40d failed (again)

[Lenny Hartley]

10 months after my 40d ( purchased jan08 ) was repaired under warranty
with a shutter problem, its failed again, this time the mirror has come loose. I called a service company and they said it was probably
unecomical to repair as canon only supply the whole mirror box assembly.
The camera has never been dropped or abused, and it has hardly
been used over the winter , I dont know how many accuations
but certainly a lot less than either my 20d or 30d which still work
and have never had any reliability issues.

i was shooting at a motorcycle race when it failed one minute its
working fine, the next its not.
Anybody else had similiar issue and if so was there a repair for instance
using glue to fix the mirror rather than replace the whole mirror box system.
Another thing if its costly to repair, if I just take the mirror out I guess I can use it like a point and shoot with live view, might not
be any use for sports anymore , but might be good for some stuff.
Anybody got any thoughts?
One thing for sure is that I wont be replacing it with either a
40d or 50d, I wish I had gone for the Sony instead of the 5dmk2
I just bought... .
Despite having lots of money tied up with Canon Im not happy
with the reliability, may be time for a change...

[DougAxford]

I suspect that you may have a lemon but I've also had issues with the 40D and I'm picking up another 50D tonight because I need to get the 40D back to Canon.

It's making strange noises once or twice a day. A distinct clunk instead of click, then last night it reset itself to 0 exposure # on it's own. That's the second time that's happened since new. Only one of my 40D's a causing me a problem, so I expect it's just cheaper components used in assembly.

I can't fault Canon too much on mine, I push my cameras hard and I should be buying the 'real pro' models . Hard to justify that high cost when cameras these days get recycled every 2 years.

DougA

[Will_Mass]

True dat.

I just had (what I suspect is) my first shutter failure on any Canon product this past weekend. Started getting random black frames, then the dread Err99, followed with a "There was an error and the data could not be written to the card" (or something like that) message. It went out for repair on Monday. Looks like that 4 year extended warranty has paid for itself yet again.

[Noel_Carboni]

You make the assumption that it isn't "economical" to repair... What is the actual cost of a mirror box vs. a new 40D?

-Noel

[Lenny Hartley]

Its wasnt an assumption, that was what I was told by the repair shop.
when I enquired over the phone on estimated cost,however I have told them to go ahead with the repair which is about 50% of a new body
I tried shooting with my 20d/30d's and it felt like the stone age. I cant afford
a new 40d or 50d as I have just spend a heap on a 5d mk2 and L lens and lots of
other lens. So basically no option but to have the 40d repaired.
Saving now for a 1d mk4 as much as I would like to try something else got
way too much tied into canon.
However if anybody from Canon is reading this two friends of mine were going
to update to either a 40d or 50d's from their 450d's and they have decided against it.

[Will_Mass]

Hi Lenny,

I don't see you mention anywhere in your posts whether or not you've spoken to a Canon rep, or technician about your problem. You do mention a service company, but it's not clear if it's a Canon service center or a third party company.

The truth is all these companies made great cameras, and a few duds. You yourself say you've had no problems with your other bodies. Perhaps this particular body is the latter.

With due respect, If you have not given Canon a chance to make things right, (I assume you have not, because you haven't said otherwise) there's little point in posting here hoping a Canon rep reads your complaints. And claiming you and your friends, who are looking to upgrade, won't support Canon in the future over one bad experience probably won't get you far either.

I'm just suggesting you'll get more flies with honey than you will with vinegar.

[Lenny Hartley]

WE live in different countries, in the uk we dont have the service culture you have
once the warranty is out thats it, even if there was the slightest chance that Canon
would look at the camera I dont have time to deal direct with Canon.
When the warrantly repair was done last year it took nearly two months before I got the camera back. Im off to Europe for a month next week and I need that camera with me
My observation regarding my friends not upgrading, was a fact I did not influence them in any way apart from telling them what my experience with a 40d was.
They made their own decision, the same as I will make my own decision when it
comes to deciding whether to buy Canon in the Future, but if you check you
will find a lot of people having reliability issues with Canon kit.