Which current EOS-1D model is equivalent to original?

[charles_brown1]

Which currently sold EOS-1D model (S, Mark II, whatever) most closely

matches the original (circa 2001) EOS-1D?

 

I maybe faced with the costly proposition of having to replace a

borrowed, and now broken, EOS-1D. I need to know what the most

appropriate currently sold camera is that fairly matches the

cost/feature/value equation of the original model.

 

The camera was entrusted to me by a friend, a very recent widow, who,

with her late husband, owns an event photography business and wanted

to keep the business going seamlessly by having me shoot an upcoming

scheduled event. (I've worked with them once before, as a back-up

shooter using their older D30).

 

Well, once the outfit was in my clumsy hands, so much for the idea of

seamless. With an event date looming in April, it seems instead that

I might have to purchase a new body, if the repairs aren't doable or

schedulable in time. The real bummer is, I was not doing this for

pay. I simply wanted to help a friend survive, and now, I'll be

struggling to survive myself once the bill comes.

 

It's truely amazing how much a few seconds of incompetence can cost.

Even with the EOS-1D operator's manual open to page 27, and right in

front of me, I still managed to find a small amount of resistance

just prior to the complete insertion of a compactflash card. Not

liking what I was feeling, I removed the card. I looked into the

slot, and my heart sunk. Now, the bent CF pin could have already

been there, as the camera had passed through several hands before it

ended up in mine. But wanting to make sure things were perfect, I

took that extra step... unfortunately.

 

So which model camera is the fairest replacement? The current EOS-

1D "S" model, at $7,500, seems to be more camera than the $5,000

original cost of the "broken" EOS-1D, but it's hard to determine

whether or not the curent $4,400 EOS-1D "II" is as good as, or better

than, or a thrifted out version of the original.

 

Any thoughts?

 

I'm a new user here, and don't know how to link to the "repair" part

of this situation posted in another (non-digital) Canon forum. I

still am not sure which is the correct forum, but here is what I said

there:

 

Broken CF Pin inside EOS-1D... please help!Charles Brown , mar 08,

2004; 01:11 a.m.

A CompactFlash (CF) pin was bent... in a borrowed EOS-1D. It was

folded over flat. Seeing this, I used delicate dental tools to

straighten the pin. It broke. In that moment, I aged five years.

 

Now I need help in what to do, and what the potential consequences

and costs will be once it is done.

 

 

I do not know if the pin was bent before the camera came into my

possesion, but since I undertook to straighten it, and now it is

broke, my position is that it is my responsibility to see that the

camera is correctly repaired, or replaced. Yikes, trying to do

someone a favor looks like it's going to cost me several hundred to

several thousand dollars. I am very depressed right now.

 

 

Here are a few specific questions:

 

 

1. Can CF pin terminals being successfully repaired? 2. Is the entire

pin bank plug replaced? 3. Does that require soldering to an internal

PC board? 4. What else is involved with such a repair on an EOS-1D?

 

 

Really, my main concern is question 5 below:

 

 

5. Does the heat from soldering, or the process of opening up the

camera that deeply, or any other process of repairing this part of

the camera, end up causing other problems with fried chips,

intermittant camera or image processing malfunction, etc,... even

when the repair is performed by an authorized Canon repair facility?

 

 

(I ask question 5 because so many times a repaired product is never

quite the same again as the original assembly, and wasn't sure if

this is the case with pro digital SLRs)

 

 

I did do a search on Google main as well as Photo.net. Amazingly, it

seems that not too many people seem to have trouble with their CF

slots. No hits, but one, where Craig Bridge stated the following:

 

 

"Craig Bridge , nov 18, 2002; 06:36 p.m. Hal, some of us (nerds,

schemers, electrical engineer types) actually have access to

specifications that describe what CF pins do what and can make a

pretty accurate diagnosis of what might happen based on what pin is

broken. Daryl, what pin broke? Pin 1 is on the opposite corner from

the narrow key which is offset from the centerline toward pin 50.

Pins 1 to 25 are on one side opposing pins 26 to 50 respectively.

 

 

Pins that are duplicated (break one and noise margins go down

affecting reliability): 1,50=GND 13,38=VCC Pins that might not

matter: 24=WriteProtect 33=-VS1 typically GND 40=-VS2 typically left

open"

 

 

In the next message, Craig continues:

 

 

"Craig Bridge , nov 18, 2002; 06:52 p.m. Depending on the size of the

CF card, the high order address lines won't matter (what size CF card

is it?). If the D60 or the CF card is an 8bit access system, data

bits 8-15 won't matter (pins 27..31,47..49)."

 

 

I do not entirely understand Craig's description of pin location, but

from what I can deduce, the pin that broke is either 1, 25, 26, or

50. It is a corner pin on the "wide" alignment slot side of the card.

If the EOS-1D is upright, with the camera back facing you, and the CF

door swung open, the bent (now broken) pin would be on the uppermost

right hand position. It was initially folded away from the other

pins, pointing upward toward the top of the camera.

 

 

The CF cards I have are all IBM 1 GB Microdrives, and one Lexar USB

enabled 512 MB. It was the Lexar 512 MB card that met a little

resistance upon insertion, which makes me think that I should

shoulder the blame for both the bending and the breaking of the pin.

 

 

Either way, I desperately need advice as to what to do, and what all

may be done to the camera in the hands of a repair facility.

 

[brian_diaz]

The 1D is the only currently sold camera that is equivalent to the 1D. The 1Ds is a completely different camera with a different purpose (and a much higher price) and the 1D MkII is an upgrade of the 1D, but it will not be available until April (and if you get on a waiting list now, who knows when you'll actually get it.)

 

I'd look into Canon authorized repairs. Also, look into what insurance covers.

[jespdj]

What a long story. Don't panic! Do you want to buy a completely new camera just because one little thing is broken? I don't think the repair of a broken CF pin will cost as much as a new camera. Just let Canon repair it and if you're worried about how they will be repairing it, just ask them about it.

[ralph_jensen]

Send it to Canon in NJ or California and they'll have it back in your hands in

just over a week--and I think you'll be surprised by how little the repair costs.

Don't lose sleep over it; Canon gets MANY more strange--and more

severe--problems than yours! Not a big deal.

[jason neymeyer]

If the friend has a photography business, then she should have back-up equipment. See if she has another camera that you can use for the event while the broken one is being repaired.

 

If she has no back-up, find a local shop where you can rent a 1D for the event (should be less that $100/day), then get the broken one repaired.

 

No need to spend thousands of dollars here (unless you want that new camera body for yourself after the repair is complete. Then this might be as good an excuse as any.

[charles_brown1]

Brian, Thanks for the quick run down on the models... I googled EOS-1D and saw the price for the 1Ds and MK II right away in the search abstracts. Of course there was no explanation as to the availability, introduction date, or purpose of those models, and I haven't kept up with the latest and greatest.

 

Monday has finally rolled around, so I am able to contact Canon now.

 

As for insurance, I checked my policy, and unfortunately, there is no coverage for incompetence!

 

Jesper and Ralph, Thanks for the kind reassurances. I'll admit, I did panic, and I did lose some sleep. In 30 years of taking pictures, I've never lugged a bag with over 25G of body & glass before, and to break something before even turning the first thing on really made me feel like... well, a whole lot of things. None of them good.

 

The surviving owner is just as unfamiliar with the camera as I am, and I worried that if something doesn't work right with the camera after the repair, she might think it was because of me, even if it truely wasn't. But, naturally, as a good friend, she wouldn't say anything like that directly. But I wouldn't want that lingering inside, you know? That's why I thought, maybe I should just buy her a new one.

 

Jason, Thanks for the rental suggestion. Unfortunately, I'll need a lot longer than one rental day to get up to speed on this camera prior to the event. This experience is like stepping out of the cockpit of a 30 year old Piper Cub, and into the ejection seat of a state of the art F-117A Stealth Fighter... with only 30 days until desert duty in wartime. I am woefully unprepared as it is, but I am all she has got under the circumstances. I need some self-training time with this black computer/scanner thing called a 1D "camera."

 

My personal equipment cannot do the asignment. The event calls for digital files, of the highest quality, immediately renderable, in a dusty, dirty, chaotic outdoor envirnoment. The access to the subject is limited, yet close detail of the subject is required, hence the two long white fireplace logs of "L" glass that weigh down the bag so heavily in cost.

 

The back-up body is a D30, which, in my limited experience, cannot react sufficiently to the critical "moment of decision" upon shutter release. Maybe the picture will take immediately, but more often than not the D30 will instead decide to wait another half second to respond first. I believe this is why the late owner moved up to the 1D as the principal body. There is not nearly enough income derived from these event to justify the purchase of another 1D as a back-up.

 

But with my potentially bone headed move, there might not need to be that cost justification. It might just be a matter of principal.

[dloose]

I'm dying to know what kind of photography this 'event' is all about?