Another dead 7D

I have about 15K in mine in about a year, with zero issues so far.

EL_PIC wrote in post #13640794
There is great variation between all DSLR shutters
and that "non warranty" durability # is just marketing crap.
Funny how so many belive its based on some factual data.

You're correct. The rating that Canon gives on their shutter life is just an educated guess. When I spoke to Canon about it they said that they rate the shutters conservatively and they will generally exceed the specification by a large margin. But, of course, a certain percentage will fail early... generally right after the warranty period is over

Although I still shoot with my beloved 50D, Two of my birder friends, both shoot with their 7D and they have no issues with it. One of them don't even bother turning the camera off when changing lenses and sometimes I see the body in his truck with no lens on it, open, just like that and he has no issues either. They can take the beating well. Sometime it's your lens and not your camera. I'd try a master reset and battery/card removal.

mwsilver wrote in post #13866364
You're correct. The rating that Canon gives on their shutter life is just an educated guess. When I spoke to Canon about it they said that they rate the shutters conservatively and they will generally exceed the specification by a large margin. But, of course, a certain percentage will fail early... generally right after the warranty period is over

My old 350D has clocked up over 220,000 and still working!The spec is just 50,000....

Had 2 shutter replacements on my 40D .....and the 7D is working perfectly 2 years on.

I've had mine since launch. It's been through snow, rain and shine. I've dropped in on concrete, it has heavy usage and it will not quit (knock on wood).

If it decided to die tomorrow, I would still be extremely happy considering the amount of use I got out of it.

My 7D is on its way to 60K in 13 months and has not missed a beat.

Curious how you diagnosed it was a failure of the shutter.

Bites to happen when new but dont let it dissuade you from a great camera!!

Justaddwata wrote in post #13866894
Curious how you diagnosed it was a failure of the shutter.

Not much diagnosis required. The first clue was the ERR 30 on the rear LCD. The next clue was that the camera would fire but the pictures were black. The next clue was that putting the camera into manual cleaning mode the mirror would lift and the shutter was still stuck across the sensor. The final clue was that switching to Live View mode ERR 30 immediately displayed instead of a live image.

I don't know if you want anything more definitive than that, but it was enough for me to make the assumption that the shutter was FUBAR. YMMV.

FWIW, during diagnosis out in the field I did swap lenses, shoot with no lens, swap cards, shoot without a card, remove both batteries - all the standard drill. At that time I did not know what ERR 30 meant, and it was only once I got home and looked it up that I discovered the reason for the message and was prompted to actually look to see whether the shutter curtains were moving. Not much doubt left after that.

There was nothing I did to cause the failure (such as dropping or knocking the camera) at the time. I was shooting meerkats, one frame at a time rather than hammering the shutter at 8 FPS, with the camera on a monopod. To begin with pictures were emerging from the camera. Then, suddenly, nothing but black frames and the error message.

My advice.... go buy a Nikon.! as that is what you really want.

freddyttt wrote in post #13867269
My advice.... go buy a Nikon.! as that is what you really want.

Not my thread, but how do you come to that conclusion?

Had my 7D almost 2 years with about 60000 shots and it's shutter is NOT dead-works like a charm.
peace.

20+K actuations here with no problems

I don't know how this old thread got started again, but I was given a brand new 7D over the counter, which is working perfectly. I was pretty upset at first, but it's ancient history now. Let's put this one to bed, folks.

James P wrote in post #13867535
I don't know how this old thread got started again, but I was given a brand new 7D over the counter, which is working perfectly. I was pretty upset at first, but it's ancient history now. Let's put this one to bed, folks.

It got restarted because I searched the forum for "7d shutter failure" and this thread was near or at the top of the results. It looked recent enough and in your opening post you asked about the reputation the 7D had for shutter failures. I'm not sure how we can speak of, or contribute to, its reputation without posting in the thread. While I am glad for you, and unsurprised, that you got your camera replaced, some of us are not so fortunate.

I've just received my repair estimate from Canon and it's not pretty. As far as I can tell from the fault description the fault is entirely down to a problem during manufacture/assembly. I don't see how it is possible for the end user to go around stripping mirror box screws since the end user would have no reason to ever touch one. Why it has stripped I do not know, but it sure as hell is nothing I've done. I have asked for some goodwill towards the costs, given the relatively low shutter count compared to Canon's 150,000 click marketing claims, and I'm waiting to hear back. If they refuse then I'm faced with a £282 bill - approx US $450. $450 for a faulty screw!

Anyway, sorry if it offends you that I resurrected the thread, but even if you gain no benefit, perhaps others will. Especially if I succeed in my quest for a little consideration from Canon.

p.s. the reason I was looking for threads in the first place was because I was curious about repair costs, and not to jump on any Canon bashing bandwagon. The retailer I bought it from wanted £331.

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I'd sure be pushing hard that it is a manufacturing defect, not wear and tear, and be asking for more than a little goodwill. Unless stripped screw threads somehow occur with use, but that's not what I'm picturing.

Good luck with it, and please let us know the outcome.

I have heard back from Canon and have spoken with one of their engineers. The problem was not merely a stripped thread, but what appears to be impact damage that caused stripping of a screw securing the mirror box. I don't know how or when such damage could have occurred - none to my recollection - and there were certainly no such incidents on the day it all went belly up. It is likely that the resulting problem with the mirror box had a knock on effect, causing the shutter to be damaged. This is why the repair includes both a new mirror box and shutter assembly.

The engineer did say that it might be possible to bodge a repair to the mirror box with a bit of glue/Loctite, but I take pride in my gear, treat it well and want it to be perfect, so no short cuts for me. As the fault appears not to be one of manufacture, but of impact damage, I can't honestly expect them to write off the repair cost in full. On the plus side they offered to halve the cost of labour, shaving £70 off the total bill. Since I have no way to prove there has not been impact damage I have agreed to the revised estimate. £204 sounds a lot better than the £284 or £331 figures I was facing before this afternoon. It's worth noting that I have received goodwill service from Canon in the past, so all in all, as sad as I am to have this bill, I can't really grumble about the service overall. The camera is now 27 months old.

So, I don't think it's fair to add a +1 to the shutter failure stats for this incident.