Should I replace the main board on my 5D mk II ?

[emmuh]

My 5D mk II died a few months ago and I've been quoted $700, which is the same price as buying the camera on ebay right now. Does this seem right? It looks like anyone can buy the board for $200 online. 

Thanks!

[lly3988]

There is no way that you can buy a working Canon 5D Mark II on Ebay at $700.

You may be able to pay $200 to buy a motherboard for your 5D Mark II but can you replace it ? If negative, what are you going to do with the broken camera and the paid mother board.

You may be able to sell the broken camera (for parts)  with full disclosure and get back a few hundreds to finance you buying a newer model say 6D.

Good luck.

[ebiggs1]

I don't think you will find very many "good" 5D Mk II's out there for $700 bucks but you might get lucky.  Personaly I would put the $700, and more likely $1000, price point towards a 7D Mk II if it were me.

If you put the coin into your Mk II, you will still just have an old 5D Mk II. (If that is all that is wrong with it.)

[TCampbell]

I'm just checking the used prices on 5D II bodies at KEH.  They "grade" the condition of the cameras and though I've never bought anything from them, I'm told that those who do buy and inspect the goods claim the grading system seems to be extremely stringent (accurate).  In other words, to qualify as "like new" the camera must be absolutely pristine (the camera cannot have the tiniest flaw or it can't have that grade.)

With that in mind, they currently list:

A "Like new -" body for $1359  

A "Excellent +" body for $1259 

A "Excellent" body for $1219  

A "Bargain" body for $999

A "bargain" graded body has "more than average" wear, dents, dings, damage to finish, etc. but the camera does actually work.   But still... that's $999.

Granted these places are in business to turn a profit... so when they assess fair market value, they offer to buy gear at less than that value, and they turn around and sell that gear for as much as they can get (realizing that since they have a reputation and their grading system is accurate, they can probably charge slightly more than a private seller because the buyer knows what they're getting ... whereas on eBay there's a bit of a risk that the goods were not accurately represented.

That aside...

Is this your only camera?  Do have any idea how many shutter exposures are on it?  The shutter mechanism on a 5D II is about 150,000.  But that's an estimate... not a guarantee.   Any 5D II could fail after just 1 click (although it's extremely unlikely) or could last for 300,000 clicks.  

[emmuh]

I definitely got the most out of my mk II - luckily it died just after I received my 5DS R... I was just hoping to have it available as a back-up body on shoots and touristy adventures. 

The shop that quoted me for me repair is offering $100 for parts... so I should just take it?

[ebiggs1]

"The shop that quoted me for me repair is offering $100 for parts... so I should just take it?"

I would and check out that 7D Mk II.  It would be an especially good decision since you already have a 5Ds.

[RobertTheFat]

---

@ebiggs1 wrote:

"The shop that quoted me for me repair is offering $100 for parts... so I should just take it?"

I would and check out that 7D Mk II.  It would be an especially good decision since you already have a 5Ds.

---

The wisdom of that advice could depend on what lenses the OP already has. If he were to decide that he needs one or two additional lenses to match the different sensor size of a "crop frame" camera, the 7D2 may not sound like such a good deal.