Clean and tune. How often?

[Loswr]

I lucky that I am a 45 minute drive to the Canon service center in Itasca. As a CPS member I have my camera cleaned and tuned after every "dirty" trip (i.e., Africa with all the dust). Cheap insurance if you ask me. The cost of the trip is over $10,000 (once you factor in all costs - land, air, prep at home, ...) so spending a $100-150 seems like nothing.

I don't understand...The $100-150 cost of a clean/check is cheap compared to the $10,000 cost of trip to Africa, so you have the sensor cleaned after the trip? I don't think you grasp the concept of insurance. Sure, I can see the point of cleaning the sensor after using the camera in a dusty environment, but doing it after isn't 'insurance' for the trip.

 

[slclick]

+1 to Talys on the sensor not being the only area to consider.

I change lenses fairly often, 2-3x per outing I'd guess. I've never seen any sensor trouble or dust, but I have had an eyebrow or eyelash fall in the inner cavity before. In was in the optical path (that's how I found it), but it was not difficult to sort out once I knew what it was and where it was.

- A

And a rocket blower takes care of it 9/10 x.

 

[ethanz]

All of that is not for me, if I'm honest.

Would I work on my own car? Sure, and I have. But I wouldn't tinker with critical componentry or tear the engine down.

I'm not averse to learning something new, but I likely smaller stakes than might permanently damage the most irreplaceable component.

Also, I'm not a pro and I almost never lean on the shutter button in what I shoot. So even 5+ years of use with my 5D3, I doubt I've hit 100k actuations.

- A

Sign up for CPS, Adam. You seem like you have enough gear to qualify. http://cps.usa.canon.com/

 

[ahsanford]

Sign up for CPS, Adam. You seem like you have enough gear to qualify. http://cps.usa.canon.com/

On the fringe, I think -- but good looking out. Will check now.

- A

 

[ahsanford]

Wow. I qualify for Platinum. Who knew?

Recommendations on Silver vs. Gold? No way I'm sinking $300 into that per year. No need.

Gold would appear to get me maintenance service for a few items and loaner service. Is it worth $100 a year given my low mileage, photography not paying my bills, etc.?

Loaners alone would imply yes given that I sink about $150-250 into LensRentals each year. What are the strings with evaluating gear? Is it cost-capped? Is there limited supply, are new products never available due to demand, etc? Are eval periods too short to take gear on a vaca?

Please educate this CPS newbie, thanks!

- A

 

[Ozarker]

Good timing for this thread. I'm a CPS Platinum member here in the USA. With that I get 10 free CMS (Canon Maintenance Service) a year. Basically they clean and check things, take it apart, to make sure its working well. With the platinum service, they pay for overnight shipping to and from. Last week I sent my camera and four lenses on Monday. I got them back on Wednesday!

Regarding focus, I asked about them calibrating the lenses and camera, but that involved extensive and expensive work (+$200 per item), so I declined that.

For non-CPS you can pay $50 or 70 for this service. For lower level members, I don't remember what you get, maybe just a few free CMS a year.

I'm sure all my equipment would be fine without this (except the for sensor dust on 1dx...) but I'm the kind of guy that goes to the car dealership and has my car serviced once a year, just to make sure its in tip top shape.

With these benefits, I don't know why you wouldn't be a CPS member in the USA. I also received several really nice straps and a CPS camera bag. That was worth the membership fee right away ;D

Doesn't CPS require one to have an actual business to qualify? I have enough points for one of the higher end memberships, but I don't want to lie. I have 71 points.

1. In order to be eligible for Silver Membership, an applicant must:
a. Be a full-time, self-employed individual, or an employee of a professional imaging business, who
has a direct role in the creation of moving or still images for third parties on a professional basis.
b. Be a legal resident of the 50 United States, or the District of Columbia, who is at least 18 years of
age at the time of enrollment.
c. Have earned ten (10) Product Points under the Program (Product Points are earned based on the
eligible products you purchase. Point values for individual products are subject to change without
notice).
2. All applications are subject to approval by Canon U.S.A., Inc. (“Canon”), in its sole discretion. Canon
reserves the right to confirm that the prospective member’s application information is accurate and may
require additional proof upon request. Canon may reject any applicant in its sole discretion, with or without
reason. Applicants are not eligible for membership if they have been previously expelled or terminated
from any current or previous Canon program including the current, and any predecessor, CPS Program.
3. Applicant hereby represents and warrants that all information submitted with their application is true and
accurate. Any misrepresentation may result in immediate termination of membership with no refund of the
annual membership fee.

 

[ahsanford]

Doesn't CPS require one to have an actual business to qualify? I have enough points for one of the higher end memberships, but I don't want to lie.
1. In order to be eligible for Silver Membership, an applicant must:
a. Be a full-time, self-employed individual, or an employee of a professional imaging business, who
has a direct role in the creation of moving or still images for third parties on a professional basis.

Ah, +1. Bummer if that's a hard condition.

- A

 

[Ozarker]

Doesn't CPS require one to have an actual business to qualify? I have enough points for one of the higher end memberships, but I don't want to lie.
1. In order to be eligible for Silver Membership, an applicant must:
a. Be a full-time, self-employed individual, or an employee of a professional imaging business, who
has a direct role in the creation of moving or still images for third parties on a professional basis.

Ah, +1. Bummer if that's a hard condition.

- A

Yup. I'm at 71 points, but no business man.

 

[ahsanford]

Doesn't CPS require one to have an actual business to qualify? I have enough points for one of the higher end memberships, but I don't want to lie.
1. In order to be eligible for Silver Membership, an applicant must:
a. Be a full-time, self-employed individual, or an employee of a professional imaging business, who
has a direct role in the creation of moving or still images for third parties on a professional basis.

Ah, +1. Bummer if that's a hard condition.

- A

Yup. I'm at 71 points, but no business man.

I just called the new site in Burbank, and the lady who answered said that you don't need to be a professional working photographer. She said anyone with points qualifies.

A regular old cleaning/servicing is gratis for Gold members for up to 5 pieces. She didn't know anything about the eval unit program as that is run out East (in the U.S., that is), so that will be a separate inquiry unless someone knows more about that.

But, again: promising. Can any other folks speak to the virtues of CPS here?

- A

 

[ethanz]

Doesn't CPS require one to have an actual business to qualify? I have enough points for one of the higher end memberships, but I don't want to lie.
1. In order to be eligible for Silver Membership, an applicant must:
a. Be a full-time, self-employed individual, or an employee of a professional imaging business, who
has a direct role in the creation of moving or still images for third parties on a professional basis.

Ah, +1. Bummer if that's a hard condition.

- A

Yup. I'm at 71 points, but no business man.

Your name alone should merit automatic CPS membership.

I think its fine if you apply.

 

[ethanz]

Wow. I qualify for Platinum. Who knew?

Recommendations on Silver vs. Gold? No way I'm sinking $300 into that per year. No need.

Gold would appear to get me maintenance service for a few items and loaner service. Is it worth $100 a year given my low mileage, photography not paying my bills, etc.?

Loaners alone would imply yes given that I sink about $150-250 into LensRentals each year. What are the strings with evaluating gear? Is it cost-capped? Is there limited supply, are new products never available due to demand, etc? Are eval periods too short to take gear on a vaca?

Please educate this CPS newbie, thanks!

- A

Definitely go Gold if you aren't going to be Platinum. Check if with Gold the CMS covers shipping. To me, that is worth the $300 a year for Platinum.

Evaluation loans are for 10 days (not necessarily the exact dates you want them, but usually close), included in those days are 2 day shipping to you (Canon pays that) and whatever shipping you choose to get it back to them (you pay return shipping). It ends up being a little cheaper than Lensrental. Check if your home owners insurance will cover shipping of items, otherwise that can add some expense to the shipping cost (but it still is usually less than lensrental). With Gold you can only evaluate an item once, with Platinum its twice. You can evaluate pretty much any L lens. Their list didn't have some new lenses on it, so I emailed them about it and they were like, yeah sorry we didn't update the list, no problem we will send those new ones too.

Once YOU become a CPS member, you actually get ACCESS to CANON's 50mm f1.4 L IS USM. UNRELEASED TO THE PUBLIC. Trust me. I have deep sources inside Canon and do lots of business with them, but due to legal stuff I CANNOT show any proof.

 

[Loswr]

Once YOU become a CPS member, you actually get ACCESS to CANON's 50mm f1.4 L IS USM. UNRELEASED TO THE PUBLIC. Trust me. I have deep sources inside Canon and do lots of business with them, but due to legal stuff I CANNOT show any proof.

;D

 

[ahsanford]

Definitely go Gold if you aren't going to be Platinum. Check if with Gold the CMS covers shipping. To me, that is worth the $300 a year for Platinum.

Gold covers shipping one way, I think. I would pay the other. Platinum covers both (thought apparently not for evals according to you).

Apparently the lady in Burbank claimed that site only takes drop-off/pickups and does not receive/ship gear, which is shocking. (Perhaps they are principally there for the entertainment/cine folks nearby?)

Thankfully, it's less than a half hour drive for me. 8)

Once YOU become a CPS member, you actually get ACCESS to CANON's 50mm f1.4 L IS USM. UNRELEASED TO THE PUBLIC. Trust me. I have deep sources inside Canon and do lots of business with them, but due to legal stuff I CANNOT show any proof.

I knew it!

- A

 

[ethanz]

Definitely go Gold if you aren't going to be Platinum. Check if with Gold the CMS covers shipping. To me, that is worth the $300 a year for Platinum.

Gold covers shipping one way, I think. I would pay the other. Platinum covers both (thought apparently not for evals according to you).

Apparently the lady in Burbank claimed that site only takes drop-off/pickups and does not receive/ship gear, which is shocking. (Perhaps they are principally there for the entertainment/cine folks nearby?)

Thankfully, it's less than a half hour drive for me. 8)

Oh, that works well then. There is a CPS place in Chicago, but they always tell me to ship my stuff to the Virginia location. Which is fine since they pay the shipping, but if what you say is true, maybe the loans I could return with an hour drive to their facility...

 

[ahsanford]

Oh, that works well then. There is a CPS place in Chicago, but they always tell me to ship my stuff to the Virginia location. Which is fine since they pay the shipping, but if what you say is true, maybe the loans I could return with an hour drive to their facility...

I made sure to confirm what does / does not happen at that Burbank facility. Servicing = yes (on a dropoff/pickup basis only as I said), but the gear eval program = no.

- A

 

[ethanz]

Oh, that works well then. There is a CPS place in Chicago, but they always tell me to ship my stuff to the Virginia location. Which is fine since they pay the shipping, but if what you say is true, maybe the loans I could return with an hour drive to their facility...

I made sure to confirm what does / does not happen at that Burbank facility. Servicing = yes (on a dropoff/pickup basis only as I said), but the gear eval program = no.

- A

Stupid Canon ;D

 

[Loswr]

Oh, that works well then. There is a CPS place in Chicago, but they always tell me to ship my stuff to the Virginia location. Which is fine since they pay the shipping, but if what you say is true, maybe the loans I could return with an hour drive to their facility...

I made sure to confirm what does / does not happen at that Burbank facility. Servicing = yes (on a dropoff/pickup basis only as I said), but the gear eval program = no.

- A

Stupid Canon

Compartmentalizing where you conduct certain aspects of business, as opposed to everyone everywhere being trained to do everything, makes good sense.

When I took my 1D X in to the New Jersey repair center for the recall service, they were able to do it on the spot in less than an hour. But, if I had brought a lens with me that also needed servicing, it would have had to be shipped from there to Virginia.

Also, using pricey Burbank real estate for space to stock a bunch of loaner inventory does not seem smart to me.

 

[ethanz]

Compartmentalizing where you conduct certain aspects of business, as opposed to everyone everywhere being trained to do everything, makes good sense.

When I took my 1D X in to the New Jersey repair center for the recall service, they were able to do it on the spot in less than an hour. But, if I had brought a lens with me that also needed servicing, it would have had to be shipped from there to Virginia.

Also, using pricey Burbank real estate for space to stock a bunch of loaner inventory does not seem smart to me.

I'll use emojis next time. I was continuing my imitations.

 

[Maximilian]

Clean and tune. How often?

I treat my gear quite cautious.

So normally the sensor stays quite clean.
If it comes to cleaning the sensor I send the camera in, which I had to do about every two years.
When it comes to "tuning" there is a auto calibration functionality of the sensor inside the camera.
There are also (new) hot and dead pixels detected and deactivated.

You can activate this by starting the "Manual Sensor Cleaning" functionality with no lens attached to the body and just the body protecting cap on. Just search for this here in the forum, if not familiar to this.
I do this several times a year, esp. before I do low light shots to avoid searching for hot pixels in post.

 

[Ozarker]

Clean and tune. How often?

I treat my gear quite cautious.

So normally the sensor stays quite clean.
If it comes to cleaning the sensor I send the camera in, which I had to do about every two years.
When it comes to "tuning" there is a auto calibration functionality of the sensor inside the camera.
There are also (new) hot and dead pixels detected and deactivated.

You can activate this by starting the "Manual Sensor Cleaning" functionality with no lens attached to the body and just the body protecting cap on. Just search for this here in the forum, if not familiar to this.
I do this several times a year, esp. before I do low light shots to avoid searching for hot pixels in post.

Thanks Max.