5D mirror failure

[Brian500au]

Hi Guys

I have always considered myself lucky with photography equipment. I hear everybody has back and front focus problems with lenses, problems with contacts, and other various problems, but touch wood I only read about these problems. I have travelled many "once off" places (Mt Everest base camp for example) with only one body.

Well it has finally happened to me. I travel with the old canon 5D due to not wanting to bring one of my newer bodies on holidays with me due to theft / damage issues etc.

Today whilst photographing my wife the mirror dislodged on my 5D body. I have considered going down and buying some superglue but I have heard this is a no no around sensitive camera equipment due to the fumes it emits when drying. Guess I will have to make use with my iphone until I am back in Aus and send off to canon for the fix.

Lucky I am in my last days here and not starting the first day. Might think about a smaller back up in future trips. It is so hard to settle on the perfect photography kit (enough equipment to capture the event, but not weigh you down so as to leave behind in the hotel room).

[ricktas]

Common problem with 5D's, should be easy for a camera repair place to rectify for you

[soulman]

Might think about a smaller back up in future trips. It is so hard to settle on the perfect photography kit (enough equipment to capture the event, but not weigh you down so as to leave behind in the hotel room).

It is a hard balance to strike. I took most of my kit last time I went OS but didn't end up using it much, which means I had to keep it safe when I wasn't carrying it. Took a Canon S100 too, which is a good backup and takes up very little room.

[bricat]

That's a bit of a bugger but why buy new equipment if you don't use it? Take out insurance to cover theft/lost/damage. At least as you said it was the end of the trip and apparantly a fix is available so not much lost. cheers Brian

[MarkChap]

Last time I heard of this issue, Canon were repairing them for free

[JM Tran]

Very common for the earlier serials of 5Ds. Happened to me once 4 years ago at the end of the wedding shoot, I stuck it back with blu-tac and it worked fine. Until I had it fixed.

Ask Canon to see if they are still repairing this for free.

[Brian500au]

I am not too worried - if canon are not repairing for free I will repair myself with some type of glue (it is my back up kit). Was tempted to do whilst i was here but was at the end of the trip and used the iphone for the last couple of days. Still bummer it was my honeymoon.

[Bercy]

I still supermarkets selling disposable film cameras. There is always a way! I am not sure how you went with -phone photos. Personally I find them not much good for other than sending to another i-phone. Little bit of kit envy, when a 5D is the "spare"!

[William W]

The Canon 'free repair' comprised a new, complete mirror box assembly and not just a re-glue of the existing mirror which fell out: that's what I got at no charge for my early model 5D which had this failure.

WW

[Brian500au]

I am back in Oz now and rang canon who said just send it in and they will cover it FOC.

Berni the original 5D can be had for under $600 now so I find them a great travel body.

[dabooda]

Yeah it happened to mine too. Canon fixed it up for free

It happened on a really hot day. I think it was just the last straw for the glue holding the mirror on.

[Xenedis]

I had the same problem with my original 5D (long gone now), and naturally it happened at the most invoncenient time (ie, when I'd arrived for a shoot, before I took the pictures I went there to shoot).

As has been the case for others, Canon rectified the problem at no charge, even though the camera was well out of warranty.

In my case, the mirror fell off the frame on 27/02/2010, and I'd had the camera since 30/11/2006.