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.

[KSPaul]

Just want to add my voice to the chorus on the 70D pcb problem. Today I spent about an hour on the phone with various Canon reps, customer care mostly but also a supervisor and an even higher level guy in the main office in New York, trying to get some traction or at least acknowledgement that there's a problem with the 70D that's hurting my beloved Canon brand. Like so many others on this thread and in many other places on the web, my 70D, putchased April 2015, died during a video shoot in April 2017. It first exhibited bad video frames and still images (blocky color areas or partiallly missing frames). The next day on a still photo shoot, hoping it was just a fluke with the SD card, the camera just completely quit working, powered up but wouldn't take a picture or video. As with others' experience, I got none of the warnings the manual says it should have given in an overheat situation. It just fried or desoldered the primary circuit board. Canon quoted $453.08 to repoace the primary circuit board, but I elected not to have it repaired because Canon wouldn't or couldn't confirm that the replacement PCB didn't have the same ovbious flaw. I elected to put a retired 60D back in action and save my money for the "90D." Well, now the 60D is, unsurprisingly for its age and heavy use, beginning to flake out so I have to get an APS-C body back in action. I found places that will replace the 70D's PCB for as little as $239, but still no acknowledgement of the problem nor verification that the new part is not flawed like the original. Scott at Canon said he'd get back to me after I asked about Canon taking some responsibility. It truly galls me as I have been shooting Canon cameras as an enthusiast and professionally since 1976 (an all black FTbn was my first) and still have 10 Canon cameras (video and still) and 15 lenses in regular professional use. I think my Canon evangeligising days are numbered. Anyway, if someone has any different ideas of what course of action to take, I'm open to suggestions.

[nithinkumar15]

Would you let me know status updates as I'm also having an error 80 issue and camera is dead.

[KSPaul]

UPDATE: On Oct. 20 I spoke with a local camera repairman who did some research and verified there is a higher incidence of the 70D pcb overheating and failing. He thinks Canon is aware of it because their repair part now includes a pcb and two new parts and the price for the part package has gone up. He was not able to determine how the extra parts addressed the issue. I also spoke the same day with Scott  at Canon's offices in New York. He listened but said he'd have to get back to me and asked me to send a photo of all the batteries I used in the 70D. Three are Canon and four are aftermarket but have never shown any signs of trouble in any of my four bodies that take them. I think he's fishing. I can't keep waiting for him to respond so today I ordered a refurbished 80D from Canon Direct. They're on sale, $679 (enter coupon discount code TREATPLEASE), a much better option than a repair on the 70D. I haven't seen any discussion of an overheating failure on the 80D so I'm hopeful Canon has addressed the problem in the newer model.

[nithinkumar15]

I agree that any company's objective would be PROFIT but it should be done by delivering highest quality product and superior customer service. In this thread, people are mainly concerned about the camera's life.

One of the common cause for error 80 that I came across is PCB board failure. I remember facing a PCB issue with iphone 5 motherboard failed after warranty time. Initially, they quoted me $280 for replacement device. I got it diagnosed and found that it had no liquid or physical damage. Since this not my fault and PCB deteriorated itself upon my usage, my ticket got escalated and Chief Engineer gave a free replacement as they further investigate the issue.

They could have ignored me to my fate as it happened out of warranty period. But they didn't do that. No matter where they purchase the components, but it's still sold as Apple's iphone. When this happened, Apple launched iphone 6 and the device I'm talking about is Iphone 5.

What I'm saying is if there is 1-2% failure rate, that's when company should step up and take the responsibility if it wants to gain wider consumer markets. I always believed Canon to be one of those elite company who would never ignore their loyal customers. But after thoroughly going through the community, and my own personal experience I got now words.

[geenuistick]

I say we all tweet @CanonUSA everyday until they address the issue. A little social media shaming for asking hard-working people to pony up $$$ for something that's obviously a quality control issue.

[KSPaul]

Scott from Canon called back to say they think the problem is caused by using non-Canon batteries. The Canon LP-E6N  is 7.2v, 1,865ma but the aftermarket batteries I used are 7.4v, 2,600ma and 2,800ma. Does this wash with anyone else's understanding of electronics? He offered a discount on the repair if I send the camera back to them for repair. If that's the case, why aren't we seeing a similar level of problems with the 80D?

[isidroco]

Not true, a lot of cameras failed using original battery. Besides 7.4v vs 7.2v is less than 3% difference, not enough to fry regulators, besides 7.4v would quickly drop below 7.2v after a few minutes of usage.

They say that so as to blame users and avoid a percentage of complains.

What about the cameras that failed with no other battery than the original?

[KSPaul]

Just spoke with a retired Air Force and Boeing electronics whiz and he says the 7.2v vs 7.4v battery claim is bogus. As before, I'm very disappointed in Canon, but not enough to switch my system of eight bodies and 15 lenses.

[CFBKK]

I always used Canon original battery came with the camera. The camera stopped to work after one and half year. Bogus battery? I don't think so...

[nithinkumar15]

Today I received an email from Canon repair service with a whopping amount of $454 (including labor + parts). I'm sure there is no liquid or physical damage to the camera. PCB damage happened on its own. I seriously doubt Canon's reliability from now on. The camera didn't even live 2 years. Can anyone confirm if there is a free repair in Brazil so I can give a call to customer service and check my options?

Thanks,

Nithin