My 2 year old Canon Power Shot 60 has been great but I've noticed over the last few months that colours are getting more and more weird. Greens are very intense and there are strange pink and magenta casts. I usually have it on Auto but fiddling with white balance etc. doesn't seem to help. So do the sensors/receptors or whatever gradually deteriorate? Is it time for a new camera? I'd be grateful for comments.

I know microchips can deteriorate over time, so I guess it stands to reason that the same could be true for the CCD in your camera?

I have a PowerShot S1 that's a few years old, and a little point-and-shoot camera that's older still, and neither of those have problems with colour representation like you're describing, I have to say. What's the zoom like on it? I posted on here about a year ago regarding distortion of the image at full telephoto:

Although I didn't think of it at the time, the photo was taken in Africa (obviously - not many leopards roaming wild in the UK!), and I think the relatively high ambient temperature / humidity may have had something to do with exacerbating the distortion beyond what I'm used to when I use the camera here at home...

Can't say I've ever noticed any distortion using the zoom. However I don't use the zoom much as I usually shoot at maximum resolution and crop later. The normal lens setting does produce a lot of bending on verticals but I think that's fairly normal on compact cameras.

On a digital camera you are most likely to get deterioration due to dust.

My 2 year old Canon Power Shot 60 has been great but I've noticed over the last few months that colours are getting more and more weird. Greens are very intense and there are strange pink and magenta casts. I usually have it on Auto but fiddling with white balance etc. doesn't seem to help. So do the sensors/receptors or whatever gradually deteriorate? Is it time for a new camera? I'd be grateful for comments.

Maybe because the light is so much stronger now than from a few months ago - do a lot of experimentation with your settings i.e. take quite a few pics under the same light conditions using different balance and exposure settings.

And, I wouldn't have expected the sensors/receptors to have degraded much at all over 2 years (my Fuji is over 4 years old, has been used for thousands of pics, and the pics are every bit as good as when I got it).

Also, I'm not sure if I've seen a firmware update somewhere for the Canons for the problem you mentioned - might be worth doing a search.

BTW Apogee - the purple fringing is just that i.e. commonly referred to as 'purple fringing' - to do with the zoom used, the quality of the optics and the coatings used on the lenses. Common on most long zoom cameras - there are programs and even Photoshop actions to remove purple fringing.

Just remembered but have a goggle as some brands had a problem with a degrading CCD/CMOS due to being a bad bath i believe.

BTW Apogee - the purple fringing is just that i.e. commonly referred to as 'purple fringing' - to do with the zoom used, the quality of the optics and the coatings used on the lenses. Common on most long zoom cameras - there are programs and even Photoshop actions to remove purple fringing.

I know! I was just wondering whether the warm, humid weather had made things any worse (condensation inside the camera, or whatever...) Just a thought...

I know! I was just wondering whether the warm, humid weather had made things any worse (condensation inside the camera, or whatever...) Just a thought...

Ouch - sorry.

D'ya mean this lovely warm humid weather here oop narth in Sunny Manchester :P

Ouch - sorry.

Sorry too - was grumpy enough to out-grump Mr Grumpy last night!!! I know you were just trying to be helpful...

D'ya mean this lovely warm humid weather here oop narth in Sunny Manchester :P

Tell me about it. Mind you, managed to get sunburn sat outside for all of an hour on Saturday - unfortunately I fear the whole of Summer was condensed into that single afternoon...

Sorry too - was grumpy enough to out-grump Mr Grumpy last night!!! I know you were just trying to be helpful...

Tell me about it. Mind you, managed to get sunburn sat outside for all of an hour on Saturday - unfortunately I fear the whole of Summer was condensed into that single afternoon...

Hey - no probs, was being playful

Yup, lovely wevver - for the ducks..

re Bertj's question : Long time since I messed but I believe you can fine tune the white balance by taking pictures of a slightly grey card (should be something on this in the handbook).

Also, when not in use make sure some silica gel satchets are placed with the camera to prevent moisture within the camera.

Purely for a technical analysis point of view, I'd say :wrthless:

I'm with Val though - I reckon it's chromatic abberation / fringing with the usage of the zoom lens. It could be that over time, the precision of the mechanics has dropped a bit, and the camera cannot compensate for this (if it did in the first place).

IMHO, digital cameras nowadays are getting so cheap for decent point and shoot ones that I'd get a newer camera.

Purely for a technical analysis point of view, I'd say :wrthless:

I'm with Val though - I reckon it's chromatic abberation / fringing with the usage of the zoom lens. It could be that over time, the precision of the mechanics has dropped a bit, and the camera cannot compensate for this (if it did in the first place).

IMHO, digital cameras nowadays are getting so cheap for decent point and shoot ones that I'd get a newer camera.

:iagree: Chromatic aberation is caused by the processor in the camera, not atmospheric conditions.

:iagree: Chromatic aberation is caused by the processor in the camera, not atmospheric conditions.

Being picky - but chromatic aberration is down to numerous things.

Quality of lens, their coatings, the amount of zoom used - and the inability of the processor to compensate for it.

Chromatic aberration or "color fringing" is caused by the camera lens not focusing different wavelengths of light onto the exact same focal plane (the focal length for different wavelengths is different) and/or by the lens magnifying different wavelengths differently. These types of chromatic aberration are referred to as "Longitudinal Chromatic Aberration" and "Lateral Chromatic Aberration" respectively and can occur concurrently. The amount of chromatic aberration depends on the dispersion of the glass.

Longitudinal or Axial Chromatic Aberration

Focal length varies with color wavelength Lateral or Transverse Chromatic Aberration

Magnification varies with color wavelength Chromatic aberration is visible as color fringing around contrasty edges and occurs more frequently around the edges of the image frame in wide angle shots.

Example of cyan and red fringingAchromatic / Apochromatic Doublets

Special lens systems (achromatic or apochromatic doublets) using two or more pieces of glass with different refractive indexes can reduce or eliminate this problem. However, not even these lens systems are completely perfect and still can lead to visible chromatic aberrations, especially at full wide angle.

"Purple Fringing" and Microlenses

Although the above chromatic aberrations can be purple in color under certain circumstances, "Purple Fringing" usually refers to a typical digital camera phenomenon that is caused by the microlenses. In simplified terms purple fringing is "chromatic aberration at microlens level". As a consequence, purple fringing is visible throughout the image frame, unlike normal chromatic aberration. Edges of contrasty subjects suffer most, especially if the light comes from behind them

Being picky - but chromatic aberration is down to numerous things.

Quality of lens, their coatings, the amount of zoom used - and the inability of the processor to compensate for it.

Chromatic aberration or "color fringing" is caused by the camera lens not focusing different wavelengths of light onto the exact same focal plane (the focal length for different wavelengths is different) and/or by the lens magnifying different wavelengths differently. These types of chromatic aberration are referred to as "Longitudinal Chromatic Aberration" and "Lateral Chromatic Aberration" respectively and can occur concurrently. The amount of chromatic aberration depends on the dispersion of the glass.

Longitudinal or Axial Chromatic Aberration

Focal length varies with color wavelength Lateral or Transverse Chromatic Aberration

Magnification varies with color wavelength Chromatic aberration is visible as color fringing around contrasty edges and occurs more frequently around the edges of the image frame in wide angle shots.

Example of cyan and red fringingAchromatic / Apochromatic Doublets

Special lens systems (achromatic or apochromatic doublets) using two or more pieces of glass with different refractive indexes can reduce or eliminate this problem. However, not even these lens systems are completely perfect and still can lead to visible chromatic aberrations, especially at full wide angle.

"Purple Fringing" and Microlenses

Although the above chromatic aberrations can be purple in color under certain circumstances, "Purple Fringing" usually refers to a typical digital camera phenomenon that is caused by the microlenses. In simplified terms purple fringing is "chromatic aberration at microlens level". As a consequence, purple fringing is visible throughout the image frame, unlike normal chromatic aberration. Edges of contrasty subjects suffer most, especially if the light comes from behind them

What he said.

Thanks for all the comments - it's not chromatic aberration, fringing etc. because all the colours are weird. For instance grass is a very intense blue/green; so much so that it's almost impossible to correct the colours in Photoshop. This is worse on sunless (i.e. Manchester) days. Also greys are usually a magenta and/or red colour. I'm fairly certain that the camera is faulty so I'll start looking for a replacement.

My digital camera's zoom lense needed tightening as it had worked loose.

Quite common apparently, so might be worth trying that first.

If the entire image area has colours which are way out, then it'll be a processing / electronic issue and not a mechanical one.

Do the pictures look OK when looking on the screen? Either way, if it's electronic, with the cost of the things nowadays, it'll most likely be cheaper to buy a new one than pay to have your existing one examined and repaired.