The 5D Mark III Fix

[dr croubie]

As an experienced electronics designer and (former) head of Service & Maintenance (elsewhere, not at canon), all I can say to anyone who doesn't like this as a fix:

If you're shocked by this, don't ever, ever, buy any electrical or electronic device ever again. Go live in a cave and kill your own rabbits with a pointed stick. My industry runs on fixes (and yes, sometimes even designs) like this.

 

[pakosouthpark]

im sure nikon, sony, olympus and some other big medium brands are having a big laugh at this....

cr guy says: If the fix works, who cares how they did it.
yeah but for how long? people are giving away a lot of money for this camera.. we are in times of technology that shouldn't have this kind of failures..!!

just my 2 pence

 

[plutonium10]

im sure nikon, sony, olympus and some other big medium brands are having a big laugh at this....

cr guy says: If the fix works, who cares how they did it.
yeah but for how long? people are giving away a lot of money for this camera.. we are in times of technology that shouldn't have this kind of failures..!!

just my 2 pence

Well let's see... open up any camera you want and you'll probably find tape holding together a bunch of wires or covering a circuit board. It's just standard practice. So what do you expect to see inside the 5D mk III? The interior of Westminster Abbey?

Yes, we ARE in times of advanced technology. You're 100% right about that. But with more complexity comes the potential for more errors, and as errors go, this "light leak" is quite insignificant.

 

[Gcon]

Now I know why they didn't call it the 5DX - it was missing that black-tape X-factor. People should be thankful that they are getting this 5DX upgrade for free!

 

[PhilDrinkwater]

Well let's see... open up any camera you want and you'll probably find tape holding together a bunch of wires or covering a circuit board. It's just standard practice. So what do you expect to see inside the 5D mk III? The interior of Westminster Abbey?

Yes, we ARE in times of advanced technology. You're 100% right about that. But with more complexity comes the potential for more errors, and as errors go, this "light leak" is quite insignificant.

Indeed. My PC has tape and cable holders and cables pushed all around.

People more and more these days seem to want the world around them to be neat, tidy and perfect.. "and if anyone dares to be any less I'll have them up in court" :

The last 20 years have been good in some ways but quite bad in others.

 

[expatinasia]

I notice they also changed the colour of some of the screws on the right from silver to black. That can only help the issue surely. Maybe this is also why the 1D X is delayed. They ran out of tape while trying to fix the 5D MK III.</end sarcasm>

It is standard behaviour in electronics to use tape, but when I woke up this morning and read the tech headlines, I just knew it was going to create a storm, and I can understand why some people that have the current 5D MK III are a bit miffed, albeit a possibly knee jerk reaction.

I think Canon handled the PR very badly in this case.

 

[dam1an]

I am wondering if the risk of opening up the camera and affecting the original weather sealing is worth it, for a problem which in truth doesn't alter exposure on 99.99% of the images I am ever likely to take.

 

[FunPhotons]

As an engineer I have to say that your response is mind numbingly idiotic. Adhesive used around electronics doesn't disolve and magically find electrical contacts to disrupt - in fact adhesive designed for electronics like the type they likely used doesn't even conduct electricity. Furthermore electronics adhesive is insanely durable. There are different sorts of electronics adhesive but in many designs they actually use the adhesive to hold the parts together in favor of metal screws. Read that again, they use the adhesive instead of screws made of hardened metal because it is more durable. The life expectancy of most electronics adhesive is 20-50 years... when directly exposed to the elements 24/7.

As an engineer I agree, that stuff is crazy tough. Additionally, I happen to have rolls of Red engineering electrical tape. Notice that folks, RED - nicely color coordinated with your L lenses.

I'll take replacement tape orders, only $499 per body, prepaid.

(I can already hear it now "but won't that throw off your white balance?")

 

[PhilDrinkwater]

Maybe this is also why the 1D X is delayed. They ran out of tape while trying to fix the 5D MK III.</end sarcasm>

Haha!!!

 

[zim]

I heard that Nikon tape has better DR :'(

 

[steven63]

Ya know I'm getting a bit fed up with all the "engineers" touting that this fix is standard throughout the electronics industry and that we, as consumers, should just deal with it. Well to you I say "stick it where the sun doesn't shine."

Yes I understand you have spent a lot of money and time and sweat on your education and I'm just a poor blue-collar shmuck. I know you have a pretty plaque on the wall that 'says' you know what you are doing. You might even have a sticker on your drivers license to help you convince the cops you are smart. So what.

Don't come on here and try to convince us mere mortals that this is sufficient and 'don't open your computers' because there is tape all inside it. You know what? I have opened my computer...I build my own computers and THERE ISN'T A STITCH OF TAPE ANYWHERE INSIDE IT. Not one small piece.

What you guys are trying to do is, convince the consumer that your way of doing things is sufficient and that our wee-bit of knowlege on the matter is laughable. Shall we revisit your way of doing things? 1. Do it cheaply. 2. Do is sufficiently 3. Do it 'just enough' to make it work. 4. Hope the customer doesn't find out that your company charges a premium for such a mickey mouse fix. 5. Collect a paycheck and straighten the plaque on the wall.

Well I got news for you guys. It's the consumer that decides whether it's good enough. WE decide with our pocketbooks. YOU get to go redesign it if WE tell you it isn't.

I work with engineers everyday. Not in the electronics field, but the manufacturing field. And I'm here to tell you, you guys F@#* stuff up more than you help. Constant rework and on the fly fixes by the guy without the degree while the guy with the degree looks down smugly over his glasses and his CATIA program; never actually putting things together.

Tape. That's the fix for a $3500.00 camera light leak issue. Personally I'm disgusted and as consumers we shouldn't have to settle for it.

They couldn't design it correctly to begin with, so they hot patched it. And you engineer types claim we should be thrilled.

Just one question: If you engineer types are so smart why the heck does the camera need to be fixed with tape to correct how it was engineered?

 

[sandymandy]

Sounds like u regret not getting a better education or something...

 

[jalbfb]

Ya know I'm getting a bit fed up with all the "engineers" touting that this fix is standard throughout the electronics industry and that we, as consumers, should just deal with it. Well to you I say "stick it where the sun doesn't shine."

Yes I understand you have spent a lot of money and time and sweat on your education and I'm just a poor blue-collar shmuck. I know you have a pretty plaque on the wall that 'says' you know what you are doing. You might even have a sticker on your drivers license to help you convince the cops you are smart. So what.

Don't come on here and try to convince us mere mortals that this is sufficient and 'don't open your computers' because there is tape all inside it. You know what? I have opened my computer...I build my own computers and THERE ISN'T A STITCH OF TAPE ANYWHERE INSIDE IT. Not one small piece.

What you guys are trying to do is, convince the consumer that your way of doing things is sufficient and that our wee-bit of knowlege on the matter is laughable. Shall we revisit your way of doing things? 1. Do it cheaply. 2. Do is sufficiently 3. Do it 'just enough' to make it work. 4. Hope the customer doesn't find out that your company charges a premium for such a mickey mouse fix. 5. Collect a paycheck and straighten the plaque on the wall.

Well I got news for you guys. It's the consumer that decides whether it's good enough. WE decide with our pocketbooks. YOU get to go redesign it if WE tell you it isn't.

I work with engineers everyday. Not in the electronics field, but the manufacturing field. And I'm here to tell you, you guys F@#* stuff up more than you help. Constant rework and on the fly fixes by the guy without the degree while the guy with the degree looks down smugly over his glasses and his CATIA program; never actually putting things together.

Tape. That's the fix for a $3500.00 camera light leak issue. Personally I'm disgusted and as consumers we shouldn't have to settle for it.

They couldn't design it correctly to begin with, so they hot patched it. And you engineer types claim we should be thrilled.

Just one question: If you engineer types are so smart why the heck does the camera need to be fixed with tape to correct how it was engineered?

Nice rant. Hope you feel better. I for one feel that this light leak is a non-issue. I can never remember taking a photo with the lens cap on in the dark with the top LCD lit. So the fix that Canon did does not bother me in the least and I for one am reassured by the engineers who have chimed in. I am willing to bet that the next generation of 5D3 cameras off of their production line will probably have this same tape in place. I do not plan on sending my camera in for this fix, but should I have to in the future for whatever reason, then I'll ask for the tape job as well. If this issue bothers you so much and you've purchased a 5D3 then return it for a refund. If you are thinking about buying now and this upsets you then do not. As for the majority of us, I do not see either the light leak or the fix as an issue. I think the real issue is the base price that Canon chose and that is what is raising the ire anytime any issue is raised on this particular camera. I'm curious to see whether this issue is present in the 1DX whenever it is released or if it has the tape job present already in place upon release.

 

[Loswr]

Just one question: If you engineer types are so smart why the heck does the camera need to be fixed with tape to correct how it was engineered?

Because a bunch of internet whiners, most of whom don't even own the camera in question, clamored loudly about a 'light leak' when most have no knowledge of the actual consequences of the leak (almost everyone seems to think the leaked light directly affects the recorded image), fail to realize this is not a problem for 99.9% of people who actually have the camera and use it to take pictures of things other than the lens cap, and generally blew this whole issue way, way out of proportion.

Canon should use tape to fix the real problem here...

 

[EvilTed]

So when we send our defective units in to Canon are they going to slap the tape in there when they inspect it and call it done or just send it back?

I want my bit of tape too, thank you!

ET

 

[steven63]

I've been around long enough to remember the 1dmIII focus issues. As I recall very few if any, photographers would have been affected by that. Yet, it became an issue and trying to sell the camera required that you list the serial # to show whether or not it was an affected unit.

Now we have this.

I have little doubt the camera will perform flawlessly with the tape. And I have less doubt anybody would have ever been affected by the issue had it never been discovered. However, I 100% certain Canon will NOT incorporate the tape as a permanent solution and keep it in the next generation camera.

It is an engineering design flaw. Period. Deny that would you?

The problem here is, I KNOW about the tape. Had I never known about the tape I wouldn't care. But now I KNOW. Ignorance is bliss, I guess. And I am not interested in plunking down $3500 for a piece of equipment with a design flaw fixed by tape. Thank you very much.

 

[plutonium10]

Don't come on here and try to convince us mere mortals that this is sufficient and 'don't open your computers' because there is tape all inside it. You know what? I have opened my computer...I build my own computers and THERE ISN'T A STITCH OF TAPE ANYWHERE INSIDE IT. Not one small piece.

The reason why there's no tape in your computer is because a desktop computer is a modular system designed to be put together with interchangable plug-and-play parts. I've taken apart laptops and found (the horror!) tape inside, because these are designed to be compact and lightweight, sometimes using soldered or integrated connections in locations where a desktop tower would instead use a user-friendly but more bulky multi-pin connector.

The 5D mk III is meant to be a sealed unit with no parts interchangeability, so the circuitry and wiring is assembled a little differently, including the use of tape.

Edit: Ya, you're 100% right about the "ignorance is bliss" factor. After I calculated how much strain is put on the pistons and rods of a car engine, I spent weeks expecting to see a piston come flying through the hood as I drove along.

 

[steven63]

Sounds like u regret not getting a better education or something...

My level of education, while beyond the average, is not the issue here. The psychology blog is on another site. Would you like to contribute something more substantial to the debate about cameras?

 

[shockwave1111]

I've been around long enough to remember the 1dmIII focus issues. As I recall very few if any, photographers would have been affected by that. Yet, it became an issue and trying to sell the camera required that you list the serial # to show whether or not it was an affected unit.

Now we have this.

I have little doubt the camera will perform flawlessly with the tape. And I have less doubt anybody would have ever been affected by the issue had it never been discovered. However, I 100% certain Canon will NOT incorporate the tape as a permanent solution and keep it in the next generation camera.

It is an engineering design flaw. Period. Deny that would you?

The problem here is, I KNOW about the tape. Had I never known about the tape I wouldn't care. But now I KNOW. Ignorance is bliss, I guess. And I am not interested in plunking down $3500 for a piece of equipment with a design flaw fixed by tape. Thank you very much.

I think your expectation is not inline with the price you are paying. Although I get your point that you want great engineering for the product for $3500, you are expecting perfect engineering beyond the expected use of the product. To achieve that, you won't be paying $3500 but more like $7000 (or beyond) to have all the test cases, even situation the camera isn't intend to do like taking pictures with the lens cap on, addressed.

What is next? Do we need a solution for taking pictures of the sun without filters? Or does it work in zero vacuum environment? Do we reasonably expect the product to perform outside of the specification?

 

[daniel_charms]

The problem here is, I KNOW about the tape. Had I never known about the tape I wouldn't care. But now I KNOW. Ignorance is bliss, I guess. And I am not interested in plunking down $3500 for a piece of equipment with a design flaw fixed by tape. Thank you very much.

If we call this apparent non-issue a "design flaw", we might just as well call the piece of tape something else as well. Something more sophisticated, like "anti-static photon-blocker". That is to say, Canon fixed the design flaw by adding an anti-static photon-blocker to the design of the top LCD.