20D Failed Shutterbox - 2nd time in 3 months

troutstreaming

I just lost my 20D shutter this afternoon, this one at about 10k actuations over 2.5 months of use. This was the replacement shutter for the original, which failed in October '06 at somewhere north of 70k actuations (over 19 months of use.) The replacement came with a 3 month warranty that still has a couple of weeks to run, but it certainly makes me nervous that I got so little milage out of it. The replacement cost me $440 at Photo-tronics in Seattle, most of it labor.

Any other Dgrin shooters out there with experience on having their replacement shutter fail? Is there any reason that a replacement shutterbox should be more likely to fail than the original?

Of course even if the 3rd shutter lasts for as long as the original, I really have no confidence that it is not going to fail at any time. :cry No $ for a new 'used' pro body anytime soon either. PLus I will now be without an SLR for two plus weeks - again.

Thanks in advance for your thoughts,

Andy

ziggy53

Bummer! I wish you the best.

ziggy53

rich56k

troutstreaming wrote:

I just lost my 20D shutter this afternoon, this one at about 10k actuations over 2.5 months of use. This was the replacement shutter for the original, which failed in October '06 at somewhere north of 70k actuations (over 19 months of use.) The replacement came with a 3 month warranty that still has a couple of weeks to run, but it certainly makes me nervous that I got so little milage out of it. The replacement cost me $440 at Photo-tronics in Seattle, most of it labor.

Any other Dgrin shooters out there with experience on having their replacement shutter fail? Is there any reason that a replacement shutterbox should be more likely to fail than the original?

Of course even if the 3rd shutter lasts for as long as the original, I really have no confidence that it is not going to fail at any time. :cry No $ for a new 'used' pro body anytime soon either. PLus I will now be without an SLR for two plus weeks - again.

Thanks in advance for your thoughts,

Andy

Andy,

Well I'll have some experience very soon....
after completely blowing it by scratching my sensor during its 20th (or so)cleaning (using the copperhill kit) - 100% my fault - not being careful - :cry I took my 20D into dealer where purchased 2 years and approx 70-80,000 clicks ago -send to canon for diagnosis the word came back - needs a new 'filter' for the sensor and a new shutter assy. my cost $350 -:cry - i just OK'ed the procedure and asked for 2 things -
1: actual click count on camera;
2: the old shutter assy to put on my shelf;

will update as news comes...
rich56k

ps: also wondering why you didn't send yours to canon?

z_28

That's really sad and bad, very sorry troutstreaming !
I used 20D extesively for 3 years and sold it in perfect condition.
About 50k actuations.

Maybe should I reconsider sale of my 1D

Hope that your third shutter will works long and perfectly.
And after rich56k - why not Canon Service ?

David_S85

Canon service has a longer warranty on this type of work, AFAIK. (1 year?)

troutstreaming

David_S85 wrote:

Canon service has a longer warranty on this type of work, AFAIK. (1 year?)

I went with Phototronics as they were looking at a two-week turn around with no time in transit and with no back-up body minimizing the time without a camera was more important to me than the price of the work.

For the second failure Phototronics had the body for two weeks before they returned it to Canon, who kept the body for almost 6 weeks, so in the end that did not really pan out as it added 2 weeks to canons 6. The final diagnosis of the second issue was a mechanical chassis failure vs. shutterbox failure for the first. I have not looked at a schematic to really figure out what was going on there. Work was covered under the first Phototronics warranty.

Ultimately I ponied up for a gently used 1D and am shooting with it as my primary now and for a recent shoot rented a 1D mk2 N so that I could double fist with two 1D bodies and leave the 20D in the bag as an emergency body. The 20D still see's occasional use, but I hope by this fall that it can become an IR landscape body and I can pick up a second 1D2/1D3. All depends on how much money I can put away and where I prioritize a new body versus a 300 2.8. I will need something for 1600/3200 ISO indoor sports shooting when the fall sports hit and I would just prefer it not to be the 20D. I also want a 300 2.8 for soccer this Fall so that the 70-200 w/ 1.4 can go back to being a 70-200 2.8... I need to find more and better paying jobs to keep feeding this beast it seems.

Andy

rich56k

rich56k wrote:

Andy,

Well I'll have some experience very soon....
after completely blowing it by scratching my sensor during its 20th (or so)cleaning (using the copperhill kit) - 100% my fault - not being careful - :cry I took my 20D into dealer where purchased 2 years and approx 70-80,000 clicks ago -send to canon for diagnosis the word came back - needs a new 'filter' for the sensor and a new shutter assy. my cost $350 -:cry - i just OK'ed the procedure and asked for 2 things -
1: actual click count on camera;
2: the old shutter assy to put on my shelf;

will update as news comes...
rich56k

ps: also wondering why you didn't send yours to canon?

Update: Just picked my 20D up from dealer - Canon /Irvine (ca) replaced the 'low pass filter' & shutter assy - total out of pocket $350 (!?) total turnaround time 17 days...(burbank to irvine & back)
The paperwork from Canon says 6 month warranty re: replaced parts....
although they didn't return the old shutter assy (was worth a shot - lol) they did say actual shutter firing amount was 40,570 () I had thought almost double that, however they noted the shutter condition was such that I would have been lucky to get 50,000 (as virtually all my use is in hot calif. summer sun 100+ degrees shooting m/c drags and m/c stunting - and all lens changing is also in outdoor situations...) he went on to say shutter should last 100,000 in indoor/studio type conditions
Thats my story and I'm stickin' to it...
rich56k

claudermilk

rich56k wrote:

...he went on to say shutter should last 100,000 in indoor/studio type conditions
Thats my story and I'm stickin' to it...
rich56k

I like that figure as my 20D is most of the way there & mostly is indoors, or milder outdoor work.

ziggy53

rich56k wrote:

... actual shutter firing amount was 40,570 ...

So will you be changing your name to Rich40K?

rich56k

ziggy53 wrote:

So will you be changing your name to Rich40K?

That's a good question..... Thanks for puttin' a needed smile on my face ziggy53!!