Powershot A640 - pictures are too dark?

Meltem · Feb 26, 2015

Hello everyone! I really need some help from canon power shot experts (or just a general camera pro).

I bought my A640 7+ years ago. Used it very gently. Then I switched to an SLR camera for special events, and started using my smartphone for casual photos. Haven't used my canon camera for 6 years. So the a640 camera was used for a max of two years with no body damage or any other user damage. We don't go out much, thus a perfect used condition camera

I'm moving abroad so I was selling every bit of extra items in my house, including A640. I tested the camera, took a few pics with different settings. Everything looked great. Listed it on amazon. Someone bought it.

Well, he is now asking for a full refund plus shipping because he claims its defective. He says "the pictures turn out dark on low light setting even flash doesn't help it"

I didnt have this problem before I listed it. I'm not an expert, so I need your opinion on this.

1. He confirms the flash works. He doesn't say the picture is completely black, he just says too dark. I'm thinking it could be his expectations are too high. Low light photos are always tricky, and maybe he expects too much from a 7+ years old camera. Am I too unreasonable to think this?

2. I'm considering asking him to send me a sample photo, but of course he can cheat. Is there a way to take a picture with the camera settings visible on the picture? Is there any other way I can make sure the sample photo is genuinely taken the way he describes? This might be a really dumb question but I'm just curious if there is anything I'm not aware of. I just want some proof that the camera is indeed defective

3. Is there a known defect that could cause dark photos regardless of camera settings? What kind of a defect would that be? Can it happen during shipping?

I asked him to play with the settings for low light photos, but he didn't respond to me directly, instead he contacted Amazon customer service and told them the same thing "pictures come out dark under low light settings"

I sold this camera (with sd card, batteries, cd, cables) for $65 and paid $10 for shipping. After Amazon fees, I made about $50. So if I refund him, I'm out that $10 shipping cost plus a return label for him to return the item back.

and I have already flown out of the country so really no easy way of dealing with the returned package but that's a whole another story that's not related to my questions

if anyone can can help me asap (because I need to resolve this with Amazon.com) I'd really really appreciate it.

Tinderbox (UK) · Feb 26, 2015

Is there a coin cell battery for memory backup in the AA battery bay my A590 has one under a small grey cover, if so remove and hold the camera power button to discharge any residual power and them put the battery`s back in and try the camera.

John.

waday · Feb 26, 2015

Do ALL pictures come out dark or just the low light pictures? It would be interesting to see what the person considers "too dark".

Meltem · Feb 26, 2015

Just the lowlight pictures. That's what he says. That's why I think it's either some camera setting, or his expectations, or the room is too dark to begin with.

Is there such a defect that causes dark pictures(darker than acceptable) under low light, but just normal looking pictures under bright/normal light settings? Don't know too much about how cameras work - just applying my logic in it

Meltem · Feb 26, 2015

So coin cell battery could be related to this? The camera is not with me, so I can't look but I'm trying to search online. So far I couldn't find where that battery could be located?

spiralout462 · Feb 26, 2015

I would feel like telling him to turn some lights on! I feel for you.

TCampbell · Feb 26, 2015

The built-in flash in a typical camera is good for maybe a 10' distance.... 15' on a really good day. Light suffers from a physics problem called "fall off" and it's all based on the "inverse square law" (you can look that up). So... if you have poor light and you use flash, depending on the nature of the shot, a near subject may be adequately lit (or even too bright) and a more distant subject might be much too dark. That's a physics problem.... not a camera problem. But the built-in flash from any camera is somewhat limited on distance (which is why serious photographers might use external flashes that are significantly more powerful and they may use more than one flash.)

The A640 maxes out at ISO 800. Point & shoot cameras usually don't have very good low light performance (except for the 'advanced point & shoot' category but those cameras can cost near as much or even slightly more as an entry level DSLR.) A modern DSLR might be able to deal with ISO 12,800 or even 25,600. So it's important to have expectations aligned accordingly... a camera that maxes out at ISO 800 will have a lot of image "noise" at ISO 800. It'll probably still have a bit of noise at ISO 400 too. It'll look pretty good at ISO 100, and probably also ISO 200. But those low ISO's are not very good in low light.

In other words... the camera is probably not the problem. The expectations that a 7 year old camera that maxes out at such a low ISO and has a very weak built-in flash (even though it probably works perfectly) will take images that compete with a modern high end camera is more likely the problem.

Meltem · Feb 27, 2015

Thanks for the great information! This helps a lot and confirms what I thought. I had contacted the buyer and advised on some settings and told him I'd be happy to refund him if he kept experiencing the same problem.

But...in the meantime, Amazon.com customer service decided to grant him full refund NOT because of the buyers claim, but because according to them I misclassified the item when I listed it for sale.

The camera has a very minor scratch at the bottom - either happened due to installing on tripod or I might have even purchased it that way originally. It's hard to notice. But I was being nice and honest, and I added this detail in my description of the item just so the potential buyer know about it in advance.

I classified it as "used-very good". Amazon.com describes this category as "great working condition. Undamaged, unmarked, shows limited signs of wear"
I thought that minor scratch falls under "limited signs of wear". Because besides that, there is absolutely no sign of wear - not even that corrosion that happens where you always hold the camera with your fingers.

Anyway, apparently that was a misclassification. It has nothing to do with the buyers claim, yet Amazon issued a refund to him. What's worse is now they don't even help with the return process. So the buyer might not even ship it back because he got his money back already. Amazon.com says he isn't obligated to send it back because it was my mistake. Totally frustrated with this process.

I will never ever sell anything on Amazon.com. Thank you everyone for your responses though. You guys are great.

astroNikon · Feb 27, 2015

Wow, I've never used Amazon to sell anything but I think I'll stick with eBay.

I bought some photo umbrellas on Amazon both from Amazon and direct from the vendor. One was received clearly used and ripped. I had to send them back before I got my refund. And the other had oil stains which I also had to return. I finally got a good one but I wasn't able to keep anything extra.