Canon camera gear is pretty sturdy. It isn’t as robust as some Nikon gear that I’ve used, and can’t begin to hold a candle to OM System or Leica. It’s all built so much better than Sony’s camera gear. But a while ago, I saw that the shutter dial on my Canon EOS R was starting to act up. With that said, I’d turn the shutter dial and instead of it registering a shutter change with each click, it would sometimes go backwards. I thought it was odd, but didn’t want to send it to Canon for a repair. So I essentially just started using it less and less. That’s because my mentality is so centered on, “I should just send it in for repair or check with my insurance.” Buit here’s the thing: you often don’t need to do that.
With cameras being more and more electronic these days, you’d be shocked at how older methods still work.
So I literally sprayed WD-40 inside and around the shutter dial and turned it like crazy. Then I did it again and again. It ended up fixing the issue. And if it ever happens again, I’ll do it again.
A camera brand might tell you that they’ll need to take the camera apart, clean the area and then put it back together. So for that, they’ll charge you a lot of money and lost time. Or, someone might do exactly what I just did and tell you otherwise. None of us can really prove that the brand will do what they are saying is done on the recepi for your repair.
Something that really got me thinking about this is when I recently sent my Leica M6 in for a CLA. Leica told me that they’d need to replace a ton of the leatherette on the outside, realign the rangefinder, check that the shutter speeds are all working as they should be, and take care of the dings the camera has. They quoted me a nearly $1,000 repair bill. I thought it was crazy, so I told them to just realign the rangefinder. They protested, but I didn’t give in.
Granted, Leica probably would’ve done an incredible job. But I like the patina on my M6, and the point of owning a camera like that is knowing that you can beat it up and it will still work. That has become less of the case in the digital world.
Still, cameras like the Canon EOS R came out in 2018 or so. They shouldn’t need a ton of repairs at not even 10 years old yet.