BebuLamar

You can still get parts and repair for the old cars because they are worth fixing. You can get your 40-50 years old cameras repaired also because they are worth fixing. You can't get parts or repair for a less than 10 year old camera like the T2i because you can buy good working used one cheap and it's not that much expensive for the new version. So these cameras are not worth fixing.

graybeard

Yeah right, at a CERTAIN point. Who's talking about 1938 or even 1968? We are talking about 2010 !!!! 2010 is no where near 1968 or 1938 or 1912!! Stop apoliging about things that can't be justified !!

BHC Loc: Strawberry Valley, JF, USA

Just a quick question. Does Plymouth still carry parts for the 'Cuda? Oops, never mind.

graybeard

I didn't realize there would be so many apologists for a billion dollar company and so few for some poor slob who spent big bucks for something 8 or less years ago. Maybe some of you can spend a thou or two on this years camera whilst junking last years, but there are those of us who expect a little more. Do any of you work for Canon PR ???

Soul Dr. Loc: Beautiful Shenandoah Valley

Haven't you realized that we are now a throw away society.
Hardly anything is made to last anymore. And when something quits it is usually cheaper to replace it with a new one that it is to get it repaired.
When technology is moving as fast as it does now, it is not profitable for companies to support older products for a long period of time.
Instead of being on this forum whining about your failed 8 year old camera that can't be repaired, you should drop it and move on.
If you like this camera so much I'm sure you can find plenty of them on ebay for not much money.
One lesson I learned from life, is that things are not always going to be the way you want them to be.

Bipod

Funny, no problems getting a Rolex watch repaired--no matter how old it is.
Or my 1969 Ford Bronco.

But then they aren't digital...or made by camera companies.
A Ford model lasts for at least one year, and each new model is made up mainly
of existing parts. Ford used the same drum breaks for almost 50 years.

Moreover, it's actually possible to *rebuild* a mechanical watch or an auto engine--
and to fabricate parts if necessary. But what does "refurbish" mean?

Generally, "refurbish" means: test the camera, wipe it off with a cloth, and offer it for sale.
The only parts on a digital camera that are replacable are things like knobs, grips,
and the battery door. That's "refurbished". All the inside parts that have worn
or aged are still worn or aged.

Nobody, repeat, nobody can repair a digital camera if anything serious has gone wrong
with it. But they sure don't tell you that, do they? Even when you pay as much as for
a used car to buy the camera -- even when you pay as much as a low-end Rollex for it.

I guess that's the difference between Rollex SA, Ford Motor Company and Canon Inc.
Rollex and Ford know that their products have to be fixable. But Canon and other
big digital camera company's products are disposable: designed to be thrown away.

chikid68 Loc: Tennesse USA

T2i wow you have a fancy new fangled camera
I have a T1i a 50d and an xsi I recently passed down my xt and my 300d

mwsilvers Loc: Central New Jersey

It seems completely justifiable to me. How many years do car manufacturers guarantee they'll still have OEM parts for the cars they'll sell you. Well, having done some research on that subject it turns out it varies from car model to car model and from dealership to dealership. There are plenty of 10 year old cars that have been discontinued and for which getting parts through a dealership is almost impossible. Third-party repair shops may be able to pick up the parts or make them on their own, but those parts are no longer being manufactured buy the company that made the cars. Further, go back 15 or 20 years and car dealerships often don't even want to repair certain models of older cars because they are too much trouble.

Any by the way, one of my cameras is the exact same one the OP has. It apparently is no longer supported if the OP's information is correct, but I have no problem with that. If it's some point it fails it has more than paid for itself. and, like very old cars, there are probably third parties out there that will still be able to repair it.

mwsilvers Loc: Central New Jersey

I don't know what a Rollex is, but there is no such thing as a low-end Rolex and I own two.. Also, your concept of what refurbished means for a quality digital camera is really funny. Your suggestion that the only things replaceable are some exterior physical parts shows a lack of knowledge in this area. Virtually every component can be switched out if it fails, including the mirror, shutter box, various cicuit boards, etc. Maybe inexpensive low end digital devices are either not cost-effective to repair or are designed with no expectation of repair, but I'm talking about quality cameras not low end junk.

Bipod

No, it is not entirely a matter of economics: fix vs. total. Nor do digital cameras autoamtically
become obsolete. That used to be true, but it may not be in the future. Just as with cars, there
are good ones that people want to keep. In the future --as cameras get more and more complex--
that will become more and more true.

New cameras contain ASICs, microrprocessors and memory chips: all of them unsocketed!
And electronics packaging and mounting technology has changed: much larger ICs, surface mount,
multi-layer boards. Such boards are nearly impossible to fix.

Such technology can be maintainable, but it has to built for maintainability: modularity, self-tests,
robust connectors and everything documented in a Service Manual.

It's harder to fix a modern digital camera than the Aegis Combat System on a US Navy guided missle
crusier--because the later is all rack-mount and modular. The tech swaps out boards until the radar
(or whatever) starts working again. Every interface beween Aegis modules is documented.
It's all meant to be maintained indefinitely.

Some mechanical cameras were easy to work on, some were very difficult to work on.
It was possible to build them either way. It still is with digital cameras.

If the public comes to accept disposable cars with the hood welded shut, that is what
Ford and GM will sell. Fortunately, consumers realize that a car is an investment
worth protecting.

But Uncle Bob will spend $6000 on a camera that he has to throw away when it quits
working in just 37 months. Bob has money to burn!

Bipod

You just admitted: nobody can fix the boards. There are also only a couple of boards, and the big one costs almost as much as the camera:
which makes board replacement unecomonical. And only high-end models can be fixed.

Virtual all mechanical and electro-mechanical cameras could be fixed, although some were easier than others. And every component could be tested--
without having to have another working camera of the same model.

Without built-in self-tests or a test jig, ytou have no way to test a board other than plut it into a different camera of the exact same model and firmware
revision number. The (mechanical) shutter is about the only part your really can tell if it's working.

And you wouldn't know how to begin to make a replacement aprt (the way watchmakers and cobblers do) -- you are totally dependent on parts being
orderable. And there are no aftermarket parts.

So it's not *quite* like a Rollex or a Ford, is it? More like a Timex: nothing replacable but the battery and the entire movement--which costs as
much as the watch.

graybeard

You confuse me with the OP, it is not my camera. But I am in sympathy with him. It is a throw away society when you allow it to be. If you are chump enough to buy something from a guy who just stiffed you, you deserve to be ripped off. And the easier it gets for them to get away with it when their mark, like you, buy into the throw away society.

mwsilvers Loc: Central New Jersey

Huh? I know you're speaking in English but your post has so many confusing assumptions in it I don't know where to begin and frankly don't really care enough to spend the time educating you. I also assume you're constantly misspellling Rolex just to be annoying. What ever floats your boat.

Bipod

Please, educate me.

chikid68 Loc: Tennesse USA

truth is boards can be fixed and even replicated any electronics tech can repair boards but the issue is that economically it is not feasible to do so nor are the tools required common however a board is nothing more than a set of diodes transistors resistors capacitors and a circuit path.
I do computer repair and when my main board went out I repaired it rather than throw it out and replace it its a time consuming process but it is indeed possible.