Canon 70D died

[carsonart]

My 70D that is only 1yr 1/2 old died all of the sudden.  I have only used it lightly and have taken very good care of it.  I tried another battery thinking that may be the probelem.  Even a brand new Canon battery did not turn it on.  Just no juice, nothing.  I sent it to Canon service center, and they sent me an estimate for $224.  I called to ask what the problem was, they said they still dont know, that  was just to take a look and fix the issue if there is one.  If it is something with major damage they will contact me with a different estimate.

It worked perfectly fine one day.  I charged the battery back up, plugged it it, and just never turned back on again.  I haven't even paid off the camera yet on my best buy card, so I have a real problem with Canon charging me anything so soon, and for an obviously lightly used camera.  

Has anyone had a similar issue before?  Is having Canon do this my best option?  I read another post of someone who fixed themselves, but I'm of course leery not knowing exactly wha the problem is.  Plus I have shoots lined up, and need to act fast.

I wish they had a better program to just trade up or something, if I'm spending money anyway.

[isidroco]

Nithin, yes, mine was repaired there, but in my case I had to use a brazilian friend:  you will need a brazilian address, and a brazilian tax payer (CPF)  number (you don't need to be a citizen to obtain that number).  You will probably need some portuguese to fill in and understand forms.  I ended up buying a used T3i for much less of the repair price in the meanwhile.  Procedure in Brazil can take up to 6 months. Camera must be shipped from within brazil to canon from any post office there and will shipped back to your BRAZILIAN address. Shipping is also free both ways.

So you should try to get someone in Brazil to do that for you and send your camera to him.

Maybe you can try to complain and ask for a repair discount given that the broken motherboard is their fault.

[nithinkumar15]

After detailed discussion, they agreed to give me 35% discount on the labor which will bring down the price to $375. Even If I spend the repair costs, I'm sure the problem would repeat itself. Rather I save myself this amount and let go the camera. Canon lost my trust both interms of customer service and product quality. 

[KSPaul]

Canon obviously isn't addressing this in a comprehensive and coherent way – nor in a way that serves the Canon brand. I was offered a 25% discount on repair to replace the pcb in my 70D but Canon Brazil has chosen to do the repair free for affected owners in Brazil. Canon blamed the failure of the pcb in my camera on aftermarket batteries in spite of the fact that there are numerous failures of the 70D pcb using nothing but Canon-made batteries. Canon has changed the repair part available to non-Canon technicians but continues to deny there's a flaw in the 70D's design or manufacture that has led to an unusually high number of very premature failures. Maybe Canon needs some sort of comprehensive, coherent and unified protest in the form of a Facebook page or website collecting data and experiences for the camera-buying public to see and share. Across the web there are several key phrases (Error 80, won't turn on, overheating, non-lead solder, etc.) that I believe all point to the same issue. Has anyone verified that the 70D used lead-free solder? If not, anyone have suggestions for doing so?

[dfansler]

I can easily start a Facebook Page and will do so. I hope everyone on this thread will join...

[RobertTheFat]

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@dfansler wrote:

I can easily start a Facebook Page and will do so. I will need everyone on this thread to join...

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Who? Me? I have neither a 70D nor a Facebook account, so I'll pass.

[nithinkumar15]

I appreciate if  you guys provide me with an some information regarding any certified or authorized third party repair centers who can fix it for much lower price. 

Thank you!

[KSPaul]

I checked with a local non-Canon repair guy who is universally praised by pros here for his quality and low prices but his cost or the 70D pcb replace job is higher than Canon's due to the high price Canon charges for the pcb. That leads me to believe Canon is, defacto, already discounting the repair even at $453 or whatever they're quoting. A couple of independent repair places online are quoting $279 for the repair but that's less than the new Canon part so I'd be skeptical. Even if they're using a new Canon part and losing a ton of money on it, Canon still refuses to acknowledge that they've actually fixed the problem so any new part may just be good money after bad.

[John_SD]

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@dfansler wrote:

I can easily start a Facebook Page and will do so. I will need everyone on this thread to join...

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Instead of wasting your time starting a Facebook page, I think you guys need to find another hobby. Photography isn't for you.  If you think that having costly repair issues is confined to Canon, then go with Nikon. See how that works out for you when you need repairs. 

[Marcelo]

I post it again. Brazil guys started a facebook page that has now more than 1000 costumers, and they made Canon Brazil fix the problem (changing the mainboard) for free.

[dfansler]

Thanks, John_SD  but,

It doesn't seem like a waste of time to me. You, on the other hand, are free to roll over when this kinda stuff happens.