Some popular brands of digital cameras announced that some of their products may contain a defective chip. Those chips, known as a charged-couple device or CCD were used in more than 50 models of digital cameras made by Canon, Fuji, Konica, Minolta, Nikon, Olympus, Ricoh and Sony. Representatives from those companies have confirmed that the chip is apt to fail in humid and hot environments.
A bad chip makes pictures look distorted, off color, or completely black. Anyhow most of the manufacturers have described the problem as "limited" and said that they will replace the chip for free if defective. Some other companies said they will repair defective cameras only if they fail. Otherwise, there will be no way for individuals who own a camera with the defective chip to recover their money, unless it fails. Moreover, companies cannot identify the timeframe when the cameras was sold.
Depending on the state you reside within the United States governmental laws will protect you if you are affected by this problem. In California for example selling defective products or giving out erroneous advertisement about them is taken as a serious civil offense.
Technological companies must be responsible about the products they sell because electronic items are usually quite expensive and consumers always try to choose the best. They can only rely on the little knowledge they may have about the topic and all the information given by the manufacturers. In the same way companies invest millions and millions of dollars advertising their products they must try to invest in quality tests that will reject any sort of mal-functioning products.
As a worried consumer that pays the amounts requested you can demand quality and responsibility in these negotiations. You have the right to file a legal claim.