I have a Canon Powershot S2 IS, which is really quite wonderful. Except for the fact that the image stabilizer works only sporadically. It used to work fine, but now it always picks the worst times not to work. The camera shake indicator light flashes red and I have to take a bunch of photos and hope one doesn't turn out blurry. Some turn out to be quite artistically blurred, but that's not what I want. I want clear photos. I'm not sure what happened to it, though I'm sure it's taken its share of knocks.

So, I'm wondering if anyone has any idea what could be wrong, how to fix, how much it would cost, maybe I'm just a total idiot and need to change a setting, I don't know. Just hoping someone might have some advice.

Thanks!

The image stabilization will not fix all shaking. It only stabilizes to the point where you can shoot a couple stops slower than normally possible.

Usually the shake light comes on when you're in a low-light situation, not because you're shaking. Think of it as a warning light that tells you if you handhold for this shot as is, you'll get a slightly blurry image. Either fix the lighting, up the ISO, or find something solid to rest the camera on (the warning will still show in this last case.. because again, it's the camera settings and not the physical shake that triggers the light).

That's interesting, Genaro. I had no idea that it could mean anything other than the camera was shaking. But it hasn't always been this way- when I first got it, it really didn't do that. Recently, it has. Do you think I could have done something to the camera (like banged it around too much, oops) that would cause this to happen? Or should I just fiddle with ISO, etc? Because this happens when it's on Automatic, which is even more confusing. Thanks for your advice!