Kyocera: CCD problems for three digicams
By
Mike Tomkins
(Monday, February 5, 2007 - 13:38 EST)
Japan's Kyocera Corp. has announced that a further three of its digital camera models may suffer CCD image sensor failures, similar to those reported on four of its models in late 2005.
Kyocera sold digital cameras from 1996 under the Contax, Kyocera and Yashica brandnames. The company's products spanned the range from basic entry-level models right the way up to groundbreaking products such as the world's first full-frame DSLR, but by early 2005 competitive pressures saw Kyocera withdraw all of its brandnames from the digicam market. The bulk of Kyocera's business is now in the IT and telecomms areas, as well as in electronic components and devices, semiconductors, ceramics and optics.
In late 2005, Kyocera announced that four of its digital camera models could suffer from failure of the CCD image sensor, with symptoms such as images that either showed no picture at all, or showed extreme distortion and severe purple or green color casts. Affected cameras included the Kyocera Finecam S3L, Kyocera Finecam S5, Kyocera Finecam S5R and Contax TVs Digital models. Kyocera stated that in cases where the CCD was found to have failed in one of these models, it would repair the problem free of charge for a period of up to five years after production of the specific model was halted.
Two years later, and Kyocera has added a further three models to the list. The Kyocera Finecam M400R, Kyocera Finecam M410R, and Kyocera Finecam SL400R - all models which were discontinued when the company exited the digicam market in March 2005 - can apparently suffer from similar problems, which tend to occur most often in humid environments. As with the earlier announcement, Kyocera is extending the warranty on these cameras to cover CCD failures through to March 2010.
At this time, both announcements only seem to cover the Japanese domestic market. We've yet to see any announcement from Kyocera in other markets, and would advise customers who have experienced the problem to contact their local Kyocera office to ascertain whether their camera may be covered under warranty. For customers in Japan, instructions on how to seek repair of the covered digicams can be found in the Japanese-language service advisory.
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