Good News Dept.: my 1Dx camera has a loose, wobbly flash hot shoe at the top. Clearly a simple fix, but one I needed Canon for – and that was complicated. Even though I have an extended warranty, I would have missed my main camera for around our weeks.
For a two minute fix.
And yes, that is all it was. A two minute fix, once I realized what the problem was.
I initially thought I could not do it. I had done this before, as have others: see my colleague photographer and blogger Neil van Niekerk’s post from 2007 about it. But on the 1Dx, my top plate just would not come off. And I was not about to bend or damage it trying.
So I was contemplating next steps. Until I realized why it would not come off: Canon now uses a little glue on the top plate to hold it to the hot shoe. Which if you ask me is of questionable value if the screws right underneath it can come loose. Anyway, all I needed was a little continued gentle prying and applying pressure back and forth, and yes, the plate came off. And from there on it was the standard “repair”:
- Raise, at the back, the top metal plate
- Slide it back and remove
- Tighten all four Phillips screws (all four were very loose)
- Slide the plate back
I am feeling happy, especially because of the time difference between an official “repair” and me doing it: two minutes versus four weeks. And all I needed was a small jeweller’s screwdriver.