Travel Photography - Canon S95 lettering rubbing off - anyone else?

I have a Canon S95 that I bought at the end of May. I took it on its first long trip and by the end, I noticed that the painted lettering on the top of the camera is rubbing off quite a bit. The ON/OFF is rubbing off a lot due to the button's use. The zoom toggle's lettering is also rubbing off. Whatever paint they used on the enamel finish is not durable on my camera.

Anyone else have this problem? I sent a email to Canon and they are requesting that I send my camera in. Wonder what they are going to do to fix it. I don't want some poor attempt to paint it back on.

Thanks for any thoughts/advice.

You are not alone, this review from Amazon (http://www.amazon.com/Canon-PowerShot-S95-Stabilized-3-0-Inch/product-reviews/B003ZSHNGS?pageNumber=2) for example

BAD PAINT: While build quality is good, the paint is quite poor. I stored the camera with my laptop in a bag and the paint rubbed off along the ring and on the corners. Looks field-tested, but the paint should not rub off this easily.

I had the infamous lens restart error with an S90. It was toast. I had to send it in and they had to fix it.

They have requested I send it into the VA service center. Wonder how they will fix the rubbed off paint.

I have the exact same problem. Lettering under the pop up flash "powershot s95" is peeling off. Quite a bummer for a €400 camera. However, I'm very happy with the image quality and it's fun to play with all the different setting, especially like to use the miniature film mode!! But yeah, I have the exact same problem with the letters peeling off and I'm using it for only two months now.

Weird, I just checked mine now and although I haven't used it extensively, I've had it since it came out and the lettering appears to be fine (knock on wood). I've used it during some pretty hot and humid weather too.

I still love all my old Canon cameras, but it seems like the new models have little cost cutting issues.

For example, did anyone notice how the new Canon cameras don't have the adjustable slider piece on the wrist straps.

What good is a wrist strap that you can't tighten around your wrist???

People on a photography board just suggested that I take the strap off my old camera or buy an aftermarket one.

All my old Canons had that little strap slider. I'd rather pay an extra dollar to Canon for that piece than $3-5 to an aftermarket company.

As for the paint, my old Canons (SD700, S5 & SD1000) all still have the lettering intact with minimal fading.

The cameras have seen tons of use over the years, so the paint job on your S95 might be another case of cost cutting. Sorry :(

So I'm thinking of "getting into" photography, as it is something that has always interested me. There are a lot of photography classes offered in Chicago, so I'm hoping to take one here in the next few months. In the meantime, I was considering purchasing the S95 as a "startup" camera. It looks like a perfect fit for me -- not as basic as a point & shoot, but with may of the options of an SLR. Besides this paint issue, are you happy with the S95 as a whole?

I love my S95. I bought it as an alternative to my DSLR - It slips into an evening bag perfectly. I haven't noticed the lettering rubbing off, but then again, I haven't really looked either.

I have an s90 and not had a problem. However, I DID have this same problem with an earlier Canon several years ago (I believe it was an S50). They had me send it to a Canon repair location and replaced the part that the paint was coming off of with a new part that was fine. I remember that a lot of other people had the same problem with that model.

So I'm thinking of "getting into" photography, as it is something that has always interested me. There are a lot of photography classes offered in Chicago, so I'm hoping to take one here in the next few months. In the meantime, I was considering purchasing the S95 as a "startup" camera. It looks like a perfect fit for me -- not as basic as a point & shoot, but with may of the options of an SLR. Besides this paint issue, are you happy with the S95 as a whole?

The S95 is a fantastic camera. With its automatic mode it is very easy to use, but it has enough depth and features to keep you learning for a long time to come. The image quality is top-notch for a small camera and the build quality apart from the reported paint issues is excellent (sturdy metal body). The zoom range is not huge (about 28 to 105 mm), but it is still very adequate.

Cheers,
T.

For example, did anyone notice how the new Canon cameras don't have the adjustable slider piece on the wrist straps.

What good is a wrist strap that you can't tighten around your wrist???

I found a Canon strap with a slider on eBay and bought it. I have one from an older S80 that I used until I got this one.

I complained directly to Canon about their cost-cutting on their top of the line compact.

Others have bought Nintendo Wii straps for it off of eBay.

I bought my S95 on Nov 2010, over more than 6k pics without any problem, even on EU Dec 2010 with -10ºC :D