Canon T2i LCD lava lamp screen problem

I’ve had my Canon T2i dslr for just over two weeks, and I’ve been absolutely blown away by the video it shoots. However, I picked up the camera yesterday and noticed some strange, lava lamp-like formations on the LCD screen. At first I thought it was actually recording them, but I soon realized that they are only affecting the display, not recording to video. Clearly, the LCD pixels have been damaged or corrupted somehow.

Anyone ever seen anything like this before? Googling “damaged pixels” doesn’t show anything like this, though. I’ve taken good care of the camera, and I’ve got a Zacuto Z-Finder attached to it all the time, so I can’t imagine how anything might have damaged the LCD directly by striking it.

I’m already so in love with this camera that I can hardly bear the thought of sending it to Canon for repair.

6 thoughts on “Canon T2i LCD lava lamp screen problem

  1. Kort Duce

    That really stinks. Sorry to hear that Dan. I am still waiting for Nikon to release a camera that captures 1080 HD video. Rumor has it that in August 2010 Nikon will release a camera that is full frame, 18 MP, and shoots 1080 HD video. I can’t wait.

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  2. Kort Duce

    I hear you. All my Nikon glass is new and they do not have manual control of the aperture. They have taken that out of their new lenses. Crazy. So I literally have to wait until Nikon releases a camera that will shoot 1080 HD video. The company I work for wants all 1080 HD video recorded, not 720 like the Nikon D3S records. Damn. Where did you purchase your Canon T2i? Have you tried returning it to them?

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  3. Dan

    I got hooked into filmmaking with a Flipcam, making silly stuff like this. Most of this year’s Oscar nominated film Burma VJ was shot on cameras like this. And while I love using the nice glass, I seriously think the camera doesn’t matter that much. One of my local sources of creative inspiration is the work of fellow Seattleite Matthew Brown, who does incredible work on his Canon HV30, a consumer camcorder.

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  4. Martin

    I know this post is old and you might not be interested anymore but I damaged my 1st 5d ii like this 3 years ago. The clue is you said you had the viewfinder attached all the time; I had my viewfinder attached out in a the bright noon sun. The magnifier focused the sun on the LCD and burnt a couple of spots on it permanently. Luckily Canon was gracious to fix it under warranty but it taught me a lesson. I always take the viewfinder off when I’m walking around these days. Anyway, that’s my story.

    Reply
    1. Dan McComb

      Thanks Martin. After all this time an answer that makes sense to me. I’ve heard how fragile LCD screens can be when light is focused on them, but it never occurred to me that this might be what happened. I was indeed regularly shooting with a Zacuto Zfinder at the time, so it’s highly probable this is what happened to my camera.

      I recently purchased a Alphatron EVF, which is quite a thing of beauty. Among is many design details is an aperture that can be closed on the eyepiece to prevent this from happening. I’ll be sure to use it.

      Reply

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