Canon EOS-1V repair program terminated early?Help Wanted

Hello!

 

I was wondering if anyone can shed some more light on something for me. I have a Canon EOS-1V that needs a shutter replacement (I'm suffering the weird problem where the top edge of the frame is overexposed). Although the camera was discontinued in 2018, Canon at the time promised to continue servicing them until October this year at the very latest:

 

We will also take repair measures until October 31, 2025, even after the repair correspondence period of our company's repair service contract for the purpose of improving service and support for customers who use this product.

 

After the repair correspondence period of our company repair service contract (October 31, 2020), we may refuse the repair due to parts inventory situation.

I tried using Canon's website to arrange servicing, but no dice. I called them, and the lady I spoke to was very surprised, saying that the camera went out of service in 2013 (which just seems wrong to me, given they were still for sale after then).

 

Might it be connected to the closure of the Jamesburg service center?

 

Does anyone here know any more about this, or can recommend a third party company to replace the shutter?

Through the Canon USA website, I was able to navigate to the service request page for the EOS-IV, where it needs a serial number (which I don't have).

 

Canon U.S.A., Inc. | Service Location

 

Note that at this time, a number of service centers are closed or have curtailed operations:

Canon USA closes its service centers in California, Illinois and New Jersey

 

If you provide folks with the region of the world you live in, perhaps someone can provide the name of third party company that can repair your camera.

So, I have an update - after posting this, I reached out to Canon a third time, this time via email. Someone got back to me and said that the press release I linked only applies to Canon Japan, and that Canon USA have long run out of parts. They recommended that I reach out to Canon Japan and see if they have parts. I did, and they are willing to repair it! Now I just need to deal with shipping it internationally and all that entails... o_O

Just throwing this out there: did they give you a firm parts/labor repair estimate? Add that to the typical $100 round trip insured shipping cost to Japan from USA, and if it comes to a total of more than $400 consider just buying a well functioning replacement body from a reputable Japanese dealer instead. EOS-1v in good clean condition are currently changing hands at roughly $585, give or take. You could then sell your existing body to defray some of that cost.

 

Of course, you might view the repair expenses as a worthwhile investment in exchange for the security of knowing you have a brand new shutter. Repair vs replace is always a subjective, personal decision.

Edited April 3, 2020 by orsetto

That's an excellent point, thank you orsetto. It certainly can't hurt to ask! I'll post back here if they give me an estimate, just in case some poor other soul has the same issue.

I am very, very surprised about the shutter failure in the EOS 1V. This is not a camera known for that type of fault, being more prevalent in the earlier EOS 1N and its variants (though not entirely due to the camera!).

 

Canon has closed a fair number of service facilities, and the sequalae of this is abrubt discontinuation of standing warranties or repair windows for cameras. It is probably worth your while to have the camera examined by an independent dealer. However, if the shutter does need to be replaced, this would likely be now taken from another 1V body. The cost of repair/replacement of the shutter should also be considered against the cost of another camera, which could well be cheaper. It's not just take the old shutter out and plonk in a new one: there is complex electronic disassembly and in the end, calibration and stress-testing then reassembly; goodness knows what happens to the weather sealing but I don't think it is re-used. The 1V once cost a fortune (like the 1N, which I still have, purchased in 1994). They can be found now for around $600-$700, add a couple of hundred more for the PDB-E1/2, but should be critically examined to exclude heavy, continuous professional use and the integrity of weather sealing (a good few thousand first coming out had faulty weather sealing around the top plate). At some stage this camera will require service for replacement of the lithium battery that keeps track of camera settings when the camera is off or in the absence of batteries. The general lifespan of this battery is between 5 and 10 years. My 1N battery was replaced in 2001.