Experiments With A Glitchy Powershot A80

Experiments With A Glitchy Powershot A80

I was watching a video on YouTube recently about a '$15 Camera [that] makes glitch art'.(https://youtu.be/APKFtOIaEfw?si=yz5x5AmQaT8fxHxH) According to the YouTuber @DigicamRevival, the Powershot A80 camera is prone to failure of the sensor, and he showed some really nice results from his A80. Well, nice if you like discoloured and really glitchy images — as I do. It turned out that Canon used a batch of Sony sensors in the A80 that were very prone to failure, and it reached the stage that they'd replace the sensor for free even if the camera was out of warranty. 

Anyhow, that got me wondering if there were still any available with the faulty sensor, so I headed first to that popular auction site. A quick search gave about 200 results for the Canon Powershot A80. I refined my search to include only Europe, and there were about 18 possibilities. I ignored the entries that were for fully functioning cameras, and this time looked for the 'for parts or not working' sales, which I would normally avoid. I found a camera from Germany that looked promising. The entry title didn't beat around the bush, 'Canon Powershot A80 4 MP incl. CF Memory Card - TURNS ON - READ DESCRIPTION' it said.

'I'm selling my Canon Powershot A80 from 2003/04', the seller posted. The asking price was 18€ (31€ including delivery), and according to the description, the 'camera turns on, the lens moves in and out & the display shows the menu correctly.' The seller continued, 'I think the lens has an error since it doesn't show correct/sharp image when shooting.' A couple of images were included, and these looked really promising, with a pink discolouration of the LCD screen and an almost pixel sorting corruption of the image. This was just what I was looking for, and I pressed ahead with ordering a glitchy Powershot A80. The camera also included a 128MB CompactFlash card and a set of batteries. The seller concluded the post with the ominous statement: 'Selling as malfunction.' Still, one man's malfunction is another man's glitch art, to paraphrase the old saying.

On its arrival, I was excited to see how the camera performed, and as soon as I turned it on, the screen started glitching with a pixel-sorting type streaking. I couldn't download the images at the time, but a screenshot of the LCD suggested that I might get some remarkable glitches. This morning, the skies cleared (mostly), and the sun came out (sometimes), and I took the opportunity for a walk around the block. I couldn't go to all of my regular haunts, so I concentrated on views that would show any streaking on the sensor to their best effect; trees, telegraph poles, and silhouettes. The results far exceeded my expectations. 

In most images, the colours of the images were reduced to shades of pink/purple and black. The streaked images on the LCD didn't quite reflect the final image, and I found the best technique was to pre-focus the image, by pressing the shutter halfway down, and then taking the image when the camera had finished focusing. I also left the camera on, instead of turning it off between visiting different locations, since the sensor appeared like it needed to 'warm up' a little and often the first couple of images were just black frames. I think this sensor is nearly gone.

Oddly enough, in the middle of my little walk, I took a few images that were completely 'normal'. Yes, they had a lot of contrast, and the colours were ultra vivid, but they looked ... OK. When taking photos with this camera, the review function is next to useless, as most of the images just look blank, and the camera 'play' mode doesn't seem to be working any more. It's almost like taking photos with an analogue camera in that I don't really know what images the camera has produced until I'm back home on the lap.

The 128MB compact flash card that came with the A80 has worked flawlessly, and I picked up a new CF reader as I couldn't find my existing reader. Although it was clear when I went out, rain is forecast for the next few days, so I doubt that I will be out with this wonderful glitchy camera for a while. Also, I'm not sure that this PowerShot A80 will last much longer, so as a backup I bought another, also from the 'Bay and for roughly the same price. This is showing a similar glitching, and all being well both will keep me happy for quite a while. 'The camera is in excellent condition, almost like new. Unfortunately, it is partially defective! It powers on but only displays a distorted purple image ...'.

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#ShittyDigital, Canon, #Digicam, #Powershot, #DigitalCamera, #Glitchy, #Abstract, #Glitch, #Sensor,