You might remember me pointing out a few times in this blog that I had issues with the autofocus of my camera when going to the maximum zoom of a lens. I had the impression this was true for any lens I used and hence suspected a damage of the camera body.
I was lucky that today a Canon representative was in the shop for support and promotion and I cleverly lured him into a conversation.
Leo: Let's see whether you have
something smart to say about the
problem I have with my camera!
He had.
He proved me wrong that the problem was with the camera body by putting on the exact same lens that I use as standard as a comparison. The difference was stunning. His lens focussed immediately under the same conditions my lens was struggling with frickin' madness to get a bead on an object.
Now, were all my lenses damaged?
Canon dude: See, depending on how much you
use your lenses and the camera, you need to have a
check-up on your gear once every few years.
It's like a car inspection...
Leo: Very! Bad! Topic!
Apparently my lenses - and maybe the camera, too - need to be re-adjusted.
Sigh.
In a way this makes sense. I have dragged my gear to many places in the past two years and used it quite a lot. But I am still pissed off that this is necessary after this short period of time already and that it has to be now.
And guess what:
In Germany there are only nine authorized dealers or service centers where this can be done properly. The closest one to Stuttgart is Geissler in Reutlingen.
They do have an office in Stuttgart as drop-off point, though, so I gave them a call.
This proved to be not very satisfying. The guy on the phone could not give me an idea about cost and said it might take around one to two weeks.
There was chatter on the internet, however, that fixing a camera is around 50 Euro and fixing a lens might be around 70 Euro.
Aaaargh! - this whole situation really blows!
Whatever I do means parting with my camera for at least two weeks and potentially even longer as I would then try to combine this with other appointments or important dates in the Stuttgart area.
What about such a service in Belgium?
No use! - the only sites suggested are in the north of France. And frankly, then I can also drive to Willich, the site of the original Canon service center in Germany.
Calling Willich was not useful, either. Although they confirmed that fixing a lens will be more like 50 than 100 Euros, getting there is in principle impossible for me: the opening hours are Monday to Thursday from 8 am to 5 pm and Friday from 8 am to 2 pm and...
Leo: What about Saturdays?
Call center droid: We are not working on Saturdays.
Great service - thanks!
Regardless how I turned and twisted it and knowing that I would be in Stuttgart again some time in July, bringing my gear to Geissler still seemed to be the best choice for a drop-off later today.
Given the expected steep inspection bill for my car, however, I decided to only have the standard lens (which caused me the most grief) and the camera checked through.
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