Canon 1Dx Mark iii - Life expectancy of a shutter?

[walkingg-gun]

I have a pair of Canon 1Dx iii which have been superb and are my trusted companions every day at work. I don't shoot much high frame speed but they do get used every day. Just had the shutter fail on one of them after just under 200K actuations so any Canon marketing hype of 500K expectancy is just hopes and dreams! Sent back to CPS in the UK and was told  "a camera shutter can break at any time and if its out of warrantee its irrelevant what the shutter count is, so please can we have £410.83 plus Vat (c$750USD) please or would you prefer we scrap it?" To say I was shocked and rather cheesed is an understatement! 

It would appear in the UK at least that you can make any claim you like about longevity of your product but in reality if it fails at 40% of its expected life and is out of warrantee your on your own!

Can I ask what other users expectations are for the shutter life of a 1Dxiii? Should I consider the shutter to be a basic service item to be replaced every 12/18 months or so? All my kit is serviced by Canon UK every year so I consider it to be well maintained and considering its initial cost is defiantly an serious investment but even so I wish I had known the shutter mechanism was made of cream cheese!

[Waddizzle]

The life expectancy of a shutter is an average.  The technical name for it is “Mean Time Between Failure.”  Some may last longer than average.  Some may not last as long as the average.  

It works the same way with people.  Average life expectancy is 70.  Some only live to 50.  Some may live to be 90+ years.

[walkingg-gun]

Thank you for your reply, I do understand that, perhaps my expectations are unrealistic from what is a professional level camera body.

It works the same way with people.  Average life expectancy is 70.  Some only live to 50.  Some may live to be 90+ years...... and on occasions someone can live well, take regular exercise, not drink or smoke and eat healthily but in this case not live beyond 30! I suppose it's just a combination of unrealistic expectations of the camera and it reaching 40% of its predicted life and sadness that we live in a disposable world.

[shadowsports]

Greetings walkingg-gun,

Respectfully, I weigh the value proposition differently.  If I owned a 1Dx3 and my shutter failed even a year or two from now, I'd get it repaired.  I typically keep body's about 5 yrs.  These body are the last of the mohican's.  Canon will with certainty continue supporting it because its a Professional series model.  It's 4yrs old now.  I'd expect at least 10+ years of parts and support.  

Your second unit may outlive whatever rating Canon or you might expect.  Its a mechanical device.  All hardware fails.  I understand they were an investment, and were not inexpensive.  When you pay thousands of dollars for something, its not unreasonable to expect them to last.  Usually they do.  You say you use them for work everyday.  Does this mean professional use?  Pro (to me) means they should have CarePak coverage, and that you could also write off the repair as a business expense. Unless you purchased them right at release, they could have still been under coverage.  I'd write off the cost of CarePaks too if I was dependent on my cameras for work.  Its good that you have 2 for sure. 

I am not a pro.  95% of my gear has CarePak's.  Only one of my lenses isn't covered and it was only because I put it off a few weeks and then lost track of it.  First RF lens and I was over the top excited.  I was about 2 weeks too late. 

I look at it from this perspective.  How much pleasure do I get from using my camera and lenses.  Pretty much unmeasurable.   I'm buying another body this year as well.  If one is good, 2 is better 😋 While no body is perfect, Canon has certainly delivered as far as product satisfaction goes.  For me anyway.  I'm sorry your shutter gave up.  I'd still get it repaired.         

[walkingg-gun]

The camera will of course be repaired and will be back with me next week having also had its yearly service and clean as does all my kit. This is and always has been done by Canon in the UK as this is my livelihood and as you say the costs involved are done through my business and set off against tax. All i was asking is what are peoples expectations with regards to shutter life as i for one expect a little more from what is billed as and sold as a professional level camera than 200k. Is there actually any point Canon rating a shutter at 500K actuations if we can realistically expect them to break after 200K?