I AM SO ANGRY I DON’T EVEN KNOW WHERE TO BEGIN.
As many of you know over these past two years I suffered over the decision to stay a Canon shooter, ONLY because I am heavily invested, or switch to NIKON. If not, you can read about it in one of the post here.
Borrowlenses came through for me, and I was able to have the D4 Nikon and 200-400 with me on safari last year; I was sold. However, the 1DX came out and the reviews from many top photographers that I respect (who were not explores of light), were giving it rave reviews. Therefore, I thought it would be wise to at least test the 1DX before making a final decision. The results blew me away. Since Canon has been very aware of the problems of their AF system problems, and built the 1DX AF system from the ground up, I foolishly believed they had seriously gotten back in the professional game.
I waited over 8 months from the release date to purchase my 1DX, thinking if there were problems surely I would have heard about them by now. I purchased my 1DX in March, just 3 months ago, and yesterday the bomb dropped as a friend emailed me this;
Thank you for using Canon products.
This notice is to proactively inform our customers of the details of the phenomena described below along with Canon’s support actions. Because we value the trust our customers have placed in us, we are dedicated to continuously improving product quality and delivering industry-leading service and support. We offer our sincerest apologies to any customer who may be inconvenienced.
Affected Products EOS-1D X Digital SLR Camera EOS-1D C Cinema EOS Camera
Phenomena In some units of the models listed below, there is a possibility that the following phenomena may occur due to wear caused by insufficient lubrication within the camera’s driving mechanism. 1. AF searches but does not lock in on the subject. (Caused by minute particles produced by wear mentioned above.) 2. The image shown in the viewfinder is “blurry” or “not steady”. (Occurs if wear progresses.)
Potentially Affected Products 1. EOS-1D X: If the sixth digit from the left of the serial number is “1”, “2”, “3”, “4”, “5”, “6” or “7”, the phenomena described above may occur. 2. EOS-1D C: If the sixth digit from the left of the serial number is “1”, the phenomena described above may occur. NOTE: If the camera’s battery compartment contains one of the markings illustrated below, the camera is NOT affected by the phenomena described above even if the sixth digit of the serial number is one of the numbers mentioned above.
THAT MEANS – 70% of the cameras have defective AF systems, which means soft images!! My biggest complaint and the reason I was going to switch to NIKON! Of coarse my 1DX is in that 70%. What really gets me is that my camera was at the Canon service center on Wed, and they did not say a word!!!! This does not surprise me. As stated in my previous post, my biggest fear was spending a huge amount of money for another Canon Body and have them say your are just S.O.L. (Sh_t out of Luck) THEY PLAYED ME THE FOOL AGAIN AND FOR THE LAST TIME.
I am now reaching out to anyone with a connection to NIKON or a big camera store that may work something out with me. This is a tremendous expense for me, but I am too physiologically damaged to shoot with Canon ever again. I will be in Ethiopia for 7 weeks and cannot take the risk that the camera fails on day one. Who can shoot with that hanging over their head?
I will be in need of the D4, possibly 2 of them, or the D800, 70-200, 200-400, 500, a wide angle and a flash to start.
I will be listing all my gear soon. I love my Canon lenses, and they will be missed, but they must be sold. If you know me, you know my lenses are used with passion, but they still work great. I will be selling my 16-35mm 2.8 (82mm), 24-70 2.8, 70-200 2.8, 500 4.0, 180 Maco-used once- in pristine condition. 580 EX flash, 580 II Ex flash, 1.4 and 2.0 extenders, + lots of accessories like filters and such that I will through in with some of the lenses. Oh yeah, the 1DX.. HAHA, and the 5DMark II- which is a great body and I have had no problems with it. I will try to get this all photographed and up on my site in the next week to ten days, but I thought I would go ahead and let everyone know a head of time. Email me, if you are interested.
Wow Piper, that is so frustrating. I know this will cost you big time, but the cost of not getting the shots when you need them is too steep of a price to pay. I hope the transition goes well and that you are able to get fully equipped with Nikon gear before your next photo safari. I have shot Nikon my entire career, and while I don’t shoot fast-moving wildlife, I’ve been pleased with the results. Best of luck.
Hi Piper, Changing your entire camera system seems like big move to do while you’re angry. Much as I covet a bunch of the items you’re selling, I’m just thinking of all the great pictures I’ve seen of yours (on Facebook, mostly) and I assume they’ve come come out of a Canon camera. One more trip to Canon service to explain that they failed to lubricate the parts that would have fixed the focus problem, might clear up the problem. I suggest you let Lucy put the football down one more time so you can kick it.
What ever you decide, best of luck. Marty Varon
Thanks Marty, but you do realize I have been dealing with this issue for 5 years and now on my third body with this problem????? The last thing I want to do was buy the 1DX, but reviews by some of the top photographers I respect convinced me otherwise. Now I have owned the Camera three months and the EXACT reason I did not want to buy another body is exactly what has happen.. this is not a moment of madness…it is five years of pain and aggravation. THere is a HUGE difference.
With all due respect – your camera has not exhibited the issue but it is in a group of cameras that might. My camera is in that same group and I have not experienced any issues so far. The canon statement you quoted also goes on to state:
Potentially affected cameras will be inspected and repaired free of charge. If you own one of the potentially affected cameras please contact our Customer Support Center.
So why not just contact support, have them check the unit out and resolve the issue?
Shaun,
We can all only go off our past experiences to make decisions on new situations as they present themselves. As, I have mentioned numerous times, I bought the 1DMarkIII, it had the back focusing issues, I brought it in, and then continued to bring it in to Canon numerous time before giving up and excepted the fact that my $6,000+ high speed body would take soft images over 80% of the time… good enough to post on FB but not good enough for Getty, publication, or print. That was followed by my purchase of the 7D.. right out of the box it had to go to Canon, again with AF problems and again, soft focus image about 50% of the time. My past experience has been horrible and I thought long an hard before continuing to shoot with Canon, shelling out another $6,000+ for another high speed Canon body…. You are correct, it “Might” happen… so what if that “might” happens in the first of seven weeks I will be spending in Ethiopia at the end of the year….. this is a tool that is used for my livelihood and I find that an awfully big risk to take considering my past experience of Canon not being able to fix problems with bad AF systems. Perhaps you faith is a little stronger than mine.
Shaun
I have written a professional letter to one of the top personal at Canon, explaining the situation. It would be my first wish that they respond and to resolve this, if not my choice will be to move into a product where I am not worried every time I hit the shutter.
Piper,
I do shoot Nikon and have for a very long time. However I do have a number of friends that shoo Canon. Other than the ergonomics, when I switched to digital in 2004, I sold everything so that i could make a clean choice of brands. I stayed with Nikon just for the feel of the hardware. I do understand that the “look” of the Canon images is very important to Canon users. I don’t know how it shakes out but I am a DXO user/fan and aside from what I think is the best NEF converter,they offer conversion of the appearance, to different sensor/body types. So if you do change to Nikon and miss the whatever it is that exemplifies the Canon “Look” you may give it a shot. I have had the D800 for 7 months and continue to be amazed at the image quality.
Good Luck,
dale
this is the best
good article i hope its for the best
So, the results “blow you away” and you have no issue with your camera but you’re angry? About what?
And no, it doesn’t means at all that 70% of the cameras are affected. Do you really thing more than 7 millions of 1D-X has been manufactured until now?
Hi Max, I am confused by your comment. I rely on my camera’s for my livelihood. As stated numerous times, I bought the 1DMarkIII, it had the back focusing issues, I brought it in, and then continued to bring it in to Canon numerous time before giving up and excepted the fact that my $6,000+ high speed body would take soft images over 80% of the time… good enough to post on FB but not good enough for Getty, publication, or print. That was followed by my purchase of the 7D.. right out of the box it had to go to Canon, again with AF problems and again, soft focus image about 50% of the time. My past experience has been horrible and I thought long an hard before continuing to shoot with Canon, shelling out another $6,000+ for another high speed.
I take a lot of risk in both my photography and in life, but as I prepare to head to Kenya for two weeks in Aug, and to Ethiopia for 7 weeks in Oct/Nov I find it tough knowing at any min my AF system can fail. My past experience in bring in bodies on recall, is they never work right again… and that is all I have to go on…. a lot of time and investment that could not produce profitable images… so perhaps your faith or tolerance for this type of risk is way higher than mine.
Jeez, what a rant. I am sorry that your camera might be affected. The fact that you are physiologically harmed and not pshycologically must be terrible-did the camera fall on your foot? At least the company are upfront about the problem and not expecting you to pay for transport like your dream company expect for the D800 focus problem and the D6 oilstains on the sensor. The grass is not always greener on the other side
Koos, I don’t think the grass is greener. The camera is my livelihood. I have had 5 years of AF problems with the last two bodies purchased from Canon. I lost complete faith in their ability to stand behind their product. How many times to you accept an apology from your mate who has cheated on you? After the third time, would you have faith the problem was fixed and it won’t happen again, or do you leave?
Do you not have back-up bodies?
Not for the speed of the 1DX and the reason I purchased the body, or rather finally up change it out for my 1DMarkIII. I have the 5DMarkII but that does really cut it for fast moving wildlife and I had the 7D at 8FPS but had terrible problems with the AF system as already explained, so it just sits on the shelf at the moment. At the end of the day, this is my livelihood and I need to have confidence in the AF system. I can send this in, just like I did the 1D Mark III and the 7D, but they have been in continuously due to the AF system and they have never worked properly. I have no confidence my experience with the 1DX will be any different than the past 5 years.
I understand the frustration, but can’t you simply have Canon service the body? Obviously it’s a pain to send it in again, but I’m sure if you speak with CPS they’ll get you on the fast track. At the end of the day the alternative doesn’t really have a better service record. I think you’d be putting yourself through a lot of frustration and financial loss to switch because Canon issued an advisory. Sleep on it. 🙂
I have had Nikons go bad just sitting in the bag – and not a shutter failure. An actual failure of the electronics.
Good Luck!
So wait a second. You’re leaving a company that’s at least *proactive* about the problem for a company that constantly denies there *IS* a problem with their bodies, insults their customers when they claim there are problems, always lies “impact damage” any time a warranty claim is sent in, and refuses to sell parts to anyone but Nikon repair houses???
Good luck with that.
And I’m confused, you didn’t say your body exhibited any of the problems (the service advisory says it’s “possible” to have a problem, not “will..” have a problem) and you’ve so far been “blown away” by the 1DX results, yet because Canon has caught a potential problem that MIGHT affect your camera, you’re packing up?
Seems a silly reason to make the switch…best of luck!
I continue to be confused by those commenting that my decision is made by a service announcement when there has been 5 solid years of constant AF issues on my canon bodies. This blog post was to the many people who follow my blog and that have followed this dilemma for the past year. The point of the post was, this audience knew my dilemma in buying another canon body, it was not an open call for people to harshly and personally attack me. It also continues to confuse me how many people would be ok going half way around the world for weeks at a time and have no worries that at any minute there AF system could fail, especially if the past two bodies they had purchase had consistent AF problems……
Both Canon and Nikon have had their share of problems, but there wouldn’t be a bazillion of each brand if one of them was inherently inferior.
The problem is that a DSLR is a very complicated device. If it were invented today it would probably be called something like “hand held computer with attached imaging device”, not a “camera”. Both brands are capable of failure when you need them most.
I do not know you, I don’t know your situation, but if I were capable of taking the kind of pictures you take, I would get another 1DX, so I always had two, and I would keep the camera/lens contacts impeccably clean.