Think I know the answer - 350D shutter question

Ok, I just got a new lens (85/1.8 - love it so far) that I was testing out today when I got the following results. Pic 1 is 1/2000 at f2.0, Pic 2 is 1/800 at f2.8 - both ISO 100. The problem in Pic 1 is worse at higher shutter speeds - meaning the dark area is larger. I think my shutter may be dying on me, I have about 6300 shots on the camera so far and have had it for about 18 months so far. If it is a shutter repair I think I remember someone saying that it was $250 or so, don't think that is economically feasible as these cameras are around $400 new.

What I would like to know is my assumption right, I don't want to send this off to Canon to have them tell me what I suspect. Is there a way to remedy this myself, I don't really have the warm fuzzies getting into the camera as I can still shoot as long as the shutter speed is less than about 1/1000. Do I have much longer on this, I would've thought this would show up at all speeds not just higher ones.

Thanks in advance.

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My guess is that you are correct. It does look like the second curtain is catching up with the first curtain by the time they reach the bottom. Either that or it's some kind of "shutter bounce" of the first curtain—but true shutter bounce results in a light stripe rather than dark.

I have no idea whether this is a progressive problem, and if so how fast it will progress. If it happened with my camera I'd just continue to use it and monitor the situation.

Canon repair cost is right around what you said. It's just under $200, plus shipping. You could check local camera repair shops and see if they think that it's adjustable or reparable without needing a complete shutter replacement.

Don't really have any local camera shops that deal with Canon. Your reply pretty well confirms my suspicions.

Does Canon have any shutter ratings on the Rebel series? 6K clicks seems like a short time for a shutter to die .

davecole650 wrote in post #4628592
Does Canon have any shutter ratings on the Rebel series?

No, not on any of them.

6K clicks seems like a short time for a shutter to die .

It is. I've only seen a couple of reports of shutter failure on the XT/350D outside of infant mortality. One was just short of 200,000 actuations, and the other was somewhere around 85,000 if I remember correctly.

You could always call Canon's service department and ask if they'll cut you any slack on it. I've heard of them doing it for cameras just barely out of warranty, but yours is about 6 months past. Still, as they say "it doesn't hurt to ask". (Of course, falling 800 feet doesn't hurt either, it's the sudden stop at the bottom—or the "No" response to the question—that hurts, so maybe that's not such a great saying.)