Spare just one thought and Ignore this message at your peril...

[smiffy_smiffy]

If you ever expect to get any photo gear repaired, read on :

It is now a fact that no spares, none that is, zero, zilch.... are any longer being produced for photographic items that are over SEVEN , THAT'S 7 YEARS OLD

This crazy situation now exists, it's not a bad dream it's stark reality. 

It's happened because all the major names no longer actually make cameras & lenses themselves and these companies couldn't actually give a toss.

As long as you spend your money with them, that's all they need, any 'reputation' has long since evaporated.

Don't believe me , ok just contact any major independent repairer and see what they have to say....

We would love to be proved wrong 

 

 

Edited July 20, 2023 by smiffy_smiffy

[Niels - NHSN]

I thought the rule of thumb was 5 years after discontinuation of the product. At least thats what I read in the camera magazines (remember them?) back in the 80's.

 

[Ken Katz]

54 minutes ago, smiffy_smiffy said:

all the major names no longer actually make cameras & lenses themselves

I don't know this to be true, but if you have any evidence, please provide applicable links.

I also thought that about 5 years of spare parts after discontinuation was more or less standard in the industry, but I don't know if many countries have rules and regulations on this.

Issue might bother me if I bought $5K+ lenses, and expect to keep them for a few decades.  Large pro lenses are out of my price range and my vertebrae's ability to carry.

Edited July 20, 2023 by Ken Katz

[smiffy_smiffy]

1 hour ago, Ken Katz said:

I don't know this to be true, but if you have any evidence, please provide applicable links.

I also thought that about 5 years of spare parts after discontinuation was more or less standard in the industry, but I don't know if many countries have rules and regulations on this.

Issue might bother me if I bought $5K+ lenses, and expect to keep them for a few decades.  Large pro lenses are out of my price range and my vertebrae's ability to carry.

Latin was not always my strongest point Ken but the phrase 'Q.E.D.' repeatedly springs to mind..

To put it another way ; all repairs have stopped because spares have stopped and makers are no longer makers...Q.E.D.

[samstevens]

2 minutes ago, smiffy_smiffy said:

the phrase 'Q.E.D.'

Latin wasn’t a strong suit of mine, either, but logic was. Anyway, the language of origin was Greek (then translated into Latin). In Greek, it looked like this: ΟΕΔ. As I understand it, Q.E.D. usually concludes an argument, putting a fine point that the argument has been proven. More often, it’s offered at the end of mathematical proofs.

In any case, it’s not used simply as a writer’s testament of self assurance. Mathematical proofs require valid step-by-step procedures. In argumentation, proofs require logical progression. They may also require evidence. In this case, evidence was requested. Stating Q.E.D. is not supplying evidence. Q.E.D. Is not a substitute for reliable data, links, corporate records, etc. Q.E.D. would be appropriate after supplying those things.

There is too much worth ignoring on the internet to take seriously “non-ignorable” messages not backed up by evidence.

 

[smiffy_smiffy]

At risk of repeating my original summary

4 hours ago, smiffy_smiffy said:

Don't believe me , ok just contact any major independent repairer and see what they have to say....

May we wish Happy Days to one and all 👩‍🦰 !!

[Rick Helmke]

I don’t know or care about Q.E.D. I do care about spending good money on good equipment that will last. Pretty much everything made when autofocus became normal is unserviceable now after a few years. It’s one reason I have no interest in mirrorless gear. I can still focus manually quite well so why bother replacing everything after five years give or take? There’s very little I want to do that can’t be done effectively with the glass I have. Then again, at my age, and I’m not that old, I’m not the target market. Nikon, Canon and the rest don’t give a crap what I think.

 

Rick H.

[smiffy_smiffy]

Rick , you're smack on mate 100%.  To just re-iterate the fact that the major players like Nikon. Canon etc. "don't give a crap" has prompted me to enlarge (bad pun) on my original post, which does somewhat  lack 'clarification'. 

A local enthusiast needed a repair to their Canon EOS DSLR which they had paid over £1000 for some 12 months back. They were told by the repair companies that spares were not any longer available for that camera, nor generally for any cameras/lenses more than 7 years old.  Shocked by this news, said enthusiast took the matter up with the dealer who had sold him his expensive but now useless artefact.

The dealer, who I know personally and trust 1000%,  who had been selling cameras for at least 40 years, was equally incensed, and made some urgent enquiries in the trade.  What he subsequently found out shocked him to the extent that he immediately stopped selling all second hand equipment as he would not be able to offer customers any repairs for anything over 7 yrs old, which obviously most are.

The dealer's further enquiries also exposed to him the dire state of the current photographic trade: 

For many years all the main 'makers' have farmed out camera and lens manufacturing, to the extent that many companies do not know exactly where 'their' stuff is actually made, and so when it comes to spares they only stock the absolute minimum, hence the maximum 7 year limit that now exists. Of course anybody can spend what they want on new kit but that's not the point in question. It's when, like the previous example, you splash out on that older but mint looking marvel that you always longed for, only to find out later that you just won't ever be able to get it repaired...

It gives us no pleasure at all to expose, (more bad puns), today's sad facts but hopefully it will help serious enthusiasts to avoid major upsets.

Cheers.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited July 21, 2023 by smiffy_smiffy

[AlanKlein]

My 5 year old Samsung Galaxy S7 cellphone won't accept Chase bank's new app because it requires the latest Samsung operating system that cannot operate in my 5 year old cellphone.  So it's not only parts but software we have to worry about.  

[paddler4]

3 hours ago, smiffy_smiffy said:

For many years all the main 'makers' have farmed out camera and lens manufacturing, to the extent that many companies do not know exactly where 'their' stuff is actually made, and so when it comes to spares they only stock the absolute minimum, hence the maximum 7 year limit that now exists.

I don't know how much of that is true of camera manufacturers--and the answer almost certainly varies from brand to brand--but to some extent, that is true of almost all complex manufacturing now. That's one of the main reasons for the supply chain problems that have affected much of the economy. I don't know about the UK, but in the US, the press has been writing about this for several years. One of the responses is labeled "reshoring" in the US: establishing parts suppliers nearer to final assembly, or even doing it themselves.

While it's clear that it is sometimes impossible to get parts for older cameras, the idea that parts are never made for cameras more than 7 years old, regardless of brand or model, is both illogical (why would the same time limit apply to all cameras?) and simply wrong. For example, the Canon 5D Mark IV was introduced almost exactly 7 years ago (went on sale Sept 2016), and Canon is still producing and selling them. It will be years more before support is ended. Some years after a manufacturer stops producing a camera, they'll stop stockpiling parts, but you haven't provided any evidence about how long that period is for various cameras.

And  this problem is true of other manufactured goods as well. I recently had to junk an old but functioning electric lawnmower because the manufacturer had long since stopped producing and stocking a protective flap that goes on the back of the mower. And collectors of classic cars face the same problem, although I think after a longer time.

Edited July 21, 2023 by paddler4

[Ken Katz]

As paddler4 described, camera manufactures absolutely source parts and components from other manufacturer, as does almost any manufacturer of any complex device (the supply chain).  And while re-labeling of cameras and lenses has and does occur, I believe the major camera makers do manufacture their own equipment (please feel free to supply any supporting or contrary sources).

https://global.canon/en/mfg/f-01.html

4 hours ago, smiffy_smiffy said:

A local enthusiast needed a repair to their Canon EOS DSLR which they had paid over £1000 for some 12 months back

When did this happen?  What camera model?  What repair company did they contact?  Did they contact or send the camera to a Canon repair facility?

7 years is an arbitrary number, and as described above, there is still equipment that was introduced 7 years ago that is still being sold new today.  The Canon 70-200 f4L I currently own and has misbehaved for many years, was introduced about 24 years ago.  I don't know if it is still repairable, but many parts seems to be available for sale (I assume refurbished from broken lenses), so an independent repair company may be able fix it, or I may sell it for parts to get it out of my house.

https://21cameraparts.com/canon-ef-70-200mm-f4-l-usm-parts/

Its been a rule of thumb that Android phone manufacturers provide OS updates for about 3 years, and in my experience, Apple provides updates for about 5 years.  Eventually, apps get updated and stop working on older OS, so that's just the way it is.  My Ipad Pro is over 6 years old and still runs the latest OS, but the battery crapped out and we replaced it.

 If you want stuff to last forever, don't buy stuff with any electronics

Edited July 21, 2023 by Ken Katz