Uh oh…
When 
helloheather, nathan, and I spent part of the weekend at the Marriot, our Canon A80 did a strange thing. At high-ISO, when the camera was trying to "gain-up" the LCD to approximate the shot (as 99.9% of all digital cameras do) strange horizontal lines appeared in the images. At first I though it had something to do with the humidity/moisture from the pool-area getting into the camera body (as the body is partially open due to the camera being dropped 3 times).
The problem seemed to go away on its own by the next day which certainly seemed to indicate a moisture issue.
But it happened last night, and most certainly there were no pools around.
(click for a resized version of the original image)
In this example, the lines appear vertical because the camera was rotated 90 deg for the shot. I also used the "Equalize" feature of Photoshop to more clearly define the lines. For a copy of the original file click here: IMG_3619.JPG
The lines showed up intermittently in images last night and eventually disappeared. This morning the camera is presenting the lines in images, but again, only when the camera attempts to "gain-up" the LCD.
At this point the camera simply cannot be trusted for indoor photography which sucks because it's been our carry-everywhere camera for so long. I'll continue to use it for my photography walks during lunch but beyond that it would seem the A80 is not long for this world...
Because I'm a geek, here are some stats:
First photo: Dec 1, 2003
# of photos by Dec 1, 2004: 9545
# of photos by Dec 1, 2005: 17918
# of photos by Oct 21, 2006: 23490
We've more than gotten our moneys worth, that's for sure.
November 21st, 2006 - 12:18
You’ll have to let us know what point and shoot you use next. Debbie and I are thinking our Canon may need to replaced in the somewhat near future (read 1-2 years)
November 21st, 2006 - 14:59
Right now I’m still leaning towards a Canon P&S as a replacement when the A80 finally dies. The list goes something like this: A640, A540, SD700 IS, SD600 (not really in that order, that’s just how I remember them)
Both Fuji and Panasonic have come out with some very interesting point and shoots recently but with the Fuji I would be resigned to buying xD media which is slow and expensive. (Let’s ignore the $35 Fuji point and shoot I have for a moment.) And Panasonic can’t seem to deal with noise from high ISO without destroying detail, so I’m less than inclined to go that route either.
And I won’t buy Sony on principle.
For the money, Canon still seems to have the edge in performance and image quality. But things may indeed change in the the next couple of years.