Canon 40D failed on me

mercphoto · April 18, 2010

Well, my 40D is misbehaving. I'm going to have it looked at, but I'm wondering if these cameras are worth repairing? Its behaving as if it is going into sensor clean mode. I click, I hear the shutter box open, and the camera shuts down. Its so bad that it takes a battery removal to reset the camera - power off will not suffice. That is the really odd part. Its not a battery problem, nor a lens problem, and its not in sensor-clean mode.

So, at what repair cost is it worth getting a new camera? I'm struggling with that - fixing the camera or treating it like a disposable item. If this was a 1-series I would definitely repair it. But being pro-sumer I'm not sure.

denisegoldberg · April 18, 2010

The same thing happened to my 40D late last year. I sent it in to Canon Factory Service for a repair estimate. It ended up costing $200 to fix - $180 for the repair and $20 for the return shipping. For $200, I thought it was worth fixing.

Turnaround on the repair was overnight once I authorized it.

--- Denise

Tee Why · April 18, 2010

Sounds like an electrical problem to me. Have you tried resetting the camera to factory settings and making sure that the fireware is the latest? To reset it fully, you should also remove that little button battery inside the grip as well.

If that didn't work, I'd probably talk to Canon repairs and get an estimate of repairs. It may be a simple thing like a hard reset on the computer which I would think that they would do for very low or no price.

Good luck.

Sam · April 18, 2010

My suspicion is the shutter has failed. That said, if your budget will tollerate it how about a D7?

Sam

ziggy53 · April 18, 2010

If you send it to Canon they will e-mail an estimate for repairs, allowing you to make an informed decision later. If you decide against repairs it will just cost you the postage to get it back and possibly an estimate fee.

I really do like my 40D and, for the problem you describe, I wound send it in for the repair estimate.

mercphoto · April 18, 2010

ziggy53 wrote:

If you send it to Canon they will e-mail an estimate for repairs, allowing you to make an informed decision later. If you decide against repairs it will just cost you the postage to get it back and possibly an estimate fee.

I really do like my 40D and, for the problem you describe, I wound send it in for the repair estimate.

My local camera shop is sending it in to Canon and we'll see what they say. The guy did suspect a $200 repair (plus shipping). We'll see! In the mean time I get half-priced rentals from the shop if I need a camera body.

Brett1000 · April 19, 2010

mercphoto wrote:

My local camera shop is sending it in to Canon and we'll see what they say. The guy did suspect a $200 repair (plus shipping). We'll see! In the mean time I get half-priced rentals from the shop if I need a camera body.

might be time to upgrade !

aktse · April 19, 2010

Canon will probably offer an upgrade via the canon loyalty program.

Once I got my new camera body, I sent a bunch of stuff to canon for a checkup/repair, including my trusty 40d which had the AF a bit off and the popup flash was jammed. I was offered a reburb 50d for about $500 or so. If they offered me the 7d, I think i would have jumped on the offer. Instead, since it was just my backup body, I just had it repaired.

Bill: You might consider joining CPS. The silver membership might be worth the money for you since it has free return shipping, priority service, 30% off all repairs and two free clean and checks.

idoteech · April 19, 2010

I agree..sounds like a failed shutter. I just got my 40d back and that was the problem. It cost me a little over $200 shipped to repair. It was worth it to me.

Cuong · April 19, 2010

For those who have experienced this problem, roughly how many actuations did your 40D camera have when the shutter failed?

Cuong

mercphoto · April 30, 2010

Update: it is a shutter box failure. $205, plus shipping. Not bad. Hoping I have it back soon...

Brett1000 · April 30, 2010

Cuong wrote: »

For those who have experienced this problem, roughly how many actuations did your 40D camera have when the shutter failed?

Cuong

I would bet it's less than the "rated life" of 100,000 !

firststring74 · June 9, 2010

I just got the dreaded Error 99, and after all the trouble shooting I am prettty sure it is a shutter failure. I am sending it off today......it only had 22,000 actuations on it.

ziggy53 · June 9, 2010

firststring74 wrote: »

I just got the dreaded Error 99, and after all the trouble shooting I am prettty sure it is a shutter failure. I am sending it off today......it only had 22,000 actuations on it.

Sad to hear. Keep us posted.

chrisjohnson · June 12, 2010

mercphoto wrote: »

Well, my 40D is misbehaving. I'm going to have it looked at, but I'm wondering if these cameras are worth repairing? Its behaving as if it is going into sensor clean mode. I click, I hear the shutter box open, and the camera shuts down. Its so bad that it takes a battery removal to reset the camera - power off will not suffice. That is the really odd part. Its not a battery problem, nor a lens problem, and its not in sensor-clean mode.

So, at what repair cost is it worth getting a new camera? I'm struggling with that - fixing the camera or treating it like a disposable item. If this was a 1-series I would definitely repair it. But being pro-sumer I'm not sure.

I had a similar problem sounding problem a year ago. I was trying to shoot continuously with a 430 flash attatched. Got fixed by removing the battery for several minutes and resetting. I repeated the actions and the problem came back. Since then I am careful to use the 430 slowly and have had no problems. Don't know if this helps anybody or strike a chord but thought I would mention it.

I like my 40D sufficiently that I would pay 200$ for a repair, even today.

firststring74 · June 12, 2010

GB,

I had been using my flash, but couldnt get the 40d to work after taking it off, taking the batteries out overnight, and then trying again the next day. It even gave it to me with a lens off the camera. I do love the 40D. It has been a workhorse for me so I am planning on repairing it. I'll let you know what they say........

mercphoto · August 11, 2010

Camera is going back to Canon again. Symptoms same as before. Luckily I'm just inside the warranty period so no additional cost to get it repaired a second time. Sigh...

denisegoldberg · August 11, 2010

mercphoto wrote: »

Camera is going back to Canon again. Symptoms same as before. Luckily I'm just inside the warranty period so no additional cost to get it repaired a second time. Sigh...

Same thing happened to mine - 7 1/2 months after it was fixed, same problem happened again. The Canon support folks were going to try to push the fix through under warranty (even though it was only good for 6 months), but I was uncomfortable with relying on the same repair again, so...

This time I opted for a new body under the Canon customer loyalty program, replaced my 40D with a 7D. No, it wasn't free, but there was a significant discount. Oh, I do need to return the broken body, but interestingly enough they shipped the 7D first, told me to make sure I was happy with it before returning the 40D.

--- Denise

mercphoto · August 11, 2010

How do I find out about this loyalty program and if I qualify?

ziggy53 · August 11, 2010

Try the 866 phone number in this post from "aktse" (April):

http://www.dgrin.com/showpost.php?p=889988&postcount=1

denisegoldberg · August 11, 2010

mercphoto wrote: »

How do I find out about this loyalty program and if I qualify?

I was transferred to the loyalty program folks when I called about a repair and expressed some concern about fixing the same problem twice. It was the normal Canon support number.

If you have a broken Canon camera then you qualify (at least that's what I was told).

--- Denise

mercphoto · August 11, 2010

No current specials for a 7D.

Ric Grupe · August 11, 2010

mercphoto wrote: »

No current specials for a 7D.

http://www.dgrin.com/showthread.php?p=1438424#post1438424

JC · August 11, 2010

mercphoto wrote: »

No current specials for a 7D.

They just told me on the phone this morning that they do have a 7D option. I'll post the info they gave me in the loyalty program thread.

mercphoto · August 11, 2010

Odd..... I called this afternoon and they said no. Please post! Thanks.

Qarik · August 11, 2010

Ric Grupe wrote: »

http://www.dgrin.com/showthread.php?p=1438424#post1438424

wait a sec..

http://www.dgrin.com/showthread.php?t=175015

lol

rofl

JC · August 11, 2010

mercphoto wrote: »

Odd..... I called this afternoon and they said no. Please post! Thanks.

ok, posted, here

http://dgrin.com/showpost.php?p=1438503&postcount=12

maybe their inventory changes by the hour? Or not all the operators access the complete list?

denisegoldberg · August 11, 2010

mercphoto wrote: »

Odd..... I called this afternoon and they said no. Please post! Thanks.

Did they tell you they don't have them on the loyalty program, or did they tell you that they don't have any in stock? Because I definitely got a 7D on the customer loyalty program.

Or I wonder if it matters what camera you are trading in. I was offered both a 7D and 5Dii in exchange for a broken 40D.

I just went through my notes, and I seem to have several different numbers for Canon:

Loyalty program 866-443-8002
Technical support 800-828-4040
Presales dept 1-800-652-2666

--- Denise

mercphoto · August 24, 2010

I'm now wondering if I was not clear enough when I called Canon, and maybe they thought I was looking to trade my 7D for some other new Canon camera, rather than trading FOR a 7D. Hmmm.... oh well. I decided to not bother and just let Canon fix the camera (for free). I might get a 7D anyway and have the 40D as a back-up. Funny, I've always worried about malfunctions and never had one. Now I've had two in 3 months! :O Camera not back yet but I'm expecting it soon.

Canon 40D failed on me

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