Main dial stuck on Canon 6D

[hjoseph7]

Something happened to the Main Dial on my Canon 6D. The dial is very hard to move and is practically stuck in place. I asked Canon for a quote on how much it would cost to fix it. They sent me back a quote for a whopping  $350 + shipping ! I looked on ebay and KEH and saw some Canon 6D's selling for about the same price that it would cost to fix.  I have a temporary work-around though. Since I'm required to shoot 'manually' at f8 on my job, I use Aperture-priority, set the aperture to F8, then I use ISO to manipulate how much light is getting through. So far I have not received any complaints...    

[ben_hutcherson]

Never seen, touched, or handled a 6D in my life, but what does the the $350 quote include?

If it's just for the dial replacement, maybe looking at another is viable.

When I've had digitals in for major repairs/parts replacement on an already well used camera, the repair has generally included a general CLA/overhaul as part of the price. When I had my Nikon D800 stop down tab repaired a few years ago, it was about $275 for CLA+shutter+the actual repair.

Granted the math was a bit different as D800s were still $1K cameras then(it was a few months before the D850 was announced, so the D800 was technically only a generation old at that point) but still I thought it more than reasonable.

Here's my point in that-if you are at least getting some overhaul with the repair, you'll get the camera back knowing it's probably going to be good to go for a long time. Your KEH $350 camera may well last you a decade or more, or maybe not. I'm ASSUMING that's a BGN grade camera. 10-15 years ago, BGN grade from KEH was Ebay "excellent." My more recent KEH "BGN" purchases have been more along the lines of guaranteed to works as it should and not be TOO beat up. There was a time where KEH was giving shutter counts, but I don't remember the last camera I bought from them(a D4) listing one.

[hjoseph7]

I did mention that the Menu was a little jumpy in that you have to be very carefull when selecting a function on the Menu, or it will jump to the next function. Maybe they took that into consideration ? You figure though, the way the Main Dial is placed on the 6D,  it is very easy for dirt and crud to slip into the crevices, especially when you are constantly using it to get the exposure in Manual Mode. I tried blowing some compressed air through it but that did not work. 

[Mark Keefer]

That sounds like the standard fee, I paid that to have a 40D that took a tumble repaired a decade ago. They should also clean the camera and sensor, they did for me. I have a 5D MK IV and my dial is getting a little stiff, I used a rocket blower to blow out any dirt that may have gotten into the dial. Helped a bit, but mine will probably need a dial replacement one day to. There are some YouTube videos on someone replacing a dial. I used to be an electronics bench technician and I wouldn't want to do this myself. I am not impressed with the build quality of some of the rubber push buttons on my 5D MK IV, and when I had the 6D I didn't think the rocker dial on the back was well built, shouldn't be much more to have that replaced while there, think it is just another wear out item. Wish they had a better build quality, especially for cameras with price tags over $2000 and $3000. 

[hjoseph7]

I know this thread is kind of old,  but it seems that the Aperture Ring problem is more common than I thought. If it wasn't,  there would not be this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gtm0DnQwu2s.  Actually there are several videos on Youtube and other articles concerning this problem.

One guy recommended using a toothpick to carefully place glue under the rubber part of the wheel so that it sticks to the rest of the plastic wheel. Actually I tried this and for a while it did improve things, but I then tried to improve things even more and winded up screwing everything up. Now the Aperture ring is worse than before.

Frustrated I dediced to replace the entire camera. Lucky for me Adorama was selling a 6D in E- condition for less than $350 ! Mine came in the mail today and sure enough, it's in excellent condition. Everything looks and works better than my old damaged 6D, including the image on the back LCD which looks much clearer and sharper ?

I also purchased the entire Aperture wheel mechanism for my my damaged 6D on Ebay: I don't think I have the courage to replace it myself, but maybe I can find a repair shop that won't charge me what Canon is suggesting. They are also selling these for the 5D Mk IV,  BTW.  

 

 

[ajkocu]

On 3/22/2024 at 7:52 PM, hjoseph7 said:

I know this thread is kind of old,  but it seems that the Aperture Ring problem is more common than I thought. If it wasn't,  there would not be this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gtm0DnQwu2s.  Actually there are several videos on Youtube and other articles concerning this problem.

One guy recommended using a toothpick to carefully place glue under the rubber part of the wheel so that it sticks to the rest of the plastic wheel. Actually I tried this and for a while it did improve things, but I then tried to improve things even more and winded up screwing everything up. Now the Aperture ring is worse than before.

Frustrated I dediced to replace the entire camera. Lucky for me Adorama was selling a 6D in E- condition for less than $350 ! Mine came in the mail today and sure enough, it's in excellent condition. Everything looks and works better than my old damaged 6D, including the image on the back LCD which looks much clearer and sharper ?

I also purchased the entire Aperture wheel mechanism for my my damaged 6D on Ebay: I don't think I have the courage to replace it myself, but maybe I can find a repair shop that won't charge me what Canon is suggesting. They are also selling these for the 5D Mk IV,  BTW.  

 

 

That would make a fine pictorial tutorial to post in EOS Thursday!

[Mark Keefer]

It would be nice if lenses just had an old school manual aperture on the lens. Did we really need the camera to do this. OK, yes there are those automatic modes. My 5D MK IV shutter speed dial has gotten a little stiff, but it has a lot of miles, probably due for a good going over from Canon service center. I can't imagine how many shutter activations I must have, I got the camera around September of 2016. The camera has traveled from Florida to Alaska, Maine to San Diego to Washington and across 46 states, at least 8 or more trips across the USA, shot weddings... honestly this has been a great camera.  I had the 6D, great camera too for what it is, though I thought some of the buttons felt kind of consumer level and not pro. But it sure took nice photos, even in lower light. I traveled through San Francisco and Colorado with the 6D, even shot some weddings and Bar Mitzvahs and captured beautiful images. 

I have seen videos of guys opening these cameras up and disassembling them to replace parts. Probably doable for someone trained with the right tools. I was an electronics repair tech back in the 1980's, but I wouldn't tackle it, this stuff is built by elves. lol.