Debate: Is it worth fixing a shutter with a broken magnet or just replacing the whole module? I'm stuck on a Canon 5D Mark II job

Ngl I'm kinda torn on this one after a job last week. I had a Canon 5D Mark II come in with a shutter that was sticking halfway through the cycle. Took off the front plate and found one of the little electromagnets had snapped right off its mount. I did some digging and you can buy just the magnet for like $12 plus shipping, but it's a real pain to properly glue and realign it without throwing off the timing. On the other hand, a whole shutter module is around $90 and drops in way faster, but you're trashing a perfectly good curtain and frame. The customer is a wedding photographer based out of Austin who's on a tight budget after off-season work. I can't decide which way to push them. Has anyone else dealt with this particular magnet repair on the 5D2 and actually had it hold up over time?

3 comments

3 Comments

river32011d ago

oh man that magnet repair is a gamble i've been there with an old nikon d700. i actually tried the glue route once and it held for like three months then popped off during a burst shot. the timing thing is so finicky and if you get it even slightly wrong it'll throw the whole curtain out of sync. for a wedding photographer on a budget i'd honestly lean towards the whole module just because piece of mind is worth something when you're shooting someone's actual wedding. but i get it, it hurts to toss out parts that still work.

morgan89811d ago

that d700 magnet issue is so common i've heard repair shops actually keep a box of dead modules just for parts. @river320 i think you're spot on about the burst shot thing - that's the exact moment where a glued magnet fails because the vibration is at its worst. but here's a weird angle: what about thermal expansion? those magnets sit right next to the mirror box which heats up during heavy shooting. the glue expands and contracts differently than the metal over a 4 hour wedding day. i've seen people bypass the whole magnet issue by switching to electronic shutter only for the critical moments, but that introduces rolling shutter problems with fast moving subjects like the bride walking down the aisle. honestly if you're in a pinch, renting a backup body for $100 a weekend and fixing yours slowly might be smarter than rushing a repair that could fail mid-ceremony.

ivan_mason11d ago

Used to think heat was overblown but you just made me reconsider the whole glue issue.