Canon Service Questions

[Mike Margolis]

My gear is long overdue for routine service - as in it's never been done. It's been dragged all over the US and took a few trips to SA.
Likely the worst environment, besides sticky humid salty sea air, is right here at home with the dust, dirt, silt, and sand.
I will be off my feet for a week or two, and now is a good time to get this done. So, it's time to send it all in to the SoCal Canon service center.
The questions... (I forgot to call the service center today - planning to ship first thing Monday morning - having this all packed up before Monday morning would be nice)
~ Is it a good idea to ship two bodies and two lenses together in the same box? Besides the risk of FedEx losing or destroying it all in one fell swoop, will the service center appreciate four items arriving in one box?
~ I have all the original factory boxes. Should I use those to ship the stuff? Those boxes would of course go in a bigger box full of packing material. I figure that would be the best way to go, but will the service center send it back in said original boxes and/or return those boxes to me?
~ Any good/bad experiences, any noob (to service) advice, or gotchas?
Thanks in advance!!
~~ Not happy letting my gear out of my sight ~~

[Jay Beckman]

Don't bother using original boxes.  Doubt you'd get them back.  Just use substantial amounts of bubble wrap and fill any voids with dense foam peanuts.  Wrap each item individually.  Use back caps and front caps for lenses but don't send hoods.  Remove card from cameras and use body caps.  Send cameras with fully charged batteries.  Remove eyepieces (if able) as those tend to walk off on their own.

Spell out everything you want done in line-item format under each piece of gear:
1) Camera (Serial Number XXXXXX)
- Clean Thoroughly Inside And Out
- Clean Viewfinder
- Update Firmware (if available)

2) EF 24-70mm f/2.8L (Serial Number XXXXXX)
- Clean all glass
- Check Focus and Zoom for proper operation

And so on and so forth...

Put said letter with requested work on top of everything before sealing the box and be sure you put your name, phone # and email address on the letter.  They should contact you by phone or email with an estimate (and to get a credit card # from you)

One thing to consider: Do you want the lenses calibrated?  If so, do you want them calibrated to one of your bodies specifically or to a Canon "Gold Standard" body (which should put them at their factory specs)

And don't be too shocked when everything comes back in bags inside fairly light bubble wrap with minimal packing material...

Jay

Just a few things to consider.

[Tower Guy]

Great and timely questions Mike, I'm thinking of sending my 5D in for servicing. I'm looking at jury duty, length unknown.
Thanks for sharing your knowledge Jay, priceless!

[Bill]

I would not hesitate to put multiple bodies and lenses in a single box. Insurance is up to you. It is very unlikely that FedEx will actually lose a package these days since every package is scanned at every step. I did have a laptop on its way to me get delivered to the wrong address when I was living in the Phoenix area. However, I knew when it was due and when  it did not arrive I checked the FedEx Web site and saw that it had been delivered. I called and the agent checked the tracking number and knew immediately, thanks to scanning, that it had been pushed off the truck with a bunch of other boxes at a Motorola plant so I had it the next morning.

[Mike Margolis]

Thanks Jay!! Great info and great ideas!!
Especially matching lens to body - my 6d almost always wears the 28-70, and the 7d mkII always wears the 100-400 mkII.
~ Prior to shipping do you run through the online work order process - or just make them go there with the list of desired tasks enclosed?
~ In the shipping section they say "ship no batteries..." Is there a reason you ship with a (charged) battery?
Thanks again!!

[Jay Beckman]

Thanks Jay!! Great info and great ideas!!
Especially matching lens to body - my 6d almost always wears the 28-70, and the 7d mkII always wears the 100-400 mkII.
~ Prior to shipping do you run through the online work order process - or just make them go there with the list of desired tasks enclosed?
~ In the shipping section they say "ship no batteries..." Is there a reason you ship with a (charged) battery?
Thanks again!!

Understand that my stuff goes to Canon under the CPS Gold program so perhaps their "walk in" process is different regarding batteries.  I'd go with what they say.  I've never encountered an online work order system so I'm afraid I have to beg off that question, sorry.

[Mike Margolis]

Thanks again Jay!!
Gear is off... Ran through the online submittal process, added notes, packed it all up in one box, and handed it off to FedEx...
~ This is about as nerve-wracking as watching my kids depart the house for the first time solo right after they got their drivers licenses...

[Mike Margolis]

~ Three and a half weeks round trip, a couple buckets of money, stuff is very clean inside and out.
~ Return shipping was good enough - nowhere near as well packed as I shipped it to them though. I used a bunch of bubble-wrap and Styrofoam - they used baggies and crinkled paper.
~ 7dmkII got a new shutter assembly - shutter count was around 250,000.
~ Only issue is the 7dmkII will now not do a sensor clean. It locked up a few times after I had set it to auto when turned on and off. I got through that and got the auto feature turned off. I tried "manual" self-clean - same error code and it locked up. Had this happened on it's own I'd likely just live with it. But it had never had this problem before now. So, back to the shop it goes. They were very receptive and apologized for the hassle. Free shipping both ways this time.
~ The stuff really needed a deep cleaning, but I still stand behind the time tested philosophy of "If it ain't broke, don't fix it."