Welcome back...

...to my old (formerly dead) EOS 5D.

UPS just dropped it off from Canon's Factory Service Center; the issue was the EOS 5D "main mirror detachment" problem.

Basically the mirror that flips up out of the way (common to any single lens reflex camera, film or digital) comes unglued and flops around inside the body.

Eighteen days since I shipped it off.

I can see the little brackets that Canon adds to the edges of the mirror (as well as re-gluing it), so some time this week I'll take it out and see if it works.

:-/

I know!

What with Blue Heron Dance's Nutcracker coming up December 4-5-6, 2009, maybe I should feature photos from Nutcracker 2008!

It'll take a little work but it'll be worth it.

These are shot in the Vashon High School theater; I get a seat in the back row center (or as close to it as the light operators can let me) and shoot down onto the stage from just slightly stage left.

Canon EOS 5D (last year, this year I'll get to use the 5D Mark II); 70-200mm f2.8L zoom lens; ISO 1600; white balance "auto"; manual exposure (M) of 200th second at f5.6; camera's mounted on my Bogen/Manfrotto 3011BN tripod. Or actually it's mounted on my Bogen/Manfrotto 3130 tilt-pan head, and that's mounted on the tripod. :-/

Most of these need some pretty heavy post-processing because the stage lighting, although effective from the standpoint of the human optical system, does not really produce enough lighting for photography.

RAW conversion with an exposure compensation of +1.0 to +2.0 depending on how "dramatic" the lighting for a particular scene was; then I did digital noise reduction on everything just to have everything in one consistent state for final cropping and levels adustment.

I just got back...

...from Glazer's Cameras in Seattle, and am now the proud owner of a brand new Canon EOS 5D Mark II, body only.

Sure wasn't planning on having to spend this sort of money right now, and I'm sure I'll feel OK about it once I get past my current state of shock.

:-/

And once my original 5D is fixed I'll have a second/backup body, which will be a Good Thing(tm).

Well, the good news is...

...this, I guess.

"Thank you for contacting Canon product support. We value you as a Canon customer and appreciate the opportunity to assist you. We are sorry to hear that the mirror has fallen out of your EOS 5D.

It has come to our attention that in rare instances the main mirror of some EOS 5D Digital SLR cameras may detach due to deterioration in the strength of the adhesive. As a result, Canon USA will repair and reinforce the mirror portion of affected EOS 5D cameras free of charge.

Canon will also cover the cost of shipping and handling in connection with this repair. ..."

They're sorry.

Yeah, not so sorry as me..

Holy Cr*pola, Batman...

...I just had this happen to me tonight at the PTSA-sponsored basketball game down at the High School:

Service Notice: EOS 5D: Main Mirror Detachment

Apparently (well, no: it's obvious) the main mirror that displays the image in the viewfinder of an SLR (and DSLR) camera comes loose from its mount in a Canon EOS 5D, albeit "rarely".

"Phenomenon
The main mirror of the camera detaches and images cannot be viewed through the viewfinder."

I just love the understated quality of *that* statement.

It makes no mention of the fact that the mirror's effectively flopping around loose inside the camera body...