Just broke my Canon 400D

Anton17

Anton17

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Anton
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I feel like a complete ******** and I'm absolutely kicking myself. :bang:

I was getting really bad sensor dust and even after furiously cleaning I couldn't seem to get rid of it. I was cleaning the mirror and the sensor in manual mode and nothing worked. Then I found out where the problem was, that the mirror is actually on the underside of the mirror you see after taking off the lens. I can't explain this very well, but I don't have a frigging camera to take a picture to describe.

Basically there are two small mirrors (sorry, I don't know the technical names) that are held together with a spring. The one on the underside was full of dust and I could only get at it by lifting the first mirror up. In doing so I've knocked the spring off it's housing and the shutter will not close correctly and hangs open instead of shutting properly. I think I know how to fix it but it's impossibly fiddly; even a game of operation with toothpicks left me banging my hand at the side of my head in frustration - I just can't do it and I think I'm doing more damage.

In my frustration (before I unslipped the spring) while cleaning the sensor I think I must have pressed too hard, as when I was taking shots the auto-focus would take forever focusing on nothing at all and the exposure metering just kept flashing. I don't know what was going on, is this something to be concerned about?

Okay, down to my point. I'm living over in Cyprus so it'd be a real bitch for me to ship it back over to England (I think it would cost me about £50 for shipping alone) but I haven't checked, and I don't know what Canon would do for me or for how much. How much would you say this repair would cost? First replacing the mirrors and maybe the sensor if that has a problem. The camera went out of warranty last month (go figure) so I don't know how much it'd cost by going straight to Canon.

If this cost is too much or it's buggered, how much could I sell the body for? I'm sure it would be very decent for spare parts, and I don't think it would take a lot to repair it. I have been thinking about upgrading anyway so maybe this is giving me a push. This is a last ditch alternative though but I'm just curious as to where I stand if I can't get it fixed or if it's below par.

I'm so annoyed that I can't just leave things alone... I'm absolutely gutted. :(
 
After contacting Canon through e-mail I got a reply within 5 minutes. After this is all eventually sorted, bloody top marks to Canon for customer service.

They gave me an address of an legitimate Canon repairer over here in Cyprus so that is a big help. I've seen that some shutter repairs are very costly, so I hope that is not the case...
 
Good luck - as long as you haven't damaged the sensor, it should be a fairly trivial job.
 
I believe that someone on here once said that the auto-focus is performed by a mirror. It could be this mirror that you have knocked out of place/lost the spring on. Holding it at 45 degrees might be making the mirror go back into place.
How about, holding the camera at a non-working angle, hold down the shutter half-way, then slowly raise it an angle where the focus works. At the same time, you might just hear the mirror shift if this is the case.

I wouldn't guess at focus being sensor related, as on my 400d the sensor is completely obscured by these mirrors.
 
Unlucky dude. :(
 
What you have described doesn't really sound like you were cleaning the sensor :shrug:

Sound like you were cleaning the mirror and the autofocus sensors. That is not good.

The sensor is behind the shutter, which opens (Flicking the mirror up and the AF sensor down) in sensor cleaning modes.

Glad Canon could help though...
 
Yep, I said I tried cleaning the sensor before that since that is where I thought the dust was; I was wrong. I broke/unhinged the spring on the mirror/autofocus sensor when I found out it was on the second mirror, on the underside of the first, as I tried to clean it. I was worried that I had damaged the sensor in trying to clean it when I thought that was where the dust was, since it's a fragile little thing, but as coldpenguin reassured me the autofocus area has to do with where my problem was, so it's most likely related and fixable. As long as everything turns out okay, I get fine pictures, and the camera is reliable, it should be okay.

By the way, since you're a 40D owner, I'd like to direct you to this thread that I'm currently in the dilemma of: http://www.talkphotography.co.uk/forums/showthread.php?t=134373
 
I'd be tempted to save my pennies on the repair, find the nearest garbage bin, and order that 40D ;)
 
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