Help needed

Hey guys - thanks to my kind parents, they've agreed to lend me 4.5k to buy a 2nd hand 1D Mark IIn via Ebay Australia. Unit arrived today and up until an hour ago, I'd had a ball with it. The unit has firmware version 1.1.0 on it, and I was going to update it to firmware version 1.1.2 and also change the owner name. Well, I got the shock of my life tonight when I checked the current owner name - it says "faulty shutter!!!".

Now, I've had a very bad 2007, and just when I thought my year couldn't get any worse...it does. The seller didn't want to use Paypal, citing the extra fees, which seemed reasonable and I didn't think anything more of it. I paid for the item via direct deposit. I've just noticed on the EBay page that it says for direct deposit and direct deposit express that EBay protection is not offered. I suspect that means, cos I didn't use paypal, EBay will not assist me at all, even if this gentlemen has falsely advertised the unit. What do you guys think of this? Of course, not having used Paypal, I can't make a claim with them. That leaves me to do some more investigation with Canon Australia on the serial number, and to then contact the seller and query him about the camera's name. He says he bought it in Australia in February 2007 for $5300, which as far as I can see would place it below the going price for a Australian warrantied item at that point of time. I suspect that he did buy it in Australia, but as a grey market import without an Australian warranty. Of course, I don't expect Canon Australia to honour any warranty, that wouldn't be fair on them.

My sad tale out of the way, any suggestions on checking the shutter? I noticed today that it made a gentle clunking noise, much like the 1D does when the battery is low. True, the 1D Mark IIn's battery was low at the time, so maybe this unit does the same thing that the 1D does? Can anyone confirm this? Images seemed OK today, but I'm going to test it tomorrow, going through the shutter speeds/aperture/ISO combinations to see if there's any particular shutter speed that looks odd or under/over exposed. Does anyone else have any other suggestions other than this?

Any advice would be much appreciated.

Given EBay not helping me, and the unit being 2nd hand (so the department of fair trading won't help me, caveat emptor), I probably will have to take legal action against him and summons him in a court of law, which is expensive. I've saved copies of the EBay page both as a hardcopy print out, and as an electronic copy, as well as done a screendump of the EOS utility and the owern's name entry. Of course, he probably will argue that I changed it and I'm trying to scam him lol! That'd be my luck...

Dave

You don't indicate wheather there is anything wrong with the camera or not. The "faulty shutter" users name could just be somebody's idea of a joke. To my knowledge no problem within the camera is going to change the "users name". Run Cancount or 1Dcount on a recent file from the camera and see what the shutter count is. Even if you had to replace the shutter it isn't too big of a cost (easy for me to say huh?) Folks say $200-$300 USD. Now, take a deep breath and think positive.

$200-300 is a lot of money to me and why should I have to pay for shutter repairs when someone has knowingly and fraudently sold a camera in supposedly immaculate condition that has a shutter problem? That's dishonest and if the shutter does have a problem, the guy deserves to have the book thrown at him imho.

As to something being wrong with the camera, I've tested it as best as I can, but it's impossible to be totally accurate without adequate training with Canon testing equipment/software, and of course, their proprietary software/equipment would be needed. Preliminary testing shows that it *seems* to be OK. This is what I've done:

1. Tested each shutter speed with the appropriate aperture to give a correct exposure on a (roughly) 18% grey surface. So, ISO 1600, 1/8000 f22, then 1/4000 @ f16 and so on, right down to 1/125 (different ISO of course to keep the exposures consistent). So far, each shot seems to be consistently exposed
2. Checked for light leaking via the shutter blinds (faint horizontal lighter sections within images) - nothing found yet.
3. Opened the shutter for 3 seconds and checked to see via the viewfinder if there is any light leakage - couldn't see anything after several attempts.
4. Tried a variety of shots at a medium shutter speed (1/500) and low drive rate - sounds OK and the images do seem to be OK. I've noticed the first image in the streak of shots is about half a stop lighter than subsequent images.
5. Tried a variety of shots at a high shutter speed (1/4000) and high drive rate - sounds OK and the images do seem to be OK.
6. Aurally checked the shutter action - seems to be OK to my ears
7. Compared it to my 1D with the same lens/settings - seems to be OK, although the 1D Mark IIn image on its LCD is brighter than the 1D's - this is probably due to the latter models LCD being brighter etc. I still need to download the test images to my PC and check them to make sure. This could also be due to the accuracy of the metering in both cameras.

I've ran 1Dcount (i've archived my copy of 1dcount onto a DVD and need to find it lol) and it shows around 9400 shots from memory (I'm not at home at the moment, using a public library for Internet access). The guy said it had 998 shots (from memory) on the EBay auction. That's a significant discrepancy imho.

I've rang Canon today and they confirmed that the unit has been in for service (AF calibration only) in July 2006 and was done under warranty. The guy says he bought it 02/07 (ie, February 2007) as per the EBay auction, so there's another discrepancy.

I haven't rang him yet, I will be doing so when I get back home. I'm in the process of going to the local court house and making an appointment to see the chamber of magistrate to see if I have a case or not. If he feels I have a case, and the guy sounds sus on the phone when I ring him, I'm going to return it to Canon for testing/confirmation and then take legal action (ie. sue him for damages).

As to calling a camera "faulty shutter!!!", I don't think of that as a joke and I have a very good sense of humour.

Dave

What is entered in the "camera name" area is input by the owner, it is not a fault indicator. Fault indications are on the lcd as error 01, error 99, etc. You may not like the humor but that sounds like what it is. If your shutter was bad you would not be getting any pictures at this time. Take it out and use it.

Cancount and 1DCount don't work with the Mark III.

For the shutter count, even if it's 9k in shutter count that's still low of the 100k that the model is rated at.

it sounds like the guy you brought it from may be a bit of a pri*k if you get my meaning.

he lied to sell the camera and may have changed the name to faulty shutter may have done it has a joke. I don't believe canon would do that.

Ring the guy you sold it off and ask him if there are any problems and also about the owners name, but he has lied about the details of the camera. he could also lie to you about everything else.

You have tested it out and you said that everything seems to be ok. the only real way to find out if the camera has a shutter issues to use it. that isn't the best way of finding out if you have an issue, but you could find out that you may not have any issues with the camera at all for years to come. most of all be positive. You could be creating gray hairs for nothing.

sbressler wrote in post #3905503
Cancount and 1DCount don't work with the Mark III.

he isn't talking about the Mk3, he's using the "1D Mark IIn" as quoted in the original post.

As others have said, I would not worry about it until you know for sure the shutter has a fault, best way get out there and take loads of shots, and see the results, take varied shots all shutter speeds etc.

It could be the best MKIIn ever made for all you know

It could also be a very good security measure some guy naming it like that to put people off, and if it was stolen maybe a good way to identify it?????

as others have said you need to get the facts

Is the shutter actuallyfaulty, has he actually scammed you

Even then buying a new shutter and kicking the cat is the road of least resistance to solving the problem.

Anyway what goes around comes around, get to know what he looks like , you'll bump into him one day for sure! (then you can have a quiet 'word')

Dave, just chill a second mate. Camera names can be changed to whatever you like. Change the name to "perfect shutter", and I'll bet the camera works just as it did before.

But besides that, if the shutter was faulty, you would know when you had shot with it. You said you were having a ball with the camera before you went to upgrade the firmware, so by saying that, the camera arrived in the condition it was presumably sold to you in, good working order.

If the shutter crapped out on you, from first shot when you received it, then you may have a claim against the seller. As it is, it sounds like the shutter is fine.

Enjoy your new camera.

Thanks guys. The reason why I was cautious is that he's a pro photographer, with more than one body. If one of them is indeed got a problem, it's a good way of identifying it. Yes, it could be a joke, but it's not a joke I'd play. Anyways, I've been playing with it on and off yesterday and today, and the shutter seems OK.

I rang the seller tonight, and he seemed genuinely surprised. He says that he's a technophobe and didn't even know that you could change the owner name, he doesn't even use any of the Canon software. He simply uses the Windows wizard to get the files and then works on them in Photoshop. He says that he didn't know about Cancount/1Dcount etc, but was really grateful for me telling him about them. He didn't seem hesitant, his voice tone didn't change etc, and I'm inclined to believe that he's telling me the truth. He swears he only did around 990 odd shots or so and he doesn't understand why 1Dcount is showing 9000. More on that a bit later in my post

When I mentioned the camera name, he immediately said he was happy to refund me a few hundred dollars for my 'peace of mind', which surprised me. I've advised him that I've tested the camera at my end as best as possible and can't seem to fault the shutter at all (so far) and that I'd be simply happy if he emailed me stating that if the shutter dies in the first month, he'll pay me X amount of money to cover it. He's agreed to do this. He's also going to send me another NP-E3 battery, even though I only paid for one (he had a 2nd one lying around at home, and just realised that he doesn't need it anymore, as he's using a 1D Mark III now - he's going to give this battery to me free of charge).

So, I don't think that he's scamming me. And here's my reasoning. He says he bought the camera from digital discount photography in February this year, and he's going to scan and email the invoice to me to prove it. He says that when he bought the unit from them, there was a shutter assembly next to the boxed unit that he bought, and he asked about it and he was told that it had had a faulty shutter and had had it replaced. As it was a new shutter assembly in the unit, and it was working OK, he was happy with this and bought the unit at a discount. He didn't realise that the shutter actuation is remembered for an original shutter assembly, even if the shutter is replaced during the life of the camera. That probably explains why he says he shot 900 odd shots, but 1Dcount shows 9000 odd.

I've heard some dodgy things about digital discount photography, so nothing would surprise me.

I simply intend to take him at face value, hope that there isn't a problem with the shutter, and use my camera and enjoy it!!! If it does fail, then I'll deal with it when it happens. I've probably only taken a hundred shots since I got the unit, most of that testing it last night and this morning.

Thanks to all that replied, much appreciated.

Dave

The seller has emailed me this morning via EBay, offering to pay $200 if the shutter fails in the next few months, something which is very reasonable of him. He's going to send me a copy of the invoice from digital discount photography and he's confirmed that he bought it from them as a demo unit in April 2007 for $4100. I do believe that he was unaware of the shutter actuation issue, and the camera name issue etc.

Based on this, I can only safely assume that digital discount photography is a very shady business and I most certainly wouldn't buy anything from them or recommend them in the future to anyone else.

My camera seems fine *touch wood*, so I suspect that it has been repaired by a 3rd party camera repairer if it did have a problem with the shutter in the past, as Canon has no record of any shutter repairs on this serial number. All I can do is now use and enjoy the camera

Dave

I think that name change is someone's joke.

Enjoy the gear!

hortonsl62 wrote in post #3911377
I think that name change is someone's joke.

Not really, in his second last post he mentioned that when the other guy bought the camera it did in fact have a faulty shutter and it was replaced with a new one hence the discount. Therefore it was probably named faulty shutter because it did, in fact, have one before it was replaced