of a jeweler's screwdriver. Next I pushed the white membrane on the top of the switch down with a lead pencil, while dropping in about one drop from the screwdriver.  It didn't look hopefull at first, but after I worked the membrane up and down a few times I noticed the liquid was pumping out at the base of the switch onto the flexible circuit board. Great! - I now knew it had penetrated both sections of the double switch.  I quickly soaked it up with a facial tissue until it stopped. Then I reassembled the camera.  I couldn't believe it worked perfectly right off!

 

That was on Dec. 12, 2014. Since then I have taken 1,300 shots. In the early days after the fix, there was occasional hesitancy and I feared it would soon fail again.  However this has not been the case and gradually it seems to be getting better and better with use.  At this point a month later I hardly ever experience a slow shutter response when pushing the button. I have had a lot of experience with cleaning delicate electrical contacts in my work and hobbies for more than fifty years.  My experience is that after cleaning, the component will either fail again soon - or go on "forever".  I try to use the S100 every day or two - I believe this helps - especially in the early days after cleaning.

 

This repair is not a job for anyone, but there lots of young people who are good with smartphone repairs who should be quite able to handle this job.  Oh yeah - some old guys like me can do it too!

 

However if anyone tries this they do it at their own risk...there are plenty of things that could go wrong. I am only telling my story and how it worked for me. I am not giving instructions or recomondations.

 

I am including a picture of the innards of the camera showing the shiny metal switch with the round hole on top revealing the white membrane where I applied the cleaner.

 

Thanks to this forum for helping me get my prized camera working again and best of luck to anyone who gives it a try.

 

John

 

3-PC052432.JPG

This tip fixed my shutter button which was not working except occasionally.  I bought some Deoxit and removed the 6 outer case screws.  Next I removed the front panel (be carefull of the thin ribbon attached), then squirted one blast of Deoxit at the shutter button contact (inside the case underneath the shutter button).  I did not remove the back of the case.  I put the front case back on without the screws, reinserted the battery (I remove it before working on the camera), and tested the shutter button.  It worked just like new!  

 

Great tip and fairly easy.  I used a Phillips PH00 screwdriver with magnetic end which helps a lot to replace the tiny screws back into the camera case.

 

Thanks and kudos to JohnRB!

 

Roger R

pliniohess
Apprentice

Different day, different person, same problem... Shutter release not working on my S100 camera. By the number of people complaining about the same problem, it's not just a occasional misshappen! Very disapointed with Canon, time to go for GOPro. Bye, bye Canon...

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