FUJI S2 Failure Database Closed

What a ride...

On Sunday, November 21, 2004, The FUJI S2 failure database was created. My S2 had failed the previous July when this problem was still rare and virtually unknown. So unknown at the time that it was difficult at best to find any real answers. My original post can be found here. I felt so alone. :-)

As time passed, more and more users on dpreview.com began complaining about this strange problem where their S2 was producing totally black images. Sometimes the problem began as brilliant green and purple streaks in images before finally succumbing to the mysterious "CCD Black Death". I hoped that allowing others to list their cameras here might help identify the defect (if there actually were one). At the time I honestly felt it was mere coincidence, a handful out of thousands of cameras where QC took the day off early. Who knew what was to come....

It's now two years and over 300 S2s later. Thousands of cameras were eventually affected. Major announcements & recalls were eventually released by many camera manufacturers. The problem seems to have subsided for the most part and newer releases of cameras have not yet exhibited the defect. Time will tell of course but the S3 has already been out about as long as the S2 before it began failing and the new S5 is just around the corner. Hopefully this will be a thing of the past.

In lieu of this I have finally decided to officially take down the infamous S2 Failure Database. The original list can still be downloaded here as a .CSV file. I recommend using it if you suddenly have this problem as FUJI has been honoring most out-of-warranty requests and replacing the CCD free of charge. It has helped others in the past and it will remain for those who may need it. I will continue to make this available for as long as possible. If another defect creeps its way into our lives in the near future I will certainly place the database back online for all concerned. In the meantime... Happy shooting!

Best regards-

Kary Wall (aka. Karbo)


http://karywall.com

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