I just spoke to a local camera repair place that does authorized work, including sensor cleaning, for both Canon and Nikon. I was inquiring about getting my 5D cleaned (I do a lousy job myself but would like to avoid having to ship the camera off again to Canon) and was told that I should be aware of an issue with 5Ds of the mirror 'falling off' or coming loose, that they saw 9 or 10 5Ds a week (!) with loose mirrors.

I said, 'really, 9 or 10 a week? I haven't heard of this happening with any frequency.'

Have I missed something? How many of you 5D owners have had loose mirrors?

no way... never happened to me, and haven't seen 5D owners complain about it here, and there are a lot of 5D owners on FM.

How come the ALT folks who have to dremmel their mirrors can't ever get one of those!

I have seen a few threads about mirrors coming loose on the 5D, probably less than 10, so most likely really a non-issue. Believe that the repair shop is exgagerating quite a bit to say that they see 9-10 a week, is he trying to sell you on letting them do a "preventative" repair to the mirror? Sounds like a Snake Oil salesman to me.

there was one post a few days ago in the People forum where the OP mentioned it as an aside - said he super-glued it back on after the event. I haven't heard of any other problems like that though, but it's another good argument for a backup camera (the OP in People had one)

What little I remember of this issue was that it was far more likely to happen if the camera was used or stored in a high humidity environment. However I have heard little enough about it to make me think an estimate of nine or ten per week is grossly exaggerated.

What I figured.

Would have heard about it more here at FM. What got me was the '9 or 10 a week"! Either grossly exaggerated, as moondigger said, or a set-up. You take your camera in for cleaning and they tell you mirror is loose, has to be fixed. Or maybe they're not real careful in the cleaning. I'll play it safe and send it in to Canon.

I AM in a high-humidity environment, though. I have the camera out only as long as it needs to be, then back into air-conditioning it goes.

A friend of mine just had his mirror replaced because of this problem. I figured it was just because it gets a lot of use (wedding photographer)

Uh Oh.

Where do you live? There was a thread about this a while back and it seemed that most people who had the problem lived in hot or humid environments.

http://www.fredmiranda.com/forum/topic/622376

I'd look for a better place to get my camera cleaned.

Right now I'm living in South Florida. Ben, I'd already decided not to fool around, just send the cam to Canon. I wonder if the mirror falling off is an urban legend. Reading the thread dfresh supplied, it seems that everyone's HEARD of loose mirrors on the 5D, but no one except Finnlanp has had firsthand knowledge.

pjbishop wrote:
Right now I'm living in South Florida. Ben, I'd already decided not to fool around, just send the cam to Canon. I wonder if the mirror falling off is an urban legend. Reading the thread dfresh supplied, it seems that everyone's HEARD of loose mirrors on the 5D, but no one except Finnlanp has had firsthand knowledge.

Exactly...I did this same 'research' before buying my 5D because I had heard about mirrors falling off. In the end. I decided that very, very few mirrors actually fall off. Certainly not enough to worry me. 9 to 10 a week sounds EXTREMELY suspicious to me...I live in S. Fla. too...which repair shop said this?

Omar

It's true that it's a known issue with 5D's of the first production batches. Not that every mirror came off, but a few did get loose. Not really EOSfunny if it happens to you The fact that the 5D is popular amongst users of alternative glass with protruding backmounts doesn't help either. Many of these users "shave" their mirror, and this often isn't done very subtle which of course effects suspension etc. very easily. Canon easily honours claims if the mirror is untouched. If a mirror has been shaved though it will be hard to claim a free repair by Canon. I doubt 9 or 10 mirror repairs a week is real, unless this is 'the mirror repair centre' for the Northern hemisphere

I think what the repair guy was trying to say was that when he bears down on the steel wool that he uses to clean the sensor, quite often the mirror comes loose in his hands.

I'm in S. Florida and have seen a mirror fall out of a friend's 5D, so it is a real, albeit apparently rare, occurrence. The camera was ~8 months beyond the warranty (this was ~ a year ago), and Canon performed the repairs gratis.

Canon repaired my 5D free of charge when this happened to it although it was well outside normal warranty period. The mirror actually fell out onto the ground when I took the lens off to see why it had jammed. I'm happy with the repair.