How much use can a non-pro SLR body take?

Twizzel

Twizzel

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Following on from this post:
http://www.talkphotography.co.uk/forums/showthread.php?t=138531

I'm now rather worried, as I was at Royal Cornwall yesterday and camera played up again. Exactly the same setup (Canon 350D, grip and Sigma 70-200 f2.8). I found it difficult to explain to dad what happened, but basically I tried to focus whilst taking a landscape shot (so using the main body to focus, not the grip button), it was very blurred, wouldn't focus and what looked like shards of glass (long lines) were all over the image :bang:

Uh oh... turned the camera off and on again and it was fine :shrug:

Now I'm getting slightly concerned that either the body or lens is about to go to camera heaven :'( 350D body is approx 2 years old but has been used professionally for the past 15 months or so, so has a huge amount of shutter actuations. Not sure how old the lens is as I got it 2nd hand 1 year ago but it's in good nick, no dust in the elements or anything.

Can anybody help me? I'm beginning to panic, as there's no way I can afford to replace the lens, only the possibility of replacing the body if I went for a 2nd hand 40D... Anybody got any idea what it could be? Can entry level cameras die earlier if they've been used a hell of a lot i.e for pro sports photography? :help:
 
everything has a finite life span and the nature of entry level cameras to professional grade cameras means the entry level ones will die first.

However as a professional you have been factoring in the cost of equipment repairs and renewals into your pricing haven't you...
 
I thought the shutter life on XXXDs wasn't meant to be that much, but to me it doesn't shound like a shutter issue as that is a mechanical part, so a power resest wouldn't make much difference.

TBH as a professional it is something you need to factor into your pricing. Pro gear is called pro gear for a reason, it stands up to the rigours of pro usage...
 
If push comes to shove I will replace them with the help of my student loan, but what I was asking is whether anyone knows what could be wrong- is it the grip, body or lens? The local camera shop has said to take it in, but I can't risk them sending it off for God knows how many weeks and it then coming back with no fault as it's an intermittant fault and doens't happen all of the time. Obviously if I can work out what is going wrong it will be sent off with a known fault and it will be fixed :)
 
The Canon 300/350D have a problem with the spring on the af mirror breaking, the symptoms you describe sound very like what I witnessed with one where this happened.
 
very strange
a little bit of TLC helps with these things
cleaning the contacts on the camera and lens mount.
a blower on the Autofocus sensor is handy, located at the bottom below the mirror iirc.
also check your filter. there have been a few people mentioning that crap filters or stratched filters causing focusing problems.
as for your costs. do it for love or for money, or both.
but the only way to maintain your kit AND do a professional coverage is to really pick your shots instead of snapping away. The entry level canons have a much lower life expectancy. they're support to unofficial last for 50,000 actuations, some will last longer, some less.
 
on the other hand a replacement current body of equal spec is not very expensive for a business by the time the vat reclaim and income (or corporation) tax offset has been taken in to account.
 
Cheers guys

I think I'll see if it does anything tomorrow at Royal Cornwall, keep an eye on it and if anything comes up again I will pop it into the local camera shop in town so they can have a peek at it :)
 
If you are earning any money from photography you still nedd to declare it to the taxman ;)
 
Twizzel said:
Thanks for your reply, is that terminal or can it be fixed?
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To check if this is in fact the problem take the lens off and watch the mirror as you take a couple of shots. There is a small mirror attached to the underside of the main one. This is the autofocus mirror, watch and see whether it raises and lowers in a controlled manner - when the spring goes the af mirror bounces about as the main mirror raises and lowers.

It can be fixed, the part itself probably costs about 20 pence, but replacing it involves stripping the camera down to almost the bare bones, so you're looking at around £175-200 to sort it.

It is possible to bodge the camera to get it working again in manual focus mode only, by glueing the af mirror shut onto the main mirror, but that's the only diy repair, unfortunately.
 
Well I've had a look, and I think everything is ok with the mirror, it goes up and down in quite a controlled (but fast) manner.

It's got me completely stumped, so will see whether it happens again tomorrow and take things from there :)
 
Twizzel said:
Well I've had a look, and I think everything is ok with the mirror, it goes up and down in quite a controlled (but fast) manner.

It's got me completely stumped, so will see whether it happens again tomorrow and take things from there :)
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Fingers crossed then :) I remember that the one I witnessed failing was working fine and then just suddenly had af problems, followed by a black band across the image, caused by the af mirror falling as the shot was taken.

If you are reliant on your camera for income it might be a good time to start looking for a new one, just in case ;)
 
Craikeybaby said:
If you are earning any money from photography you still nedd to declare it to the taxman ;)
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Well, strictly if your total income from any source (including interest) is below your tax limit, (which must be ~£4300 for this chap) during the tax year, he can get away without it.




Back on the subject, do you have the picture that looked like it had shards of glass over it?
 
coldpenguin said:
Well, strictly if your total income from any source (including interest) is below your tax limit, (which must be ~£4300 for this chap) during the tax year, he can get away without it.




Back on the subject, do you have the picture that looked like it had shards of glass over it?
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Nope don't have the picture, it wouldn't focus on anything, went very very out of focus and the lens was moving to focus but nothing happened, and then the what looked like shards of glass appeared :thumbsdown: I turned camera off, waited 5 seconds and turned it back on again and it worked perfectly, producing some nice sharp shots :bang: :suspect:
 
david1701 said:
thought you had to declare it whether you had to pay tax or not?
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Strictly, I think you are correct. However, so long as a record is kept, and it is below the taxable band, you are self employed working less than, I think 30 hours a week (i.e. classed as part-time, and not required to pay national insurance), then I think that most inspectors would give you a slap and move on.

What really irritates me, are people who have a well-paid job, obviously paying tax, but then rent out a spare room for £500 a month, without declaring it. It would be nice if they took more than a slap on the wrist.
 
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