I just sent my EOS T3i into Canon support for repair. The camera went from working fine to not powering on at all. I spent quite a bit of time researching and troublshooting and finally had to send it in for repair. I do not know specifically what is wrong with the camera at this point, but believe it is likely the power PCB. From my research, it appears that this is a relatively common problem across their camera models.
My camera is +/- 4 years old and I have always been very careful with it (always in case when not in use, not used in bad environments, not dropped or banged, protected from dust, etc.) I really only use the camera for occasional family pictures. In other words, there is no reason that the camera should be broken other than poor construction / quality.
The quote I recieved for the "flat rate repair" was $203. If I had dropped the camera or dunked it in a pool, then I'd think that was a pretty good deal. For a camera that is well cared for an only occasionally used, I think this is a ripoff. It's half to a third of the cost of the camera new body (I bought the kit, with two lenses and bag for ~$700.) I guess the thing that irritates me the most is the number of people who apparently have had the same issue. Their cameras just suddenly die, requiring a hefty repair cost. Why can't Canon address this issue? I paid for this repair, but if it happens again, I'm selling my remaining Canon gear and switching to Nikon.
