The morning after I photographed Olivia the camera would not turn on. The first time I tried, the red light blinked, then stopped before the camera powered on. I toggled the on/off switch to see if it would turn on. I replace batteries, removed the cards and eventually called Canon support. I was told that if I couldn’t turn it on, it needed to be sent into the New Jersey factory service center for evaluation and repair.
The camera came back with a UNREPAIRED stamp on the top of the letter.
Examination / Request Details
Severe liquid damage to internal parts. Cost of repair exceeds replacement value. Unit is beyond economical repair.
Oh no!! So here’s the bad part — this camera has not been exposed to excessive liquids! There is no way that I dunked this camera in water or otherwise caused “severe liquid damage.” unbelievable. What I want to know is what causes severe liquid damage and how Canon factory service finds the damage. I live in a basement apartment so it may be more humid than some homes. A spritz of hair spray? Water from melting snow as you go from outside to inside? Walking in a rain on April 24th with Lydia (this is the one thing I can think of where the camera would have gotten wet. The camera & lens was sheltered by my body, and it got wet…but there was no reason for it to stop working. In fact, it worked that day and all of the days between then and May 4. Does it make sense that it would be wet and a week later it would stop working?) Swimming with it? This is a quality camera and photographers all over the country and the world use it in all kinds of weather. There is no way that in my casual use of it I abused this camera. I’m calling Canon on Monday to see what I can do about this.
I imagine the conversation going:
Canon: “Hey, it’s broken and you did it, you’re screwed.”
Me: “I didn’t get this thing severely wet and cause severe liquid damage.”
Canon: “Well, there is damage, it won’t turn on, and it’s your camera.”
Really, I’m not in a good position here. The camera doesn’t work, it’s been in my possession and I don’t have $1500 for a replacement. I can’t tell if it really was damaged by water or if it’s a faulty camera and Canon wants to blame a faulty camera on damage that I caused. Even if I did — I have no idea what could have caused this ’severe damage’ and I am scared about getting a new one if this one stopped working after a few months of light use.
So sad about the loss of a $1,500 camera after just a few weeks of ownership…
My film camera has been wet before. It’s been in the rain forest, in rain storms and in humid places and it has always worked.
As a funny-ish side note — I did wash my cell phone in the washing machine. I took off the battery and dried it under a fan for 3 days, and then it started to work perfectly. I didn’t expect it to work after that abuse. Yes, washing a phone in the washing machine sounds like it should cause severe liquid damage. If *anything* close to that happened to the 20D I would understand it not working. But sadly, it has only gotten a little wet on the outside while photographing and walking in the rain — never soaked through!
But IF it was that walk in the rain that disabled the camera, watch out 20D owners! Keep this delicate camera sheltered and dry so it doesn’t stop turning on (!).
when you call canon, don’t mention the walk in the rain. just adamantly insist that the camera has not ever been submerged or exposed to excessive water!
it was a wet, wet day, but at no time was the 20D exposed to severe liquids. i’ll be your character witness should the need arise
I spoke with knowledgeable friends at work and talked to a representative at Canon, and understand (too late for this camera) that any water is a danger to cameras. This is true for film cameras but may be even more acute of a danger for digital cameras.
Now I understand that a little water or a lot of water is not the issue — any water that gets inside and touches the wrong parts while the camera is on is a problem. Sigh. It’s an expensive lesson to learn that I hope others will learn before a similar fate ends their cameras’ life.