Hi CR,
Im new to CR and love the site and forums. Keep up the good work.
So to my First post, my trusty Canon 40D has just effectively died. It has the dreaded Sticking Shutter Button, the grip button doesn't have any problems, it would seem from a quick google that all the XXXXD, XXXD and XXD suffer from this illness.
The diagnosis is confirmed by the button pressing half way to focus, focusing successfully and when the button is completely depressed the shutter does not go off. This is not a problem with the AF and it having problems with the exposure therefore not firing, it is a mechanical problem where the button gets dirt etc into the shutter button contacts.
Until it happened to mine i had no idea about the problem but it has been a problem since the 10D and canon has done nothing about it. There are a few remedies... Press the button in hard and twist to help remove dirt... if that doesn't work... Send it to Canon and have it repaired which is £150, this sounds steep but from people who have had it done, thier cameras came back immaculate. With Replacement panels, LCD's, updates, complete cleaning, and with adjustments to make your body the same as it was. But... and a big but is do you want to spend a third of the value of the camera on a repair, or buy a new body? the 40D is a great camera but she is getting on abit...
The second is by using contact cleaner and spraying it down the hole, and using compressed air to get the dirt out. This sounds hazardous but the contact cleaner evaporates on contact, and leaves no residue. But it is obviously a massive risk. The third is to completely take the camera apart, you have to remove the rubber covers, which im sure are a pain to get back on, the front panel the rear panel with the LCD, remove 3-4 ribbon cables and then you can get to the shutter button, which needs to be taken away from the body, and the release deconstructed to remove two press contacts, which then need to be cleaned with contact cleaner to remedy. Did i mention the 100+ screws that are mostly different and need to go back in their specific places.
This is a monstrous task which, if you are not competent you will ruin your camera. I am competent at such tasks but i am not quite ready to go to these lengths yet. My 40D is my backup body and has had just over 11,000 actuations, and is nearly 3 years old. Apparently the lower the use the more likely it is to happen, but if the fault is known then why have canon continued to produce the same design and for something so simple as cleaning the contact, you would think they would have made it easier to get to!??
I am obviously very disappointed and gutted, because it is a soldier! and has seen me through alot, and it produces great image quality and is a joy to use. In my opinion there isnt another APC sized camera that i would like to replace it with. The 50D was a marginal upgrade so wasn't worth it (now you cant get them new), the 60D is a massive disappointment in comparison to previous XXD's and that screen i know for sure would come off at some point! (and is slower), the 7D is more than half way through its product cycle so i dont really want to spend £1100 for an older camera for my backup and the XXXXD's or the XXXD's are not suitable. Once you get used to a camera of such quality its hard to go back to the amateur models. I also dont shoot video so its not an important feature for me.
I will try to repair the body before buying a new one, but i wanted some reactions/opinions/advice from the knowledgeable CR forum about what to do and how you feel about this issue that basically makes the rest of the body redundant! My main body is a 7D just to let people no, and dont fancy buying another although i love it, but theres no need to buy another when the 7D could transition in the next year. I have 3 wedding coming up in the next 2 months so i need to get cracking to sort it out. My initial thought was to buy a 50D (there about £500-550 second hand) and just wait.
Thanks
Tom Scott
Im new to CR and love the site and forums. Keep up the good work.
So to my First post, my trusty Canon 40D has just effectively died. It has the dreaded Sticking Shutter Button, the grip button doesn't have any problems, it would seem from a quick google that all the XXXXD, XXXD and XXD suffer from this illness.
The diagnosis is confirmed by the button pressing half way to focus, focusing successfully and when the button is completely depressed the shutter does not go off. This is not a problem with the AF and it having problems with the exposure therefore not firing, it is a mechanical problem where the button gets dirt etc into the shutter button contacts.
Until it happened to mine i had no idea about the problem but it has been a problem since the 10D and canon has done nothing about it. There are a few remedies... Press the button in hard and twist to help remove dirt... if that doesn't work... Send it to Canon and have it repaired which is £150, this sounds steep but from people who have had it done, thier cameras came back immaculate. With Replacement panels, LCD's, updates, complete cleaning, and with adjustments to make your body the same as it was. But... and a big but is do you want to spend a third of the value of the camera on a repair, or buy a new body? the 40D is a great camera but she is getting on abit...
The second is by using contact cleaner and spraying it down the hole, and using compressed air to get the dirt out. This sounds hazardous but the contact cleaner evaporates on contact, and leaves no residue. But it is obviously a massive risk. The third is to completely take the camera apart, you have to remove the rubber covers, which im sure are a pain to get back on, the front panel the rear panel with the LCD, remove 3-4 ribbon cables and then you can get to the shutter button, which needs to be taken away from the body, and the release deconstructed to remove two press contacts, which then need to be cleaned with contact cleaner to remedy. Did i mention the 100+ screws that are mostly different and need to go back in their specific places.
This is a monstrous task which, if you are not competent you will ruin your camera. I am competent at such tasks but i am not quite ready to go to these lengths yet. My 40D is my backup body and has had just over 11,000 actuations, and is nearly 3 years old. Apparently the lower the use the more likely it is to happen, but if the fault is known then why have canon continued to produce the same design and for something so simple as cleaning the contact, you would think they would have made it easier to get to!??
I am obviously very disappointed and gutted, because it is a soldier! and has seen me through alot, and it produces great image quality and is a joy to use. In my opinion there isnt another APC sized camera that i would like to replace it with. The 50D was a marginal upgrade so wasn't worth it (now you cant get them new), the 60D is a massive disappointment in comparison to previous XXD's and that screen i know for sure would come off at some point! (and is slower), the 7D is more than half way through its product cycle so i dont really want to spend £1100 for an older camera for my backup and the XXXXD's or the XXXD's are not suitable. Once you get used to a camera of such quality its hard to go back to the amateur models. I also dont shoot video so its not an important feature for me.
I will try to repair the body before buying a new one, but i wanted some reactions/opinions/advice from the knowledgeable CR forum about what to do and how you feel about this issue that basically makes the rest of the body redundant! My main body is a 7D just to let people no, and dont fancy buying another although i love it, but theres no need to buy another when the 7D could transition in the next year. I have 3 wedding coming up in the next 2 months so i need to get cracking to sort it out. My initial thought was to buy a 50D (there about £500-550 second hand) and just wait.
Thanks
Tom Scott
