7D err30 - Canon refurbished

The title says it all. This is my 6th EOS camera and probably my last. I purchased all the other ones new, the 7D I purchased as factory refurbished in Oct 2012. Err 30 pops up every photo session. I removed and replaced batteries, did manual shutter cleaning and followed other online suggestions.
Canon wants me to send it in and pay for repairs.
I see online that this is a common problem on the 7D model. I am very disappointed that they are not taking care of this at no charge.

Was it purchased "refurb" from Canon or some other vendor/source?

You might also review this thread https://photography-on-the.net …/showthread.php​?t=1125003. Its a longshot but take note that some people feel the problem went away by replacing the date/time battery. For $5 it might be worth a try. Other solutions include firmware update and rapid fire the shutter for a few seconds

John Sargent wrote in post #16620639
The title says it all. This is my 6th EOS camera and probably my last. I purchased all the other ones new, the 7D I purchased as factory refurbished in Oct 2012. Err 30 pops up every photo session. I removed and replaced batteries, did manual shutter cleaning and followed other online suggestions.
Canon wants me to send it in and pay for repairs.
I see online that this is a common problem on the 7D model. I am very disappointed that they are not taking care of this at no charge.

I have a 7D which gives error messages too, I have just learned to live with it after driving myself mad trying to find out what they mean! I know it is very frustrating after spending £1000+ & we shouldn't have to accept it, but to be honest I would prefer to put up with it rather than send it away for repair. Does yours actually stop you being able to use it ?

John from PA wrote in post #16620738
You might also review this thread https://photography-on-the.net …/showthread.php​?t=1125003. Its a longshot but take note that some people feel the problem went away by replacing the date/time battery. For $5 it might be worth a try. Other solutions include firmware update and rapid fire the shutter for a few seconds

I am not convinced as mine was new, not a refurb like the original posters, & has done it from day 1. However, give it a go, you have nothing to lose.

John from PA wrote in post #16620738
You might also review this thread https://photography-on-the.net …/showthread.php​?t=1125003. Its a longshot but take note that some people feel the problem went away by replacing the date/time battery. For $5 it might be worth a try. Other solutions include firmware update and rapid fire the shutter for a few seconds

Did that. No good. It was factory refurbished, purchased direct from Canon. It seems to be a manufacturing problem with the 7D. I am very disappointed that they refuse to stand behing their product.

John Sargent wrote in post #16620639
The title says it all. This is my 6th EOS camera and probably my last. I purchased all the other ones new, the 7D I purchased as factory refurbished in Oct 2012. Err 30 pops up every photo session. I removed and replaced batteries, did manual shutter cleaning and followed other online suggestions.
Canon wants me to send it in and pay for repairs.
I see online that this is a common problem on the 7D model. I am very disappointed that they are not taking care of this at no charge.

When did Err 30 start popping up? After the warranty period?

Edd1e wrote in post #16620755
I am not convinced as mine was new, not a refurb like the original posters, & has done it from day 1. However, give it a go, you have nothing to lose.

Why did you not exchange it right away?

joeblack2022 wrote in post #16621098
When did Err 30 start popping up? After the warranty period?

Why did you not exchange it right away?

I was on a trip in Australia when it started acting up. It got real bad in the last week. I am a very casual photographer and will go months without shooting a frame. The warranty ended Nov 1, 2013. This model seems to have lots and lots and lots of err 30 troubles cropping up all over the world. That would indicate a design or manufacturing flaw.

Just so you know - Canon surely won't come out and say there is a problem because then they will be forced to repair every error 30 no matter how old the darned camera was. But I've also seen multiple threads where people sent their 7D in to Canon with the error to get a price on fixing it only to have Canon repair it and send it back for no charge despite it being out of warranty. So you may want to go ahead and send it just to see.

There was one mention of banging the camera on the side a few times pretty hard with your hand. Try this one at your own risk.

John Sargent wrote in post #16621289
I was on a trip in Australia when it started acting up. It got real bad in the last week. I am a very casual photographer and will go months without shooting a frame. The warranty ended Nov 1, 2013. This model seems to have lots and lots and lots of err 30 troubles cropping up all over the world. That would indicate a design or manufacturing flaw.

Well, according to Canon Err 30 is a shutter related issue.

http://www.learn.usa.c​anon.com …2012/eos_error_​msgs.shtml

If you do any investigation into shutter failure, it is known that they can fail at any time in their life cycle despite what they are rated for.

To call it a design or manufacturing flaw is quite the stretch.

kfreels wrote in post #16621311
Just so you know - Canon surely won't come out and say there is a problem because then they will be forced to repair every error 30 no matter how old the darned camera was. But I've also seen multiple threads where people sent their 7D in to Canon with the error to get a price on fixing it only to have Canon repair it and send it back for no charge despite it being out of warranty. So you may want to go ahead and send it just to see.

There was one mention of banging the camera on the side a few times pretty hard with your hand. Try this one at your own risk.

I didn't want to bang the thing around. I sent it in to Canon today.
After buying 6 EOS bodies, a couple Canon P&S and several L lenses, speed lights etc, I am about ready to jump ship to a different brand

John Sargent wrote in post #16621624
I didn't want to bang the thing around. I sent it in to Canon today.
After buying 6 EOS bodies, a couple Canon P&S and several L lenses, speed lights etc, I am about ready to jump ship to a different brand

If you do, make sure you make the jump for the right reason. No other brand is any better or worse than any other when it comes to reliability. The exception MAY be a shutterless camera like the Sony but no one knows that for sure since it is too new. You may find plenty of anecdotal evidence to state otherwise but the actual repair figures I've seen on failure rates just don't seem any better for anyone. I ran across a lot of these figures when I was considering a change myself a while back. I looked to see if I saved the links for you but I didn't.

I rarely have trouble with electronics even when I buy refurbished. But my girlfriend somehow manages to get something bad about every other time. How she does this I have no idea. Even when I help her pick stuff, it seems like having her name attached to it means she will probably get something that is screwed up. If you're one of those people, you may want to look into extended warranties.

I never buy extended warranties. I trust that when a manufacturer warranties something they are not saying "This will break as soon as the warranty ends".

Yeah. That's my personal policy as well. But misfortune doesn't hit everyone equally. Otherwise it wouldn't be random. Since it's random, it clusters around some people and if you're one of them, it's worth the extra expense.

My 7D developed the Error 30 after three years and about 60000 actuations. I sent it to Canon repair, got a new shutter mechanism for about $260 USD and it is as good as new.