Not happy!!

The shutter on my 1DmkII failed halfway through one of the stages at the WRC in Ireland over the weekend - one minute it's working fine, then it's black diagonal stripes across half the frame. Flip up the mirror and I can see one of the shutter curtains is bent and another is sitting at a jaunty angle :mad:

Can anyone recommend somewhere to get it fixed?

Is it worth trying to get some sort of goodwill gesture out of Canon, on the grounds that it's only done about 30k frames and it's meant to last over 200k? Looking around on the net, it seems that premature shutter failures aren't uncommon on that model :(

Andy.

Sorry to hear the problems Andy,

I would ask about an out of warranty repair.

Fixationuk.com are approved Canon repair agents.

Darren

Just called Fixation - £339.25 :eek:

I can buy a new 400D for that!! *sob*

Andy,

I'd give Canon a ring and suggest that 30k clicks on a (100k? 200k?) rated shutter is really not on and ask for some form of contribution to the cost.

How about A. J. Johnstone (http://www.ajjohnstone.co.uk)

There is another really big one (I've bought spares from them before) but I can't remember the name. When I find the invoice I'll let you know.

Darren

Lehmann in Stoke on Trent?

or Colchester Camera Repairs?

Sorry to hear about that Andy :( I was looking forward to seeing your photos from the rally :(

Don't worry, I have pictures :D

I had my Ixus 800 with me, which turned in some surprisingly good results, and a friend on the trip very kindly lent me his 30D for a few days.

I'll get the photos posted up in a day or two, but sadly the viewing wasn't that great so I don't have anything very spectacular to share. The Tempest rally was much better IMHO :(

Lehmann is who I was thinking of. Thanks Pumpkin.
Darren

Andy, straight to Canons regional repair centre Borehamwood Elstree.
The best by far may even quote you over the phone.
Dropped my 580ex at rally Ireland broke the hotshoe. sent last Friday back today £72 all in.
Dropped my 16-35 as well ( pattern forming here ) bent the mounting ring.
new mount etc £159 that includes a £16, 999 repair to get it back quick.
it was sent with the flash but got the quote to fix it at the start of the week so hoping it will be here by the weekend or early next week.

John

Thanks for the tip; I've actually sent it to Colchester Camera Repair who quoted me about £40 less than Fixation. Seems that putting a new shutter in a 1D is an alarmingly routine operation :(

Just had a call from the lab - the f**king shutter has warped and put a scratch in the sensor too.

£800 + VAT :eek::cry:

Full credit to Colchester's, they're going to reassemble the camera and let me try it out first to see how noticeable the scratch is, so I can determine whether it's worth replacing or not, rather than charging me to strip the camera down twice. It's still a bit of a kick in the teeth for a pro camera with only about 40k clicks on it, though :(

What do you guys reckon, if the scratch turns out to be too bad to put up with: get it fixed, or get what I can for it on Ebay and buy a Mk III instead?

Crapola, sorry to hear that Andy. I'd wait until you get it back before you do anything though.

My 1D has a scratch on the sensor (not a clue how it happened) but it's only visible from F5.6 up wards so for me (who very very rarely shoots above F4 anyway) it's not a problem. It's annoying as hell knowing it's there but it's never been a problem for me.

Is everything else in good condition, I mean other than the sensor and shutter? :rolleyes:

Good luck with a MKIII, they have all been recalled and there is a shortage now as well. Maybe a MKIIN but the difference is minimal over a MKII.

Darren

Andy, can't you get software to automatically clone out permanent sensor marks? I know there's some clever stuff available for my Canon 40D but since I haven't read the instruction book yet... :rolleyes:

Otherwise it's stick to wide apertures and short lenses for minimum depth of focus, and get handy with Photoshop. You can hardly sell it on privately without coming clean and if I was buying, first thing I'd do is get one of those sensor-scopes on it or shoot some deliberately revealing test pics.

Bit of a sh1tter mate :( On the other hand, trading it in at retail against a Mk III and being a bit economical with the truth might ease your conscience. If they are stupid enough not to check properly, then that's buyer beware. Park Cameras (if you dare - I know you deal regularly with them) or Jacobs. I traded a lens at Jacobs recently and they didn't even take the cap off before making a (low) offer.

Good luck,

Richard.

That's not a bad idea, though Park offer the 1DmkIII for £1875 plus a 1DmkII, which gives an effective trade-in value of just £714.

TBH provided it's only a small defect, which I'm assured it is, I reckon I could do better than that on Ebay, where good MkII's are still fetching around two grand.

I guess I'll be in a much better position to judge once I get the camera back and can test it. At the end of the day it's just a hobby, and one that I don't even indulge in all that often these days, so it's hard to justify spending a fortune on it when it's not as though my livelihood depends on it. On the other hand, if it's just going to p*ss me off all the time, I guess I'm better off chalking it up to experience and just getting it sorted - and maybe drive the diesel instead of the scooby a bit more often to try and make up the difference.

I had a 3 year extended warranty on my 1D (mk I), and that never missed a beat. Ar*e!