The Camera Saga Continues...

[Squid31]

I dropped off my 1D, 1DMkII, and 70-200 at Canon Canada last Wednesday, and got my quote back yesterday. Just short of $1100 to calibrate 2 camera bodies and fix the IS on the lens. I just about crapped in my pants. I've made around $1000 shooting SX this year, so that's not even enough to cover repairs on my gear, let alone travel and other expenses. It sure is a good thing that I love to do this photography thing other wise it wouldn’t be a very good business to get involved in. The thing that really sucks is I have a shoot to do in two weeks for about a dozen or so couples for prom, but looks like I will have to shoot that with the old Digital Rebel because all of my "PRO GEAR" is in the shop.

If that's not bad enough I have to get my freaking wisdom teeth pulled 2 weeks from today. JOY.

 

[Bspeed]

serious bummer. although from the view of "3" for 1100, it could be worse.
maybe you could send in one body and the lens for now.

 

[Squid31]

Each camera body is $205. The rest is the lens. I have been having troubles with the IS, and CRASH32 had the same problem with his and it cost around $100. My quote was for $675. OUCH.

 

[Bspeed]

hmmmm. did you mention that to the service guys? maybe they are hi-balling, just in case, and hopefully it will be only $100

 

[Chili]

Not sure why you'd let them touch your 1D, that thing was working mint and the last thing I would want is them to play with a camera that was working A+. Davey let you borrow his mkII for the shoot? or I can ship you a 20D if you are in a bind. Wonder if there would have been any difference on that quote if you had joined CPS?

 

[Squid31]

Ya I know what you are saying about the 1D, but I have some major dirt behind the lcd that needs to be cleaned up and re-sealed before it causes some serious damage. I have been trying to get a hold of someone at Canon about my lens. If it functions fine with out the IS, I think I will pass on the repair for now because I use the lens with IS turned off 99.5% of the time anyhow.

Thanks for the offer on the 20D Doug. I really appreciate it, but I think I will be OK with the Rebel. I used it for some stills at the track last year with some good glass, and it worked quite well. I think Davey said he wanted to tag along for this shoot anyway, so I'm sure he can bring one of his cameras if he comes along.

I'll keep you posted as I hear from Canon.

 

[Chili]

Talking about dirt, I was looking at both my 20D's the other day and wondered what the tech at Canon would say that opened that box with instructions to clean them up :laugh:

 

[Squid31]

Just got off the phone with Canon. It appears that the repairs that Crash had done are identical to the repairs needed on my 70-200. He got lucky and the tech made a mistake and didn't charge him $500 for the part, so that's why his was so much cheaper than mine. I made the decision not to have the lens fixed, because I never use IS anyway. They said that my MKII was with the tech as we speak, and they had parts on order for the 1D, so with any luck I should have everything back by the end of next week.

Wish me luck.

 

[Squid31]

OK, I got my 70-200 and MkII back from Canon today. Exactly 2 weeks from the time I had them droped off at the repair facility in Missasagua. Not too bad. :cool: It's a really crappy evening around these parts, so I will have to wait to do some focus tests tomorrow. Man I really hope things work better now.

 

[trial_07]

I hope things will work your way! Man your pictures are...uhh...there's really no word to describe them :cool:

 

[Okiewan]

Good luck with it dude, that was a tough deal.

 

[Squid31]

The 1D just showed up and looks like brand new with it's new hotshoe and back lcd screen. I just hope it still focuses. :whoa:

 

[Squid31]

Well, the good news is the 1D still focuses fine. The bad news is I have to send it back to Canon because the back focus button does not work any more. :bang:

I am going to give Canon a call tomorrow to see when I can send it back, and to ask them what exactly they did to my MkII. I took a few test shots and it seems to be a bit better, but I won't know for sure until I shoot something for real. I have that shoot to do next weekend, so I have to make sure this thing is working perfectly before I send the old 1D back to be fixed again.

 

[Squid31]

Well, looks like both cameras have to go back. Here's 2 photos taken of the same object at near the same distance with my 300. Look how much better the 1d file looks, and it is upsized 142% to match the res of the MarkII.

 

[Squid31]

Here's another test. All 3 shots taken with the MkII

Photo1-- Lens mounted on tripod, focused using one shot mode.

Photo2 -- Lens mounted on tripod, 1D attached to lens and focused using one shot mode. Swapped cameras very carefully as not to move the lens or tripod, and snapped a frame without re-focusing.

Photo3 -- Lens mounted on tripod, focused using one shot mode. (same as I did on the first shot).

So it seems that the camera is capable of taking a sharp photo as per photo #2, but the auto focus system is out of whack. I called Canon on Friday to ask what exactly they did, but the lady I spoke to could not tell me what they did for sure. I guess I will have to do some more testing, and take the day off of work to drive 3 hours to Mississauga to show them the exact problems that I am having and to make sure this gets fixed right this time. What do you think the chances are that they will fix it while I wait?

 

[Chili]

Hmmm good test using the other body to focus the camera, took me a second to figure out what you were saying there. Pretty clearly shows it's an issue with the AF system. As far as them fixing it while you are there, I'd say the odds are about the same as seeing me lining up for the MX2 class in Morden.

 

[Squid31]

Yep, you guessed it Doug. They said I can't wait for it.

I just talked to a service rep, and she reluctantly informed me that they did NOTHING to my MkII. She said they have refunded my credit card and that should take care of the mistake. I said that's fine but what am I supposed to do with a camera that still won't focus. Her reply was “It still doesn’t work". I don't know how I was able to stay calm at this point but I managed somehow.

I think the error occurred on their end because I sent in 3 items in at once. When they found the problem with the 70-200 IS lens, the tech just assumed that was my only problem, so the camera (as far has he was concerned) had no issues. OK that’s fine and dandy, but why was I charged $205 for the services?

I have left 2 messages with the supervisor down there to call me back so we can discuss what went wrong, and what we can do to make sure the problem gets taken care when I send the gear back to them, but I haven't heard back from them yet.

Just so there is no confusion here, these are the notes I sent along with each item.

Canon 1D Serial# 026881

The back LCD screen has some dust behind it that I would like to have cleaned and sealed back up.

I am interested in having the black part of the hot shoe replaced. It works fine, I just want it to look new again. Can you please quote this for me?

I would also like to have this camera cleaned, lubed, and calibrated.

PERSONAL INFO REMOVED


Canon 1DMkII Serial# 24069

I have been having troubles with an Error 00 when using this camera along with my 70-200 f/2.8 IS lens while using IS. I have sent in the lens along with this camera.

I have also been having problems with soft images from this camera with all of my lenses, so I would assume the focus needs to be calibrated. I am mainly a sports photographer so I use AI focus most of the time, but I have also noticed most images look soft when shooting in One Shot mode as well.

I would also like to have this camera cleaned, and lubed

PERSONAL INFO REMOVED


70-200 f/2.8 IS Serial# 220912

I have been getting “Error 00” when using this lens with my 1DMkII when IS is turned on. I have to remove the lens from the camera to clear the error. No apparent problems with IS turned off. My 1DMkII has been sent in along with this lens.

The last ring near the front element (the one with “ULTRASONIC” in red lettering) seems to have loosened up a bit and can wiggle around.

I would also like to have this lens cleaned, lubed, and calibrated.

PERSONAL INFO REMOVED

 

[Chili]

Emile I removed your name and address info etc from the sections where it went. In this day and age of identity theft I didn't think it was a great idea to have it in the post. Feel free to add it back in if it doesn't bother you.

 

[Squid31]

Thanks Doug. I thought about taking it out, but was too lazy and just cut a pasted.
You going to be home tonight? I would like to give you a call to discuss. I recently switched from Bell to Cogeco (cable), so no more long distance charges for me.

 

[Chili]

I'll be at work after 7 your time, just call my cell.

 

[Squid31]

OK just for a little humor, this is what's going on now.

I shot the prom thing with the MkII and the photos turned out not too bad, but a little on the soft side. I sharpened the crap out of them for printing and they were quite acceptable.

I shipped the MkII back to Canon with Purolator on Monday. Well today I check the tracking number and it says "Scheduled Delivery Appointment Required". As soon as I saw that I knew something was wrong so I gave Purolator a call. The lady on the phone informs me that the driver could not access the driveway at Canon, so he left with out delivering the package. The package will be brought back to the depot and they will call the receiver (Canon) to arrange a delivery time. I asked if the driver would be back to make this call before 5:00 because the office would most likely be closed. She said probably not. So as far as I know the package will remain in the Purolator Depot until Canon gets a hold of them and arranges a time to have it delivered. Funny thing is the lady on the phone said that deliveries do not get scheduled, but will be delivered between 8:00am and 5:00 pm.

I think I will have a few beers tonight.

 

[Rich Rohrich]

I think I will have a few beers tonight.

... and then call an Excorcist. :whoa:

 

[Squid31]

The camera made it to Canon the next day, and I talked to the manager again on Thursday because I asked her to call me when she had it in her hands.

I just got off the phone with her again, and she informed me that the mirror box was defective, and needs to be replaced. EIGHT HUNDRED AND TWENTY FREAKIN BUCKS. I calmly told her as long as it will be guaranteed to focus to go ahead with the repair because the camera is useless as it sits now.

Man this is getting old.

 

[Chili]

:bang: :bang: I wonder if the guy that sold it knew this? He seemed very genuine to me and like I said I did a couple of quick shots with it and it seemed fine at the time but obviously a more in depth look through was needed.

 

[Squid31]

I honestly don't think he knew there were any issues. The camera functions almost identical to the last MkII I had, and they both worked pretty well around f/8. Thing that sucks is f/8 is not an aperture I want to use when shooting sports, or portraits.