Canon/Service/Frustration

Yet another round of complaints for Canon!!

D30- Takes good pics but it has had LOTS of problems with exposure. Service time in the past has been fairly prompt and shipped when promised.

Latest problem(s) also had exposure going off and included "Error 84" and the lens staying stopped down. Only a reset by taking out the battery would let me take more pictures.

Called Monday to Canon and was told to send in the body and lens.

Got the standard email with a price and no other explanation. I called for one and got it.

It may need a shutter replacement. All covered by their "flat fee" service charge.

My 10 year old 100-300 lens is no longer repairable OR testable by the Canon factory. Dumb so now I can't find out if the lens had any part in the problems.

Oh yeah, and they said 15 days until they can fix it. The must be backlogged from all those 10D's needing focus recalibration!! (-:

I was VERY satisfied with my A2E. and once sent it in just to have a check-up. No problems, always exposed right on the money, etc. but the D30 has been trouble from the start.

I hate to say it, but I'm trolling the Nikon board to see if I should spend my monet there instead if with Canon.

-Peter Smakula

Yes, please go Nikon. Have another set of problems to whine about on their forums.
Sorry but things do go wrong with electronic and mechanical devices.
We are all sorry for your problems but that is hardly a reason to flame Canon, at least it sounds fixable. As for the lens - try an independent repairer who may be able to do something - although if Canon can't.............it does sound as if the lens fried the body!

For better than 17 years I have had no complaints about Canon's Products, Services or business practices. All that changed when I bought my 10D and my i950. They have been a disaster to deal with. Both Products were broken right out of the box, I was able to get my sympathetic dealer to replace the printer. I wasn't so lucky with the 10D. If I didn't have tens of thousands of dollars invested in the EOS system I'd pack it up a switch to someone else. Digital is the future and Canon Digital has thus far proved to be unreliable. Canon doesn't seem to be making any friends with their poor service ethic. If someone else made an EOS mount body I'd buy it in a minute. As it stands, my only options are to sell my gear at a loss or go back to film only. I knew I should have just bought a digital back for my medium format camera. I mean really, if kodak can figure out a way to get a removable back to align so that it captures sharp images then surely canon should be able to do it is a fixed body system right? I guess not. I am no longer so blinded by my love of Canon to accept these design and construction flaws as "quirks" that I should have to work around. I have too much work to do to be slowwed down by a less than perfectly functional camera. A camera is a tool, like a hammer, if that hammer can't pound nails right then it is a piece of junk. If a camera can't do the one thing it was built to do the it also is a piece of junk.

sorry to hijack your post but I am just as frustrated as you.

Thats the conclusion I came to as well. I'm not sure if the design was poor to begin with or the repair skills of the techs at the service center are the cause. As a mechanic/repairman of many things over the years I have seen many previously repairable items become non-repairable. Couple that with the corporate mentality of "make it as cheaply as possible" its a wonder anything works anymore!

Hey I'm glad to know I'm not as alone as I thought!

-PS

I have always had fantastic results with Canon's service department! I had a print head problem with my S-9000 and after going through a few simple steps with the tech, she determined that my print head was defective and I got a new one in 2 days! I didn't even have to return the old one!!!

I have not had any problems with the 10D yet although I am starting to wonder about focus issues. It could be me but when I use spot focus and focus directly on a birds head for instance with the telephoto, when expanded to full size, it is almost always blurry. It could also be the cheap 75-300 USM IS zoom lens but all of my lenses seem to do this. I have been thinking of calling Canon to see what will happen but I hate to part with the camera for even a day.

I am sorry you have had problems with your D30. We have to remember that new technology does have its problems and since digital SLR cameras are getting popular so quickly and approaching the reach of the average consumer, they are having to be mass produced very quickly and a new model comes out in les s than a year. I have had all 3 Minolta Dimage7's in less than a year and finally moved up to the 10D. I was going to buy a D30 but it was so expensive, and then the D60 came out which really improved the D30 but was still expensive...and now the 10D which supposedly improves on the D60 around 6 months later for $500 less! It's starting to sound like computer wars.

I'm not saying that I agree with this and we are NOT shelling out a small amount of money for these DSLR'S, especially when we have to add all those lenses. When a flaw gets posted, everyone panics and wants their products replaced whether or not theirs "has" the flaw (remember the Intel Penium math function fiasco?). I'm sure this totally swamps the manufacturer and the overload reflects on their capabilities or concerns about speedy, accurate repairs. This is STILL no excuse for poor workmanship, but I have been pretty happy with the quality of the 10D so far.

Just my opinion and experience so far with Canon.

Patrick

Cool. You guys put all your stuff up for sale please. I'll be the first one there to take that awesome stuff off your hands.

Believe me, you are so in the minority with your problems, but I do sympathize with you and I'm thankful that I have yet to have a problem with ANY Canon equipment I have purchased. Well, there was a spot on the D60's sensor filter, but that got replaced. No big thing. These kind of things happen with these massively complicated devices.

Anyway, please email me personally if/when you sell your stuff. I am so there...

It's funny,. the vast majority of the "pros" that show up at my theatre,. or even that I bump into out int hte wilds,.. have Nikon equipment. (I know in sports its the other way around but I don't have opportunity to rub shoulders with sports photographers often)

The last few months I have heard more "Nikon People" with investments in Nikon gear mumbling how they wish they had Canon equipment... two reasons given.

The Wildlife Photographers,. envy Canon lenses,..

the photographers doing gigs in my Theatre,. envy Canon digital SLRs which are

"light years ahead of Nikon",

.. or another quote

".. to use my Nikon lenses on a good Digital camera I had to buy a Fuji... and before that you had to own a Kodak..."

So you ARE not alone,.. and a lot of the ones I know wanting to switch are switching TO Canon.