Repair cost cf card bent pin

[Jack56]

Hi,
My mark5dIII has got a bent pin in the cf card slot. In the shop they told me that the repair (I think he meant replacement of the slot holder) would cot me 300+ euro's.
WHAT? Is that true? I've bought the camera a year ago. Does warranty do the job?

 

[tron]

That is unfortunate How was the pin bent?

 

[Jack56]

A few month ago I had to release the card with a bit of force. I tried to put it back in the slot and again it didn't fit smoothly.
Why? No idea.
I summer I had a silly "accident". I dropped my camera because I was hit by a electric fence. Stupid, and maybe that's the reason? I can't think about something else. But are those costs that high?

 

[alistairm1]

I think there is a significant amount of disassembly required to access the CF pin assembly. That is what will jack up the cost of repair.
I remember getting the shutter button replaced on my 50D.
Cost of spare part was about 60p (€0.76, $0.93)
Total cost of repair £88. (€112, $137)

 

[alben]

Friend of mine had this repair done recently to his 5D3, the cost was in the region of £200.

 

[Antono Refa]

With memory cards supporting UHS Speed Class 3 (= minimum 30MB/s) selling for under U.S.$100, and the smaller form factor, I don't see any reason to keep supporting CF any more.

 

[Jack56]

Thanks for your comments. Any idea about warranty?

 

[Viggo]

Thanks for your comments. Any idea about warranty?

A pin only bends with excessive force, not by itself, so it is not covered by warranty.

 

[neuroanatomist]

With memory cards supporting UHS Speed Class 3 (= minimum 30MB/s) selling for under U.S.$100, and the smaller form factor, I don't see any reason to keep supporting CF any more.

Considering that my old 7D hit write speeds of >45 MB/s, I don't see a card which would take 50% longer to clear the buffer as a viable option. Also, highest SD card speeds are only achieved after a low-level format, so if you don't perform that time-consuming in-camera task frequently, your speeds get even slower.

 

[Mt Spokane Photography]

Hi,
My mark5dIII has got a bent pin in the cf card slot. In the shop they told me that the repair (I think he meant replacement of the slot holder) would cot me 300+ euro's.
WHAT? Is that true? I've bought the camera a year ago. Does warranty do the job?

If the camera is in warranty, and it wasn't caused by a bad card, it should be covered.

What causes the bent pins on CR Card sockets is a combination of card and slot tolerances that lets a card mis-register with a pin or pins in the camera. I'd certainly ask Canon to fix it under warranty. I don't know what type of card you are using, but tolerances are critical, so use only the best brands.

You can replace the card yourself, just two tools are needed, a screwdriver with a cross tip to JIS standards (Not Phillips) and a flat blade jewelers screwdriver. Its best to have a set of each so that you can pick the right size.

There are lots of utube videos showing people replacing the card slot assembly. You remove the screws (Peeling back part of the rubber covering is required), disconnect the ribbon cables using the flat blade screwdriver to open the clamps, and after working your way to the unit, remove and replace it.

You can buy a replacement from Canon, or on ebay, they are not expensive.

With setup time to prepare a workplace, and putting down some tape to hold the screws, it should take 30-45 minutes.

 

[Canon1]

With memory cards supporting UHS Speed Class 3 (= minimum 30MB/s) selling for under U.S.$100, and the smaller form factor, I don't see any reason to keep supporting CF any more.

Considering that my old 7D hit write speeds of >45 MB/s, I don't see a card which would take 50% longer to clear the buffer as a viable option. Also, highest SD card speeds are only achieved after a low-level format, so if you don't perform that time-consuming in-camera task frequently, your speeds get even slower.

Time consuming? Takes no more time at all to initiate the function, and the actual format only takes a few seconds, of which you are not obligated to watch it carry out. Hardly a valid argument. The write speed issue is clearly a problem. Until the write speeds are improved the buffer fills much to quickly when shooting to SD.

 

[Antono Refa]

With memory cards supporting UHS Speed Class 3 (= minimum 30MB/s) selling for under U.S.$100, and the smaller form factor, I don't see any reason to keep supporting CF any more.

Considering that my old 7D hit write speeds of >45 MB/s, I don't see a card which would take 50% longer to clear the buffer as a viable option. Also, highest SD card speeds are only achieved after a low-level format, so if you don't perform that time-consuming in-camera task frequently, your speeds get even slower.

1) I can see the advantage on the 7D and 1D-X. For the 5DmkIV (assuming it's MP count doesn't skyrocket), I'll be happy to settle for 30MB/s when the buffer runs out.

2) We're talking guaranteed writing speeds.

After low level format, the Lexar Pro 1066x CF card* wouldn't do better than 160MB/s.

[That's Lexar'slatest & greatest w/ min writing speed 65MB/s, older models were slower - the 800x's guaranteed min write speed is 20MB/s. What cards offer a guaranteed min write speed 45MB/s two years ago?]

After low level format, the Lexar Pro 2000x SDHC UHS-II has a max speed of 260MB/s.

 

[Mt Spokane Photography]

With memory cards supporting UHS Speed Class 3 (= minimum 30MB/s) selling for under U.S.$100, and the smaller form factor, I don't see any reason to keep supporting CF any more.

Considering that my old 7D hit write speeds of >45 MB/s, I don't see a card which would take 50% longer to clear the buffer as a viable option. Also, highest SD card speeds are only achieved after a low-level format, so if you don't perform that time-consuming in-camera task frequently, your speeds get even slower.

Time consuming? Takes no more time at all to initiate the function, and the actual format only takes a few seconds, of which you are not obligated to watch it carry out. Hardly a valid argument. The write speed issue is clearly a problem. Until the write speeds are improved the buffer fills much to quickly when shooting to SD.

A in-computer low level format writes 0's or 1's to every memory cell, and takes a very long time. The in-camera low level format is apparently much smarter, because it seems to only take seconds. I think that its finding just the cells that are not zeroed and writing them, while a in computer format is testing every cell to verify that it works. That's what you should do to find card issues, but the in-camera low level format will recover the lost speed.

 

[neuroanatomist]

1) I can see the advantage on the 7D and 1D-X. For the 5DmkIV (assuming it's MP count doesn't skyrocket), I'll be happy to settle for 30MB/s when the buffer runs out.

Even my old 5DII wrote at ~40 MB/s. After a 20 s burst, the buffer took ~26 s to clear before a shot could be taken. A lot can happen in 26 s, even more could happen in the 35 s it would take to clear at 30 MB/s. But if you're happy with the additional delay, that's ok for you. I wouldn't be.

 

[Antono Refa]

1) I can see the advantage on the 7D and 1D-X. For the 5DmkIV (assuming it's MP count doesn't skyrocket), I'll be happy to settle for 30MB/s when the buffer runs out.

Even my old 5DII wrote at ~40 MB/s.

1. Just to clear that one aside: yes, I can be happy with an additional delay.

2. And now to the point: did the 5DmkII you used at the time had CF cards with a guaranteed minimum writing speed of ~40MB/s (if so, please state date and card model), or not?

 

[neuroanatomist]

1) I can see the advantage on the 7D and 1D-X. For the 5DmkIV (assuming it's MP count doesn't skyrocket), I'll be happy to settle for 30MB/s when the buffer runs out.

Even my old 5DII wrote at ~40 MB/s.

1. Just to clear that one aside: yes, I can be happy with an additional delay.

2. And now to the point: did the 5DmkII you used at the time had CF cards with a guaranteed minimum writing speed of ~40MB/s (if so, please state date and card model), or not?

I tested multiple cards, all of them SanDisk models. They were pre-UDMA7 cards, but nevertheless the Canon firmware updated to increase UDMA7 speeds also applied to high capacity UDMA6 cards.

I think I'll repeat the test with my 1D X at some point.

 

[Marsu42]

WHAT? Is that true?

Welcome to the club, I know THAT feeling. It's simply that the wages for qualified techs and the repair shop are so high even picking up a screwdriver is €70, and that replacing is cheaper than spending time to "fix" it - esp. if it's not clear if a fixing attempt will succeed.

Morality of the story: With expensive gear, expect and calculate in expensive repair costs :-\

Thanks for your comments. Any idea about warranty?

Well, I doubt it's warranty case, they just explained how it works to me at the local cps. At least where I live (Germany, Berlin cps) everything that isn't clearly Canon's fault but wrong handling, moisture/dirt or wear like shutter isn't covered. But you never know - esp. with more expensive gear and common mis-usage problems you might get lucky and they give you a "famed Canon customer service" present.

 

[Antono Refa]

1) I can see the advantage on the 7D and 1D-X. For the 5DmkIV (assuming it's MP count doesn't skyrocket), I'll be happy to settle for 30MB/s when the buffer runs out.

Even my old 5DII wrote at ~40 MB/s.

1. Just to clear that one aside: yes, I can be happy with an additional delay.

2. And now to the point: did the 5DmkII you used at the time had CF cards with a guaranteed minimum writing speed of ~40MB/s (if so, please state date and card model), or not?

I tested multiple cards, all of them SanDisk models. They were pre-UDMA7 cards, but nevertheless the Canon firmware updated to increase UDMA7 speeds also applied to high capacity UDMA6 cards.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but the "Extreme Pro 32GB 90MB/s" card with which you've got a 45MB/s write speed is this one?

If so, it has a guaranteed minimum writing speed of 20MB/s, which would your point about a card guaranteed minimum writing speed of "only" 30MB/s being too slow moot.

 

[PhotographAdventure]

I had a bent pin on my 5d3 as well earlier this year. It was $162.50 for the repair. And that was with a 30% discount with a CPS account.

I don't know much about CF cards and pins, but I think it's a poor design.

 

[neuroanatomist]

Correct me if I'm wrong, but the "Extreme Pro 32GB 90MB/s" card with which you've got a 45MB/s write speed is this one?

If so, it has a guaranteed minimum writing speed of 20MB/s, which would your point about a card guaranteed minimum writing speed of "only" 30MB/s being too slow moot.

Yes , I missed (misinterpreted, actually) the 'minimum' part. Still, the if Canon supports higher CF speeds than SD speeds, the card specs are irrelevant as long as the card isn't the bottleneck (which it's not with current cards).