Monday 19 September 2011

I'm in the pit stop

The 1D Mk3 is in for repair.
In my last blog, I mentioned the severe auto focus issues I was having at the last gig.
It didn't get any better, despite trying all the usual stuff - cleaning contacts, swapping out batteries, resetting to factory presets, updating firmware etc. etc.

Canon's website pointed me towards AJ Johnstone in Glasgow, who are the authorised Canon Repair Centre. I got a few warnings about them, and a few alternatives.
It seems if you dig deep enough, you'll read good and bad reports about all of the repair centres, but in the end, I decided to stick with the 'official' repair centre.
I delivered it in person on Saturday morning, and sure enough, the guy behind me was back in with a lens they repaired and had got it back in a worse state than when it went in - totally unusable.
I hope I'm one of the lucky ones.

Ironically, despite waiting sometimes weeks in between email communication with New York, as soon as the camera failed, I got a flurry of emails from Retna Lts and I'm now fully on-board and ready to shoot.

One of my priorities will be funding a second hand body to ensure I don't find myself in this position again.
"Should have done that already" I hear you say - I'm a family man, with bills to pay and kids to raise and feeling the pinch like everyone else. The family comes first, every time.

I very much doubt I'll be buying another 1 series Canon though - one of the reasons I bought one was because I expected some durability and reliability out of a pro body, which, after 2 years has had comparitavely moderate use (I don't spray and pray) and is in immaculate condition.

The repair bill is going to cause some real pain, especially as we all start budgeting for Christmas, but I guess shit happens, and you always find a way through.

In the meantime, I'm going strir-crazy without the camera!

Oh, and to save anyone the trouble of commenting:

'Shoulda bought Nikon'

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