I’m happy to announce that Canon will offer the wonderful dial mechanism from the 60D to the 5D Mark II and 7D cameras. This knob rotating accidentally has been a huge problem so it is great to see Canon offer this upgrade to existing camera owners rather than them having to buy a new camera.
Press Release
Effective December 6, 2010, Canon will start to provide as a chargeable service, a locking mode dial modification for the “EOS 5D MarkII” and “EOS 7D” digital single-lens reflex cameras.
This modification is available, for a fee, to owners of these cameras who would prefer a Mode Dial which locks in place and can’t be accidentally moved during normal camera operation.
For USA residents, the pricing of the locking mode dial modification service for EOS 5D Mark II and 7D cameras has been set at $100 per camera as of December, 2010. (Pricing and availability subject to change without notice.)
Once modified, users must first press and hold down the central lock-release button in order to turn the Mode Dial. The modification is intended to prevent the Mode Dial from accidentally moving, once set to a particular exposure mode by the user.
Applicable Products
EOS 5D Mark II Digital SLR Cameras
EOS 7D Digital SLR Cameras
Learn more here:
http://www.usa.canon.com/cusa/consumer/products/cameras/slr_cameras/eos_7d?pageKeyCode=prdAdvDetail&docId=0901e02480245968
4 comments:
Helpful, yes. Too bad it's for a fee. Sounds like something that can almost qualify as a "defect" (defect may be too harsh of a word here) is being offered as a feature.
Hi Mike,
While you aren't alone in your desire to have it for free (hey who wouldn't), if you look at nearly all hardware industries the typical way something like this is handled is to only offer such a feature on new models.
I applaud Canon for giving us a way to retrofit our existing cameras without having to upgrade bodies.
I also am shocked they make this offer consider the fact that this non-locking rotating knob design has existed for many year with Canon (well before the 5DM2 & 7D).
Give them credit for it only costing $100 (probably less for CPS members) and not the cost of a new camera body.
When's the last time a new feature of a new model of any other electronic component you own has been offered as an upgrade service on your old gear?
I agree with you Ron. $100 is a whole lot better than the $2500 for a new 5DM2.
Imagining the "shots lost" (due to the absence of the feature)can't help but make me think it may have been an "oops" thing to not include it in the design to begin with. It's a small feature with a potentially large affect on one's own cash flow (not mine tho. Unfortunately I haven't made a dime off my photos).
Now if Canon would only upgrade my 5DM2 AF system for $100... =)))
I think the wild success of the 5D Mark II (which brought some Nikon faithful over to Canon to shoot video) and the fact that the new knobs seem to be more prone to this problem drove the re-design for the 60D.
I spoke to someone at Canon about this and they pointed out that years ago they had a design similar to Nikon's but they had a lot of warranty claims based on people turning it too hard and breaking it because they forgot to push the button to unlock it. They wanted a design that was durable but also one that didn't slow the user down, and they didn't invent that until the design of the 60D.
Now old camera users can benefit from the new invention which is great! A DIY solution for a reduced fee would be great, but I'm sure the lawyers and warranty related issues would make that idea cost prohibitive.
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