Laugh or Cry??

Tomorrow i have to take some pictures of my four year old at her first school carol concert. I have been getting ready for this for weeks and now i have gone and broke my camera!!!!

I was taking the grip of my rebel when something went 'ping' with the grip half on/off and now its stuck. The wheel on the grip just revolves freely and does not turn the screw. I cannot get it on or off

I can see the screw and there is enough clearance to get some scissors in to try and turn it but i am having no luck. The screw is starting to get chewed up and i am scratching the bottom of the camera. What can i do?
I think my choices are to send it to canon or smash the grip to get it off.

How the hell do i take pics now??

damn it!

scissors?

Try a narrow needle nose or try to dismantle the grip, it's obviosuly broken.
If you have a drill, drill with a tiny bit about half way and turn it with the bit.......

Try to be carefull in any case.

Yeah - get a drill and a long thin brace bit. Drill a small hole, put a rod in it and rotate.

Post back on what actually happened, k?

Scissors are the only thing thin enough to fit in the gap but they didn't work anyway! Looks like its going back to canon. I wonder if they will replace the grip or just fix it up. Im gutted but i have a plan to ease my pain.....i will post back later with the outcome.

Go buy a hack-saw blade for $1.00. Slip it between the grip and body, and then saw the screw in half. Try to keep the hack-swa blade closer to the grip to allow you to later put some vise-grips to the left over screw. Ofcourse, you could probably drill it out as well later. Canon may not like this approach, but seriosuly, I think you're in a do or die situation and maybe the canon folks will understand. If eventually you can take the stubby screw out of the body, I'd recommend running a tap into it to clean it up. Sounds like the screw galled on the threads. In the future think about using some sort of anti-seize compound on the screw.

I think the knob that is attached to the screw has probbaly snapped, it is plastic...............

I wouldnt cut it though. If the screw is jammed, then you wont be able to twist it off with anyting, but it probably isnt. Your going to need to drill it and then who knows...........I would not drill into the screw toward the camera.

Your best bet is the one doc or I mentioned. If you can fit scissors in between there, you can fit a thin bit.

Well i have a resolution of sorts and i will be able to shoot tomorrow after all.
My rebel is boxed up and i am going to send it to canon tomorrow and let them deal with it. At least if they do it i should get a working grip back again. I really dont have the tools to start hacking at things and as im one of those people who just make things worse i really think it would be wise for me to leave it be and trust the experts.

Anyway, 'my resolution'?? I hear you ask.

Well tomorrow i will be taking pictures of my gorgeous daughter with my gorgeous 20D....i really didn't need much to push out to the shops and this was it! A bit extreme maybe but who cares, its only money! i think i got a good deal anyway. £1124 for Body and Grip.

Now i only have a few hours to practice with it before i am 'jonny on the spot'.

So once this rebel is fixed up does anyone want to buy it? It will be sold with case, grip, wireless remote, wired remote and kit lens. I should get a good portion of my spend back i think.

Given your experience today, have you considered that having a second body might be wise? Good luck with your shoot.

They will charge an arm and a leg to fix what could be done in 5 minutes with a hack saw blade and Vice Grips

Without a doubt, the best solution to your problem!

Since both camera and grip are only months old i certainly hope this will be a warranty repair!

If i hack it off with a hacksaw the grip is finished...if the do it they will have to replace it.

It doesn't seem like operator's fault. They should change/replace it.