EOS 30D Shutter Release Button

[peterc]

After two and a half years of fairly low usage the shutter realese button on my 30D has become very hard to actuate. It will focus ok but when you come to take a picture it is very hard to actually depress it to take a picture. This may be ok for landscapes but as I take a lot of motorcycle racing shots, it makes the camera useless.
Does anyone have any ideas on the cause and correction of this fault, I suspect it will need returning to Canon to have a new button fitted, but is there an alternative.
Is it a common fault on this model ?
If the cost is too much should I upgrade ?

[superdel]

Re: EOS 30D Shutter Release Button

I had the same problem with my 40D, in the end it had to go to Canon for a repair. I was away on holiday when it first happened, the problem was progressive by the end of the holiday it was getting impossible to press the shutter button. I was fortunate, I was using a grip so was still able to use the camera, but it not as instinctive using the grip as opposed to using the main shutter button. The repair was not cheap, but for me it was worth it.

[tmphotos]

Re: EOS 30D Shutter Release Button

After two and a half years of fairly low usage the shutter realese button on my 30D has become very hard to actuate. It will focus ok but when you come to take a picture it is very hard to actually depress it to take a picture.

I have a 30D with the exact same problem. Thankfully I have two other cameras and this problem prevented me from selling the 30D when you could still get some money for one. Canon's QC is one of several reasons why Canon is no longer the market leader. And why my next camera won't be a Canon.

[superdel]

Re: EOS 30D Shutter Release Button

tmphotos
Its always annoying when something goes wrong with a piece of equipment, but that is the nature of the beast. As they turn out more cameras then there are going to be more going wrong. I always think "why me". It's only at times like these when I am communicating with others that I realise that its not just me. Others have complained about Canon, but also there have been complaints about Nikon. Whatever you decide on your next camera I wish lots of luck with it and good photographs from it.
Del

[peterc]

Re: EOS 30D Shutter Release Button

I have browsed the internet and find that this is such a common fault that there are videos on youtube detailing how to repair the camear yourself. Has anyone tried this?
I have been quoted approx £160 to have it repaired professionally, as this is about 50% of the value of the camera i wonder is it worth doing.
As this is the third canon DSLR to die on me in two and a half years, should i consider a new camera from a different manufacturer, as the QA from canon seems quite poor.

[Donavan]

Re: EOS 30D Shutter Release Button

I have a 30D with probably more than 50000 actuations on it and touch wood no problems.

Every brand of camera can produce problems. I wouldn't be so hasty to switch brands just like that.

[tmphotos]

Re: EOS 30D Shutter Release Button

Its always annoying when something goes wrong with a piece of equipment.

Yes when you buy a camera for 750 quid you expect to get fair usage not less than 6K actuations – it’s an "old" camera and I have been quoted £160 to have it fixed. I’m not going to pay that – instead I may pursue a claim against Jessops on the grounds of fair usage – before any ‘forums lawyers’ chip in – I got my advice from a solicitor, hope it helps others.

I think we need to think again, when looking at the “cheapness of digital”. I have a 5D and a 1dmk3, now considered ageing bodies. If you’d told me 10 years ago I’d be spending nearly 6K every three years on bodies, I’d have laughed.
Any have a nice weekend folks

[sandyn111]

Re: EOS 30D Shutter Release Button

It's true, any equipment can go wrong, but what distinguishes a good company from a crap one is how they deal with a problem and what quality measures they have to rectify problems. In any production, you analyse failures, if you start seeing a repeated failure like a shutter button, then you know you either have a design problem or a manufacturing problem. but what a good company does is.... hold it's hand up and say...sorry customers, we have a problem with the 30D, the button may fail early, but if this happens we will repair it for free....up to ? years, after that, it would be considered fair wear and tear.
Unfortunately, manufacturers today will never admit liability in such cases. The button failure will be a very simple problem, but because of the highly integrated construction of cameras, it will be a pig of a part to replace. The switch will probably be soldered on to a flexi circuit... difficult to replace.
I don't think any company is better than any other. It's the nature of big corporations who answer to the shareholder, not the customer.
What we need is legislation to protect the consumer in such cases where there is a widespread problem, the company should be liable to fix the problem. An alternative is class actions, which are more popular in the US than here, if enough people made enough noise at every opportunity to embarrass the company into doing something, it would be successful...companies hate bad publicity it is extremely costly.

[maureen]

Re: EOS 30D Shutter Release Button

I was also really surprised at how common this fault was - and think that as it is so common, these cameras should be recalled and repaired free of charge. Both my brother and myself have this problem with our 30ds which I previously loved unconditionally!!

A friend has a higher, more expensive model and his shutter is also sticking - he is changing to nikon as he cant afford to depend on his canons not sticking during the weddings he photographs.

Im really disappointed that canon hasnt addressed this problem, and disappointed that i may have to consider swapping from a camera and brand i have always loved, due to the fact i cant trust that the money im paying for my camera will be well spent....

[White Butterfly]

Re: EOS 30D Shutter Release Button

Gosh , I have 4 canon cameras all working very well even in the terrible weather conditions in Dubai - they have never let me down and I have shot weddings with all four of them and have not experienced a sticking shutter ! I know of one pro-photographer here that has over 75000 actuations on his 30D and has had no trouble... so it must be something like the Friday car scenario... a bad batch of parts!

However I must say that I am not impressed with the images I have seen coming from Nikon D300 and Nikon D300s . The D300s belonging to a friend - yes, the latest on the market ( the camera that is) - had a loose sensor and was clearly apparent from the first images taken. Thank goodness the supplier exchanged the camera without a quibble ( rare in Dubai) but said honestly that it was not the first Nikon D300s he had had returned from his initial consignment to Dubai for the same reason. Also having tested the D300 myself and looking at other photogs images with the same camera here in Dubai,I am personally not impressed with the Nikon white balance and have found the colour produced by canon cameras to be far more accurate. I certainly would not consider changing my gear brand just because of a sticking shutter.

[nathanie.ramanaden]

Re: EOS 30D Shutter Release Button

I have a Canon 350d and this is a beauty in everyway- simple to operate and appears to have been modeled on the Canon EOS film camera, which is now mature technology. The latest DSLR's are too gimmicky in that they have far too much advanced features built into them so much so that there are more things to go wrong with them.

[peterc]

Re: EOS 30D Shutter Release Button

Well I took the plunge this morning and followed the instructions found by trawling the internet. I dismantled the camera and shutter release button, cleaned it all and reassembled it and to my suprise all seems well again.
Saves the £160 i was quoted to do the job, I can see why is costs so much in time, but its not impossible to do.
Cheers