Dropped G3

[findeln]

On a very recent visit to France, I dropped my G3 from about 4 feet onto some stone steps and it then bounced down three steps before coming to a halt.

The top plate was dented, the mode dial a bit stiff and the zoom lever slightly sticking. All this was understandable impact damage.

However, the camera continued to perform faultlessly for the rest of the trip and produced another 200 or so excellent pix. I thought members of this Forum would like to hear how robust the G3 is.

Unfortunately, replacing the damaged top plate will incur the standard Canon UK minimum repair charge of GBP150 but the insurance company will pick up most of the bill.

[Bruce]

*** Ouch... ***
I'm glad to hear that G3 is so robust, however I hope to never test its firmness myself... I could have an heart attack before checking for damages on my G3 :)

[findeln]

As a follow up to my earlier post, my repaired G3 came back today from Canon UK just 8 days after I posted it to them.

They were quoting 14/21 working days but beat this by a long way. I think that's pretty impressive service.

[rtamburo]

Not to nitpick, but how does that make the G3 robust? If you dropped it in a puddle of water, from a balcony, down a flight of stairs, or lens first, it would've surely died.

[KarlJones]

rtamburo wrote:
Not to nitpick, but how does that make the G3 robust? If you dropped it in a puddle of water, from a balcony, down a flight of stairs, or lens first, it would've surely died.

Perhaps, but we don't know. We can speculate the outcome not being pretty, but most folks would rather put their trust into what they believe is solid construction and quality instead of pure luck that it landed this way, or only fell so far. That is what has been the hallmark of many cameras - how rugged they actually are in envirenments just a little harsher than the store display case.

[pradeep1]

I've read in other places and from personal experiences of a clumsy friend that the G3 is indeed pretty durable and able to take a shock. The front, top, and back of the LCD swing out are all metal, so that gives it some structure. I am still surprised though that the zoom lens has not been crushed or ruined in the cases where I've read of it being dropped. Maybe the way it is weighted, it falls on the side or something. I remember my father's old Canon AE1-Program. I've personally dropped that camera at least four times on hard concrete (not intentionally) and each time, managed to crush the lens skylight filter and even ruin a lens or two in the process. That camera always seems to fall on it's lens. But the camera itself still works fine.

Not going to do that to my G3, but it is interesting to note.

[Andy_T]

pradeep1 wrote:
The front, top, and back of the LCD swing out are all metal, so that gives it some structure.

Unfortunately, the Metal is more for looks than for real stability... :(

My G2 dropped 30 centimeters from the couch table to the carpet floor, and the front metal sheet got bent on one edge.

I tried to dismantle the camera in order to bend the metal back, but had to quit after 10 or so screws because two of the screws just would not budge - no matter what I did. Bending the metal back was not possible either, as this scratched the plastic half of the G2.

So my G2 still works great, but if you look thoroughly, you see that the metal is bent on the corner. Had the front been the same material as the rear half (plastic), it definitely would not have been damaged.

Regards,
Andy