Is it time to replace my Canon Digital Rebel?

[stubbygang]

Hi, this is my first time here....thanks for having me.

So here's my situation, I presently have a 4 year old Canon digital rebel, and I love it! I shoot a lot of concerts and wildlife. Anyway as of 2 weeks ago whenever I try to shoot in the fully auto (green box) mode and I need to use the built in flash I get an error message (Err 05) on the lcd display. I figure I gotta send this to Canon ($????) for a repair.

But right before this happened I checked my sensor by taking some sky shots....and there is crud on my sensor....all the blowing in the world with a special blower bulb didn't help. So I figure I gotta send in my Rebel to canon for a cleaning. (50-100 bucks)

Ok so the question is...Does it pay? or should I be looking for a new body as I have 4 Canon fitting lens'.

I was looking at the EOS 30D.

Any opinions at all would be Very Helpful.

Thanks

Stubby

[another view]

I'm not a Canon shooter, but if nobody has an answer you might try calling Canon and asking what Err 05 means. Might be something minor.

[freygr]

Canon has a very good track record. Email there service and you my be a luckily one and they repair free (a big hope). It does happen but I would not count on it.

[jeffp]

quick google search reveals that err 05 means the popup flash is stuck. either make sure theres nothing in the way (like a hat) or try to manually pull the flash up. if you dont use it a lot, it could just be seized.

[stubbygang]

I checked the Manual and read that the error is a flash problem, but the flash does in fact pop up. Thanks I think I'll shoot them off an email and see what they say.

[mjs1973]

I have been debating the same question as you. I too shoot with the DRebel (300D) and wonder how much more $ I should stick into it. I just had to have the entire front piece on the body replaced because the button you press to switch lenses broke off, and that's the only way to replace it. Not sure if it was worth the $129 to fix it, but a new body isn't in the budget.

The last time I sent my camera into Canon, the bill had a minimum service charge of $180. I'm assuming that means that no matter what the problem is, it's going to cost at least that much. Of course you can always tell them not to fix it and they will ship it back to you and you can continue to use it as is.

As far as cleaning the sensor goes. That is something you can do yourself if you feel comfortable doing it. If not, I would check with a local camera shop and see if they can do it for you. I would bet they could do it for less than Canon and get it back to you faster and without shipping charges. They might even do it while you wait.

[Grandpaw]

I have sent my Nikon F's here to be repaired and they did a good job. They have been in business for a long time and give free cleaning and estimates and are factory authorised by many manufacturers, Jeff

http://www.peachtreecamerarepair.com/