Asher Kelman
OPF Owner/Editor-in-Chief
To drive to Canon CPS via Los Angeles side streets is foolish in the middle of the day! To have the map lady of a loaned Lexus decide which of these hidden roads to use is a really dumb idea. It took over 21/2 hours to get there when I could have simple gone home and connected to the highways I know! However, the myriad of speakers make the journey pretty surprisingly wonderful; a "trip".
One gets a ticket like in a busy camera store. Folk come in with digicams that dropped from a plane or a long lens that was delivered with peanut butter and similar stories yarns. One unfortunate guy had a piece of black light shrouding material come loose inside his 70-200 2.8L after the warranty was over. Ge wasn't consoled by the suggestion that mechanical things are really not immortal! I did feel for the nice fellow, a Brooks Student as I don't think it's right that expensive lenses should fall apart within the first 5 years, irrespective of warranty.
Anyway, I discovered that me old Macro Flash was no longer on their repair list. The 550 EX will be made like new for about $89. My 5D mirror will be replaced and mounted free of charge even though it's out of warranty. Apparently there's a notice about these things coming apart, so I got a free one on that. Replacing the CF removal button, however, was expensive, approx $180 or so. The desk assistants seem pretty knowledgeable and patient, going though all the options for repair.
They ship back overnight by FEDEX for free, so that is pretty good service. If one pays $100 a year for the Gold Priority Service, then one easily recovers this in the 30% discount of the assessed charges. Next year, when my 5D might need a new shutter and mirror box, I might go with the $500 Platinum service which gives one 50% off and more vouchers for lens cleaning.
I'd definitely recommend photographers who own the requisite numbers of pro bodies and lenses to join CPS. It's an excellent service. Although one does not have to go there oneself, it's reassuring to be able to have the technician assess some issue or even fix something there on the spot for free.
That happened with my 5D Mark II. One of the gold contact pins which is spring loaded, was stuck in the depressed position. That kind of thing makes the camera totally functionless! It was fixed at no charge and that meant I now could jump from the 8MP of my 1DII to 21MP full frame! I really felt great driving home on the freeway, listening to Classical Music and feeling I had just returned from Santa's workshop!
Hopefully, my 5D, the 24-105 and my 550 EX, all born again, will arrive wednesday with no further effort on my part!
Asher
One gets a ticket like in a busy camera store. Folk come in with digicams that dropped from a plane or a long lens that was delivered with peanut butter and similar stories yarns. One unfortunate guy had a piece of black light shrouding material come loose inside his 70-200 2.8L after the warranty was over. Ge wasn't consoled by the suggestion that mechanical things are really not immortal! I did feel for the nice fellow, a Brooks Student as I don't think it's right that expensive lenses should fall apart within the first 5 years, irrespective of warranty.
Anyway, I discovered that me old Macro Flash was no longer on their repair list. The 550 EX will be made like new for about $89. My 5D mirror will be replaced and mounted free of charge even though it's out of warranty. Apparently there's a notice about these things coming apart, so I got a free one on that. Replacing the CF removal button, however, was expensive, approx $180 or so. The desk assistants seem pretty knowledgeable and patient, going though all the options for repair.
They ship back overnight by FEDEX for free, so that is pretty good service. If one pays $100 a year for the Gold Priority Service, then one easily recovers this in the 30% discount of the assessed charges. Next year, when my 5D might need a new shutter and mirror box, I might go with the $500 Platinum service which gives one 50% off and more vouchers for lens cleaning.
I'd definitely recommend photographers who own the requisite numbers of pro bodies and lenses to join CPS. It's an excellent service. Although one does not have to go there oneself, it's reassuring to be able to have the technician assess some issue or even fix something there on the spot for free.
That happened with my 5D Mark II. One of the gold contact pins which is spring loaded, was stuck in the depressed position. That kind of thing makes the camera totally functionless! It was fixed at no charge and that meant I now could jump from the 8MP of my 1DII to 21MP full frame! I really felt great driving home on the freeway, listening to Classical Music and feeling I had just returned from Santa's workshop!
Hopefully, my 5D, the 24-105 and my 550 EX, all born again, will arrive wednesday with no further effort on my part!
Asher
It is always nice to hear that Canon will acknowledge the things they believe are caused by them and will fix those things for free.