Bonita Waesche
New member
I did extensive research before buying this cam. I owned a F707(which takes beautiful portraits w/awesome color). I even owned the Nikon N80 w/lenses and SB80 which I sold for much less than what i pd. In Jan05, I wanted to upgrade so I bought Canon's name and reputation and invested heavily in their products(20D body, 2 "L"lenses, 580ex flash, off cam cord). This cam takes awesome picts. I have enlarged to 24x36 sunsets which look like portals on my walls. The 24-70L lens is tack sharp with no distortion, no matter how close you get to your subject. Then I took the 20D to Alaska and the honeymoon was over.
Problems:
In 7/05, while in Alaska, the cam shut down and wouldn't work. There was a lot of mist in the air but the cam did not get wet. The Sony F707&camcorder kept on shooting. I sent it to factory service in Irvine, CA. They repaired it and it seemed to work for a short time. Then Katrina hit and I fled with my fam to CT, where the cam stopped working again (specifically, will not function in any creative mode, will not autofocus or release shutter, can't use drive/iso,menu,or playback buttons in P or any other creative mode. Ritz Camera in CT. confirmed my findings, and back to Canon it went(with a detailed letter) when I returned to LA in Oct. It was returned to me quickly bec. Canon said there was nothing wrong with it. Once again, it wouldn't not work as described above. Back to Canon it went, this time with the lens, thinking maybe it was in the lens. They replaced a contact? on the 24-70mm and sent both back to me. I tried to use the cam, and still it would not function as described above. By this time, I am frustrated and angry and Canon is losing patience with me. I sent it back, just as I tried to use it, with battery&CF card in and 70-200mm attached. I asked the factory to call me as soon as they got it(which they did not). I wanted the factory rep to just try to use the cam out of the box. When I called, Brent the rep, said,"I have your cam now. Listen to the shutter, it works. THERE IS NOTHING WRONG WITH YOUR CAMERA! Your cam has been checked more than any other cam that comes through here!" Canon only kept it in the work area for about an hour, because I called back and asked Brent to check for a short in the on/off switch and he said, "Too late, it's already been sent to shipping." And once again, I have a $1500 cam body that doesn't work! I tried to find customer service within the Canon system, but it is either tech support(who say they can't help me) or factory service(you see how far I have gotten with them). I asked for the supervisor,Doug Dodge, to call me from the Irvine facility and he never did. I told tech support I wanted to file a grievance and he got short tempered with me, saying he didn't know how to do that, he was tech support. I replied that I work in an operating room and I never throw up my hands and say "I don't know", I follow chain of command and get what is needed for my patients! With this he sarcastically said,"You can try Canon Corp. in NY. Thank you for using Canon," which I plan to call on Monday. Yesterday afternoon I took the cam to a local Canon dealer and it did NOT work for him either (which I should have done sooner). He will send it back to Canon under his letterhead with his findings. I can not describe my disappointment in this product which has been non functional since Aug. not to mention over $100 in shipping. I feel trapped because I invested over $4000 in Canon equip. and would take such a big loss if I tried to sell it. Canon's refusal to right this situation is unacceptable. I recommend cams all the time and never again will I recommend a Canon.
BTW, dpreview is the best site out there!
Bonita Waesche,CRNA
Problems:
In 7/05, while in Alaska, the cam shut down and wouldn't work. There was a lot of mist in the air but the cam did not get wet. The Sony F707&camcorder kept on shooting. I sent it to factory service in Irvine, CA. They repaired it and it seemed to work for a short time. Then Katrina hit and I fled with my fam to CT, where the cam stopped working again (specifically, will not function in any creative mode, will not autofocus or release shutter, can't use drive/iso,menu,or playback buttons in P or any other creative mode. Ritz Camera in CT. confirmed my findings, and back to Canon it went(with a detailed letter) when I returned to LA in Oct. It was returned to me quickly bec. Canon said there was nothing wrong with it. Once again, it wouldn't not work as described above. Back to Canon it went, this time with the lens, thinking maybe it was in the lens. They replaced a contact? on the 24-70mm and sent both back to me. I tried to use the cam, and still it would not function as described above. By this time, I am frustrated and angry and Canon is losing patience with me. I sent it back, just as I tried to use it, with battery&CF card in and 70-200mm attached. I asked the factory to call me as soon as they got it(which they did not). I wanted the factory rep to just try to use the cam out of the box. When I called, Brent the rep, said,"I have your cam now. Listen to the shutter, it works. THERE IS NOTHING WRONG WITH YOUR CAMERA! Your cam has been checked more than any other cam that comes through here!" Canon only kept it in the work area for about an hour, because I called back and asked Brent to check for a short in the on/off switch and he said, "Too late, it's already been sent to shipping." And once again, I have a $1500 cam body that doesn't work! I tried to find customer service within the Canon system, but it is either tech support(who say they can't help me) or factory service(you see how far I have gotten with them). I asked for the supervisor,Doug Dodge, to call me from the Irvine facility and he never did. I told tech support I wanted to file a grievance and he got short tempered with me, saying he didn't know how to do that, he was tech support. I replied that I work in an operating room and I never throw up my hands and say "I don't know", I follow chain of command and get what is needed for my patients! With this he sarcastically said,"You can try Canon Corp. in NY. Thank you for using Canon," which I plan to call on Monday. Yesterday afternoon I took the cam to a local Canon dealer and it did NOT work for him either (which I should have done sooner). He will send it back to Canon under his letterhead with his findings. I can not describe my disappointment in this product which has been non functional since Aug. not to mention over $100 in shipping. I feel trapped because I invested over $4000 in Canon equip. and would take such a big loss if I tried to sell it. Canon's refusal to right this situation is unacceptable. I recommend cams all the time and never again will I recommend a Canon.
BTW, dpreview is the best site out there!
Bonita Waesche,CRNA