Canon 400d broken...worth repairing?

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Gillian
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I've had my Canon 400d for about 6 years now and it recently broke - when I tried to take a photo, the shutter would open but not close and I then couldn't turn it off without taking the battery out. I took it to a local Camera shop. Their service wasn't great as I had to chase them up several times. They told me that two of their repair people had looked at it and couldn't diagnose the problem. Finally they got someone else to look at it who advised that it was the mirror box that needed repairing that would cost in the region of £130. I haven't gone ahead with the repair yet particularly as I wasn't happy with the service from that particular shop.

I don't really have much knowledge of the technical side of a camera so haven't a clue whether this is a good price, and whether it is actually worth paying out so much for a repair when I've had it 6 years.

Has anyone had any similar experience with the same thing - how much should I be paying for a repair like this and is it worth paying it or cutting my losses and buying a newer model?
 
You could pick up a 20D for that price, which would already be worthwhile upgrade over the 400D, or add more money for something newer. I personally wouldn't spend that much on a 400D
 
I payed a similar price for a repair on Canon 1000d a couple of years ago, faulty shutter button which meant the shutter only fired when I switched the camera off. So the cost for a repair is not out of the way. The choice of repair or binning it is difficult, I would be looking to a new camera.
 
As said, it's just not worth spending that sort of money on it when you can get a 20D for about the same.
My advice though, would be to stick the £130 in a pot, put another £120 or so with it and buy a used 40D. For the sort of money they fetch they're a great buy. :thumbs:

Edit: There'll always be someone who will give you a few ££ for your old one too. Stick it on Ebay as 'spares or repairs' with a clear description of the fault and even if you get a tenner for it it's a tenner you wouldn't have if you chucked it in a skip. Tenner pays for a spare battery. ;)
 
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Thanks for the replies. I've just had a very quick look on ebay to see what is available and costs etc. Most are selling body only - would my current lenses still work with a 20D or 40D including kit lens?
 
All your lenses will work fine. The only thing you may find is if you have an older flash it's not fully compatible with a newer body.
Used 40D on MPB, £259 in good condition with ultra low actuations. :thumbs:
 
Digitalize said:
You could pick up a 20D for that price, which would already be worthwhile upgrade over the 400D, or add more money for something newer. I personally wouldn't spend that much on a 400D
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I doubt I would consider or recommend a 20D as an alternative or upgrade, for starters it is even older than the 400D and probably just as likely to suffer a failure of some sort. It's also older and of less resolution than the 400D when you consider the 20D was a bigger, heavier, slightly better built version of the 350D.

The OP would be better off with the other suggestions of a 40D, if he doesn't mind the additional weight and bulk, or a 450D if he wants a similar size and weight to his 400D. Both could be viewed as a logical progression, rather than a regression to an older model that could be heading for 9 years old.
 
Sort of agree although saying that, a used 2 year old camera could go wrong 4 weeks after buying it too.
That is the risk with buying used unless you buy used from a shop (such as MBP mentioned above) who may offer protection for a few months at least?
 
ernesto said:
Sort of agree although saying that, a used 2 year old camera could go wrong 4 weeks after buying it too.
That is the risk with buying used unless you buy used from a shop (such as MBP mentioned above) who may offer protection for a few months at least?
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True, but a brand new camera could also go wrong in 4 weeks, but the likelihood is much lower of it happening, just as the chance of a 2 year old 10k shutter 450D is less likely to break than a 8 year old 100k shutter 20D.

I would be more inclined to take the risk and buy an under 2 year camera privately, but doubt I would even consider a 5+ year old camera without a very good warranty (like MPB as you mention) AND without it being very cheap.
 
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but then a 20D with 20K may be a better bet than a 450D with 20K or a brand new one could have a fault that would have been discovered and rectified on the older camera and so on.
You also have the issue around who is selling, someone selling a 2 year old camera that they know is likely to pack up versus a 9 year old camera that is like new.
Not trying to argue but just making the point of what a crap shoot second hand stuff can be :)
 
I'm now on my 3rd Canon body and all have been bought used with NO issues whatsoever other than a very minor one on the most recent which was resolved by the seller by way of a partial refund.
Having previously had a 40D if I was looking for a cheap 2nd body I wouldn't hesitate to buy another. :thumbs:
 
ernesto said:
but then a 20D with 20K may be a better bet than a 450D with 20K
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Firstly, odds of a 20D with only 20k are now pretty remote. Also, the 20D has a weaker shutter with a Rated Shutter Life of only 50k actuations, I'd still rather have the 450D with 20k as its shutter has an RLS of 100k.
 
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