Buzz Foster
Second Unit
- Joined
- Jan 21, 1999
- Messages
- 450
- Real Name
- Steve
So, I was looking at a super-cheapie SD card camcorder/camera to toss in the saddlebag for weekend rides, when I remembered that I have a $100 Costco gift card from Christmas in my wallet. I checked out Costco.com and found the Cannon A620 for $214.99. Minus my gift card, it is about $35 more than the super-cheapie unit with full webcam quality I had been considering.
I checked the cnet.com reviews, and the editors like the A620 a lot. Not the newest camera on the block, but well made, takes good pictures, and is a good, solid value (according to the editors). Ok, I am pretty much sold at this point. User reviews were mostly even more positive, but the reviews were interspersed with a few references to "the dreaded E18 error".
Hmm.
So, I look this up on Google and find a number of people have apparently had the same problem. E18 is a code for faulty lens extension mechanism, I discover. It renders the camera useless, as it can no longer extend or retract the lens for zoom or focus. One website invites owners to list their cameras with E18 errors. The A620 came up 9 times, which is about in the middle of the pack.
I have to admit that I knew nothing of this E18 thing before I read a reference in the cnet user reviews. And the most documented episde of it that I could find involved someone who dropped their camera (not an A620). According to the author of the journal, the drop wasn't far, but the camera became unuseable afterward. "Far" is relative, I know...but I am looking for something to take in my saddlebag, and it needs to have minimal durability.
Consumer Reports loves the A620 as well. They named it the best compact digital last time they reviewed. And no mention of E18 there.
I am guessing that if there was a big problem with Cannon cameras, someone other than bloggers would be saying so.
Is there anything to this? Or should I go ahead and buy the A620?
I checked the cnet.com reviews, and the editors like the A620 a lot. Not the newest camera on the block, but well made, takes good pictures, and is a good, solid value (according to the editors). Ok, I am pretty much sold at this point. User reviews were mostly even more positive, but the reviews were interspersed with a few references to "the dreaded E18 error".
Hmm.
So, I look this up on Google and find a number of people have apparently had the same problem. E18 is a code for faulty lens extension mechanism, I discover. It renders the camera useless, as it can no longer extend or retract the lens for zoom or focus. One website invites owners to list their cameras with E18 errors. The A620 came up 9 times, which is about in the middle of the pack.
I have to admit that I knew nothing of this E18 thing before I read a reference in the cnet user reviews. And the most documented episde of it that I could find involved someone who dropped their camera (not an A620). According to the author of the journal, the drop wasn't far, but the camera became unuseable afterward. "Far" is relative, I know...but I am looking for something to take in my saddlebag, and it needs to have minimal durability.
Consumer Reports loves the A620 as well. They named it the best compact digital last time they reviewed. And no mention of E18 there.
I am guessing that if there was a big problem with Cannon cameras, someone other than bloggers would be saying so.
Is there anything to this? Or should I go ahead and buy the A620?