5D Mk IV power circuitry issue and bricked cameras?

Hi guys. I am seriously considering upgrading to 5D Mk4 and have been casually researching it for months. While getting serious about my plan, I came across a thread on DPreview today about several 5D Mk IV bodies having been inexplicably bricked. I would link the thread here but wasn't sure whether POTN frowns on the practice. Google should find it for you. The impacted owners noticed no prior symptoms from their cameras and after 10-20K+ trouble-free clicks, the camera would suddenly die and be completely unresponsive to any battery, OEM or not, regardless of its level of charge. A few people even had the problem recur on their repaired cameras while several have had their cameras with Canon for weeks now (as of the last page of that thread).

If this has been discussed here, feel free to point me in that direction. Curious on your feedback. Every new piece of equipment is bound to have a few problems (the overheating issue with my 7Dc comes to mind), but I don't recall anything quite this catastrophic happening to the EOS DSLR series. For someone who doesn't shoot that frequently, a usage-based issue like this won't occur until after the 12-month Canon warranty expires, which gives me pause.

post the link

There are a number of random reports about different models suddenly dropping dead and needed new main circuits. I had this occur with my own 5D(c) about 10-12 months ago. Dropped dead one morning after 2 shots taken and I set the camera down to alter the set around the product. As Canon USA had stopped servicing the 5D, I had to send the camera to an independent who replaced the main circuit, and did a CLA on the camera. But I have not yet noticed an epidemic of similar issues affecting the 5DIV being reported on POTN.

Thanks for the input. Here's the thread:

https://www.dpreview.c​om/forums/thread/40766​52

OP just read through that thread. I bought my 5D4 almost a month ago and have a few thousand frames on it without issue. I haven't had a single issue with it yet.

I will update here if i have any issues, but obviously we all hope that won't happen. Guess I'll just make sure i always have my backup body on me.

It would be nice if they could narrow it down to one bad component or whatever so we know if the issue has been addressed.

Wow, I haven't seen that kind of issue prevalent here on POTN though, and initially thought it would just be a few people really rocking the boat, but it seems to be a pretty large number of owners with the issue. That would be terrible if that happened on mine.

JimmyDever wrote in post #18336842
OP just read through that thread. I bought my 5D4 almost a month ago and have a few thousand frames on it without issue. I haven't had a single issue with it yet.

I will update here if i have any issues, but obviously we all hope that won't happen. Guess I'll just make sure i always have my backup body on me.

It would be nice if they could narrow it down to one bad component or whatever so we know if the issue has been addressed.

The DP members with repaired cameras are saying the repair order shows a PCB was replaced. But my concern is that some of those repaired cameras were bricked yet again with use. So either Canon hasn't figured out the cause, or they have but haven't yet re-engineered that part, so they are just addressing the symptom by replacing PCBs.

The input from the Aussie pro photographer is especially disconcerting...having over 20% of his fellow pro 5D4-owners having their cameras bricked.

My 5D3 was invaluable during a European vacation last summer. We are going again this year and now I'm rethinking my plan of upgrading my camera just yet.

Just sold my 1D4. Guess I'll not rush into a 5D4.

What is really interesting about this thread is all the ones jumping on saying 'it happend to me' have 10 posts or less.

Lets just say I don't think so - someone is trying to create something out of nothing.

Bassat wrote in post #18336975
Just sold my 1D4. Guess I'll not rush into a 5D4.

Just make sure you have a warranty and use the camera for that first year. If there is a PCB fault, it would show up pretty early in its use. As I will run 10K+ images through my 5D4 in the first year, if no issue has come up yet, I am very confident it won't later.

What does an out of warranty repair like this cost?

I was a little skeptical of that also. I think if this were an actual big issue, it would be on the photo blogs and news sites. The camera has been out for a while now and these seem to be isolated incidents, if true at all. I also can't believe the guys who claim to have had it happen multiple times even after the repairs.

It is possible some early models had an issue and Canon quietly changed production to fix the issue.

ksbal wrote in post #18337036
What is really interesting about this thread is all the ones jumping on saying 'it happend to me' have 10 posts or less.

Lets just say I don't think so - someone is trying to create something out of nothing.

Well, I am sure they aren't making it up, nor do I think they are making something out of nothing. They are sharing their personal experience as would you or I. Post count is utterly meaningless in this case; people sign up for forums to get input on a sudden malfunction all the time.

What this is, is an important statistic. Many people buy a piece of equipment and never have an issue, while some do and to those, it is a catastrophe (imagine the pros from that thread whose 5D4s died in the middle of a wedding or fashion shoot and the vacationer who had it happen at the worst time). None of us want to deal with such a disaster so the specifics are important for us to know. The busiest of pros who buy 3 copies of a new camera don't have too much to worry about; not all will fail at once. But most of the rest of us with just one body think long and hard about these issues before spending the cash.

Another issue is of the amount of use, or lack thereof. We all know that the vast majority of camera-owners are hobbyists who don't put 20K clicks on their bodies in a year. My 5D3 has seen 12K in 3 years of ownership, a regret I am hoping to rectify with the 5D4 but it still may not see 6x photography use over its predecessor. I do plan to shoot a lot of home video with the camera though, something I have never done with a DSLR due to the lack of continuous AF that the 5D4 addresses. So without knowing the cause of this problem, I don't know whether it is related to heat (which video apparently generates a lot of) or something else. Some due diligence is always a good thing.

JimmyDever wrote in post #18337118
It is possible some early models had an issue and Canon quietly changed production to fix the issue.

I agree. That's quite possible.

All of this being said, I love my 5D4 and this is good to be aware of, but I would have bought it regardless of knowing about this issue. If it happens to me i have CPS and the factory warranty for now. I will keep it in mind, but it in no way makes me concerned. just have a backup i guess.