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I finished importing photos into Adobe Lightroom and have these counts for three items that are not working 100% anymore. All three are out of warranty.

  • Canon EOS REBEL T1i - 49,794 photos
  • Tamron 18-270mm lens - 53,477 photos
  • Tamron 200-500mm lens - 45,339 photos

Metering sometimes does not work well on the T1i so I switch to manual. The autofocus motor spins on the 18-270mm lens but it usually does not engage the gear, so I use it in manual focus mode. The 200-500mm lens makes lots of noise and causes an error after each shot so I have to turn the camera off between shots.

My guess is that this "Prosumer-level" equipment is not engineered for high photo counts in my outdoor photography environment, where the temperature was 106 degrees Fahrenheit (41°C) yesterday and -18 (-25°C) last January.

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1  
What equipment there is 'prosumer'? – rfusca♦ Jul 5 '12 at 7:00
@rfusca - All 3 items. Expensive, capable of excellent results, but not designed for years of heavy daily use. I shot an outdoor concert July 3rd. Of the ~ 100 other cameras in the crowd only 3 were DSLR's and only one of them had a non-kit lens. There were no pro level cameras, just ~ 100 consumer point-and-shoots and 5 prosumer DSLR's, including my T1i and T3i. – Mark Jerde Jul 5 '12 at 19:29
Ah, I wasn't trying to pick on you. Its just that any DSLR doesn't typically fit in the 'prosumer' category. The T1i is typically entry or consumer level and something like the 60D would be more like 'prosumer'. – rfusca♦ Jul 5 '12 at 19:32
1  
It's really a marketing term rather than a useful label, and we're probably best avoiding it entirely and saying what we mean. – mattdm Jul 6 '12 at 3:50
@mattdm Agreed. I was just making sure I wasn't missing something. Repairing a real prosumer level may be worth it whereas a consumer level may not be. I'd pay to repair my D7000 but not my D3100 for example. – rfusca♦ Jul 6 '12 at 3:53

2 Answers

up vote 4 down vote accepted

The lenses are a fairly straight forward an economic decision. The camera perhaps less so as various things wear out and fixing one thing MAY leave another fail soon afdter. Or not.

If the glass is good and the lens is not physically beaten to death then you can get a quote for repair and see how the cost compares to a new or equivalent lens.

I had a Tamron 18-250 (actually Sony SAL18250 which is a Tamron in Sony clothing, which is the model before your lens) last for far more photos than yours did until Dolphins killed it. (Ok - it was salt water and a skipper being 'funny'). I have a second one (insurance replacement) that is dying already with far less photos taken and needs warranty repair. So, quality obviously varies.

On the bizarre offchance, email Steven Lee, Camera Hospital, Singapore and ask him how much to repair and cost for return. You may be pleasantly surprised. I have sent equipment from NZ for repair by him. It helps if you have a box full - but two lenses may make it worthwhile. He can deal with the camera too. Steven works out of one small shop/office/workroom in midttown Singapore. Pleasant to deal with. Some extremely good priuces. Doesn't always do everything perfectly, but I've had very good results from him overall.

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Thank you for the usage info and the lens death story. My stories are boring, such as falling down on the ice and having a freak wind blow over a tripod. :) – Mark Jerde Jul 8 '12 at 9:23
up vote 6 down vote

There are repair shops that will give you an estimate of repair cost, or even better a no obligation quote. Then it's a simple case of comparing the repair cost with the used value of the equipment (trawling ebay is a good avenue for this), giving a slight bias toward repair to make up for the risk of buying used.

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Thanks, but I'm wondering if this equipment is likely to be economically repairable or not based on usage. I live in a very rural part of the USA, rich in outdoor photo opportunity but poor in convenience, such as no cell service and being 400 miles from the nearest camera store. If these are likely worn out I want to avoid the expense of shipping them away for estimate, and will just continue to use them until they fail completely. – Mark Jerde Jul 5 '12 at 21:16
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@Mark If you called a service centre the experienced technician would reply "its impossible to say without examining the equipment" so I wouldn't trust anyone on the internet to do any better! I appreciate your position, though. I would carry on using your camera body using live view for metering until it packs up completely. Likewise with the 18-270 and save up to replace the 200-500 which sounds the most f'ed up! – Matt Grum Jul 5 '12 at 21:42

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