Canon 5D Mark III Light Leak Resolution (Canon USA)

[mrmarks]

I am a noobie on this forum but have been following this issue, as I own one of the affected 5D iii's. From what I can tell on reading up on this issue and reading the forums, I too am in the camp that this is a non-issue and will not affect my photos. However, it is still disappointing to spend 3.5K on a camera and then have this happen. This was my jump from crop factor to full frame, and I trusted Canon. Not saying I don't any more, but I still don't understand it all.

So a technical question, and likely a dumb one - does the leaked light just hit the light meter, or does it also hit the sensor?

No effect on the imaging sensor

 

[simonxu11]

did canon fix the problem and will be implementing this change on all new units produced in the factories from now on?
eg. are the new models xxxxx3xxxx onwards going to have the light leak fixed?

what actually happened over here?

In my opinion yes, they will fix the design but they will not tell you.
Like I said people, stand up, return your cameras and send a clear message to canon saying we are not ignorant fix your defective design.

I find this picture on Canon China, it simply stated if you get camera with the serial number “xxxxx1xxxxxx”　or “xxxxx2xxxxxx" and there's a White Mark inside the CF door, then the camera is unaffected.

 

[Autocall]

Too late: I'm already in love with mine..
can't have it replaced

 

[awinphoto]

did canon fix the problem and will be implementing this change on all new units produced in the factories from now on?
eg. are the new models xxxxx3xxxx onwards going to have the light leak fixed?

what actually happened over here?

In my opinion yes, they will fix the design but they will not tell you.
Like I said people, stand up, return your cameras and send a clear message to canon saying we are not ignorant fix your defective design.

Canon Europe will prepare a "Fix-Kit" for all defective Cameras starting mid may. The Service Center will have work 2h on each camera.

So there is a real issue

Black electrical tape?

No no no, we are photographers, gaffers tape! =)

 

[Cineman]

I was one of the first in line in Los Angeles and immediately purchased two Mark III bodies. They both display the early serial numbers. I was expecting solid info from Canon about how they would be inserting a thin piece of black plastic below the LCD or something along those lines. I just tested one of my bodies by locking it down on a tripod in a dimly lit room, and shooting three exposures. The first normally, the second with a two setting flashlight held over the top LCD and covered with a focusing cloth (remember those) so stray light would not pollute my scene and the third with my flashlight on a different intensity. Well...the flashlight definitely changes the internal meter reading and thus the final image. I was set to AV with a 2.8 f stop. My non-flashlight auto exposure was 0"4 secs. My first flashlight auto exposure was 1/4 and my second flashlight exposure was 1/5. I then put the camera on manual and repeated. There was no apparent change in exposure eyeballing the rear LCD for these 3. So the problem is apparently with metering only.
Now to say that it only affects low light situations seems odd to me. Some of the first images I took with the camera outdoors on auto exposure seemed to me to be darker than I would have expected. Now, I'm wondering if that could have been bright light from the sky underexposing my shady location. I'm calling Canon tomorrow.
Oh, and regarding the difference in top LCD build quality on earlier models...what I have read suggests that some had a flimsier feel...bending when pressure is applied and lack of black border around them. Mine are solid and have the black border.

 

[briansquibb]

Shows that even cameras should wear a hat in the sun 8) 8) 8)

 

[sach100]

Now to say that it only affects low light situations seems odd to me. Some of the first images I took with the camera outdoors on auto exposure seemed to me to be darker than I would have expected. Now, I'm wondering if that could have been bright light from the sky underexposing my shady location. I'm calling Canon tomorrow.

Wouldn't the ambient light coming through the lens dominate whatever leaked light coming through the top lcd?
i could be wrong here though.

 

[ramon123]

when it says that canon are "releasing" all the stock does it mean with the "fix" or not? are the 5D3's that hitting the stores now with the fix or not?

if canon produced 20,000 5D3's a month, they should get out a lot of the fixed ones soon, the average is around 750 cameras made a day!

 

[Hesham]

when it says that canon are "releasing" all the stock does it mean with the "fix" or not? are the 5D3's that hitting the stores now with the fix or not?

if canon produced 20,000 5D3's a month, they should get out a lot of the fixed ones soon, the average is around 750 cameras made a day!

I believe cameras which have been identified by Canon as affected, should be fixed and sold as refurbished. If they put them back on sale as new, then this will become a real issue...

 

[frank-o]

Here´s the German Answer:

Betroffene Produkte
Digitale Spiegelreflexkamera EOS 5D Mark III mit einer 1 oder 2 an der sechsten Stelle der Seriennummer.

Beispiel: „xxxxx1xxxxxx“ oder „xxxxx2xxxxxx“ (x steht für eine beliebige Zahl).

Ursache
Wenn die LCD-Anzeige in sehr dunkler Umgebung* aufleuchtet, kann sich der angezeigte Belichtungswert ändern. Wenn die Aufnahme jedoch mit einem Objektiv erfolgt, hat der veränderte Belichtungswert keine wesentliche Auswirkung auf das Aufnahmeergebnis.

* Beispiele für dunkle Umgebungen:

1. Wenn die Gehäuseschutzkappe angebracht ist

2. Wenn die Objektivabdeckung angebracht ist

Antwort :

Die von diesem Problem betroffenen Produkte werden überprüft und kostenlos repariert nach dem 10. Mai 2012. Bitte wenden Sie sich an eine unserer autorisierten Servicestellen.

They say that the Camara will be checked and repaired after 10 May 2012...

And they say that if you take a Photo with a lens on in a very dark situation the changed exposure value (due to the light leak of the top display) will have no "major" affect to the image.

 

[ledteeatl]

I have one of the 5DM3's in the affected range. I bought it from Amazon, and it shipped about a week ago.

I can reproduce the issue with the body cap on, and with the lens cap on as well. That doesn't concern me. What concerns me is that I can reproduce the issue in very low light with the lens cap off. I do a good bit of long exposure photography in very dark situations, and this issue will affect metering.

But more importantly, now that Canon has basically said that it is a real issue, and publicly identified the units serial numbers that are affected, I have a Camera who's resale value is seriously diminished. If this was a $500 camera I probably wouldn't care. But at $3500, it's a big freakin' deal to me.

I love the 5DM3, and hate that it's come to this, but I'm afraid I'll be sending mine back to Amazon and waiting for Canon to sort out the manufacturing glitch. In a couple of months once the issue is fixed I'll definitely repurchase it. Until then, I'll stick w/ my 5DM2.

 

[Etienne]

I agree. They have identified the issue, and apparently a fix.
I do night photography with long exposures as well.
And the resale value concern is real enough.

I'll keep my 5DII and wait for a full review on DPR for the 5DIII.

I just don't want to be a beta tester.

 

[jaduffy007]

LAME. Canon says "will not noticeably affect the captured image". Translated: it does affect the image, but you probably won't "notice". Wow.

 

[Loswr]

What concerns me is that I can reproduce the issue in very low light with the lens cap off....Until then, I'll stick w/ my 5DM2.

Have you tested your 5DII for this issue? Many users have reported seeing the same phenomenon on their 5DII.

 

[cln]

Those of you who do not care about the light leak issue, please don't bash those who do care for one reason or another. May be you will never run into the issue with the type of photography you do but there are legitimate reasons that this will affect certain types of photography.

My own test with my 5Diii is that there may be up to several stops of meter reading differences (no kidding) if you shine, for example, a flashlight on the top LCD panel under dark environment (for the obvious reason as trying to read the panel). Even the top LCD illumination light makes 2/3 to 1 stop difference for candle light shooting. How much differences really depending on how dark the subject illumination is. There may be ways to get around the problem (such as using the back display instead of the top panel for info reading AND cover up the top panel with black electric tape or something), but this is not what I paid $3500 for.

And I really don't like the tone of Canon USA's advisory. Canon Europe or Canon China seem to be much more sincere in their announcements. Therefor I am not confident that Canon USA will indeed fix it upon individual's request. In addition, by the time they are open to accept request for their "inspection", my dealer's return period would be over. I will then be completely under the mercy of Canon USA. So I am returning my 5Diii today. I'll wait a few months until you folks who don't care to exhaust the affected inventory and consider the purchase again.

 

[TrumpetPower!]

Those of you who do not care about the light leak issue, please don't bash those who do care for one reason or another. May be you will never run into the issue with the type of photography you do but there are legitimate reasons that this will affect certain types of photography.

The problem is, when the scene is dark enough for the "problem" to manifest itself, it's also too dark for the meter to work reliably. If you think that the meter is giving you the "right" exposure in those dim conditions and the backlight / LCD is throwing off the meter, you're just fooling yourself. The fact of the matter is that, if you're using the camera's meter below EV 1, it's all just an approximation...and, if you're using it below EV -1 (where the "problem" first begins to show up), the meter is little more than a rough guesstimate.

Sure, use it to get a test exposure in the ballpark when you're doing long exposure or insane ISO work. But please don't kid yourself that the meter is right. The proper way to get the right exposure is either by intelligent reading of the preview and histogram, or by bracketing. Or, in the case of insane ISO work, by realizing that you're not going to get National Geographic-quality results in the first place, so don't even pretend to worry about it.

And, oh-by-the-way, I've yet to even hear of a photographic meter (dedicated, built-in, or otherwise) that's designed to produce trustworthy results below EV -1, so it's not like this is a problem with the camera.

Cheers,

b&

 

[jchong62]

No wonder my video taken in a dimly lit room was worse than the other one taken with my Digital Rebel.

Thanks for advising me 5D3 doesn't offer what a Digital Rebel can do.

Those of you who do not care about the light leak issue, please don't bash those who do care for one reason or another. May be you will never run into the issue with the type of photography you do but there are legitimate reasons that this will affect certain types of photography.

The problem is, when the scene is dark enough for the "problem" to manifest itself, it's also too dark for the meter to work reliably. If you think that the meter is giving you the "right" exposure in those dim conditions and the backlight / LCD is throwing off the meter, you're just fooling yourself. The fact of the matter is that, if you're using the camera's meter below EV 1, it's all just an approximation...and, if you're using it below EV -1 (where the "problem" first begins to show up), the meter is little more than a rough guesstimate.

Sure, use it to get a test exposure in the ballpark when you're doing long exposure or insane ISO work. But please don't kid yourself that the meter is right. The proper way to get the right exposure is either by intelligent reading of the preview and histogram, or by bracketing. Or, in the case of insane ISO work, by realizing that you're not going to get National Geographic-quality results in the first place, so don't even pretend to worry about it.

And, oh-by-the-way, I've yet to even hear of a photographic meter (dedicated, built-in, or otherwise) that's designed to produce trustworthy results below EV -1, so it's not like this is a problem with the camera.

Cheers,

b&

 

[cln]

Well, the problem is, having a rough reading of the exposure that's at least some what predictable and you could work with is still better than having random reading thrown off by arbitrary light fall on the LCD panel that you can not even work with. I just don't get you logic: if it's not accurate, it might as well be random readings? This is beyond me.

The problem is, when the scene is dark enough for the "problem" to manifest itself, it's also too dark for the meter to work reliably. If you think that the meter is giving you the "right" exposure in those dim conditions and the backlight / LCD is throwing off the meter, you're just fooling yourself. The fact of the matter is that, if you're using the camera's meter below EV 1, it's all just an approximation...and, if you're using it below EV -1 (where the "problem" first begins to show up), the meter is little more than a rough guesstimate.

 

[pd2002]

FYI
My friend in Thailand got 5D MARK III with light leak fixed (new lot)
His serial is xxxxx0xxxxxx

 

[Raddy]

</strong>Under almost all shooting conditions (including dark environments) this phenomenon will not affect your captured images. However, if you would like Canon to inspect your camera, we will provide this service free of charge upon request beginning in mid-May. Please contact Canon using the information below to request service.</p>
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While Canon US is speaking of an inspection, Canon germany is mentioning an inspection plus a "repair".

http://www.canon.de/Support/Consumer_Products/products/cameras/Digital_SLR/EOS_5D_Mark_III.aspx?faqtcmuri=tcm%3A83-925652&page=1&type=important