Canon R6 II Camera is back at CPS for the 3rd time and same problem!

[Chris Summers]

I got my R6 MKII back 8 days ago on Friday afternoon. I had mentioned in the previous thread on this camera how it kept firing even after I released the shutter button. I didn't have time to do much on Friday evening, other then reset all the menus and customize the buttons the way I like them to be. Saturday morning I went to shoot my grandson's soccer match and within the first few bursts of images the camera took off and fired another 15 images on it's own. It did this throughout the game. I really had to wonder if the technician even test fired the camera before sending it back. They had replaced the top cover which has the shutter button and told me that was the problem.

On Monday I called the CPS agent I had worked with the past 2 times it was in for repairs. He quickly sent me a FedEx label and I stripped the camera down and shipped it. They received it Tuesday morning and on Wednesday I had a message that it was officially in the repair department and that should take 1-3 days. On Friday I had not heard anything and went to the CPS website to check on my repair only to find the repair was listed as "Suspended". I contacted the agent again and he said they had tried to fix the problem but it persisted so they were in touch with Canon USA for some assistance. They said it might mean Canon Japan getting involved. He said suspended just meant that it was not actively being repaired. They were waiting for further instructions from a higher authority.

I reminded him my 1 year warranty runs out on May 7th and he said, "Oh, don't worry. The repair will have a 6 month warranty." Somehow that does not give me a lot of confidence. I reminded him that I had already stated that if they can't fix it I will be happy with a refurbished replacement, he did not reply.

Getting a bit frustrated as I have always had good service from CPS.

 

[MikeZ]

Sorry to hear about these headaches and your disappointment with CPS. It's a shame that you can't "walk-in" to a Canon repair center and speak directly with someone. I have always found it much easier to orally describe a problem (and add show-n-tell if necessary) then to compose an email. A blank stare from a tech invites further explanation, but we don't get that through an email. I hope that Canon truly understands the problem and has a speedy and acceptable solution for you. Good luck.

 

[Chris Summers]

Sorry to hear about these headaches and your disappointment with CPS. It's a shame that you can't "walk-in" to a Canon repair center and speak directly with someone. I have always found it much easier to orally describe a problem (and add show-n-tell if necessary) then to compose an email. A blank stare from a tech invites further explanation, but we don't get that through an email. I hope that Canon truly understands the problem and has a speedy and acceptable solution for you. Good luck.

This time and the last I actually enclosed a USB thumb drive with videos my wife took over my shoulder of the issue happening so they could see it for themselves. Hopefully that will help.

 

[MikeZ]

Could this issue be related to some sort of "shutter button buffer" similar to holding the space bar in MS Word or some other WP app? What feels like a short press manifests as a much larger one. I would expect Canon to have investigated that angel, if there is anything to it. But you never know what they are thinking or looking for. Sometimes the simple is overlooked simple because it is simple.

 

[Chris Summers]

Canon CPS still has no answers from Canon USA or Japan so my camera repair is still "Suspended" But they are sending me a loaner for a week or so. Crazy, just repair or replace the camera.

 

[ShipleyNW]

In your other post about this, I mentioned I'd seen this problem with my R7, and that I suspect that it's a firmware problem rather than a hardware problem since it only shows up with certain settings. But the Canon repair folks are hardware people, and when your only tool is a hammer, everything looks like a nail, so they just started swapping out parts.

I'm betting that when they contact Japan, it will eventually get in front of the firmware group and they'll find and fix the bug. The problem is that they can't just fix your camera. You, and everybody else, will have to wait until it makes it into a firmware release.

Take them up on the loaner. See if you can make it happen on that body.

 

[Chris Summers]

In your other post about this, I mentioned I'd seen this problem with my R7, and that I suspect that it's a firmware problem rather than a hardware problem since it only shows up with certain settings. But the Canon repair folks are hardware people, and when your only tool is a hammer, everything looks like a nail, so they just started swapping out parts.

I'm betting that when they contact Japan, it will eventually get in front of the firmware group and they'll find and fix the bug. The problem is that they can't just fix your camera. You, and everybody else, will have to wait until it makes it into a firmware release.

Take them up on the loaner. See if you can make it happen on that body.

I think you have hit the nail on the head as they say! So, I got the loaner and set it up for some soccer games I wanted to shoot of the grandkids. Same setting as I use on my own R6 MKII with BBF with eye detection on the AF-On button. And guess what? It did it with the loaner! The only way to fix this is with a firmware upgrade. Only thing is, I think that will only happen if more people have an issue like this.

 

[ShipleyNW]

I worked in software and ran down a zillion bugs like this. As a developer, the hardest part is trying to understand the aberrant behavior, then figure out how to reproduce it. Once you get to that point, the scope of the problem narrows to where you can try a few things until you see, Ah, there it is.

You have excellent documentation on steps 1 and 2. First thing I'd do is save the settings in question on that loaner to a C-mode (maybe all the C-modes,) then back up the camera settings to an SD card. Copy that backup file to an empty directory on your computer and add the notes, screenshots and videos you collected early in the diagnosis. Leave those C-settings in place when you ship the camera back and make sure CPS is aware you did that.

It sounds like you have a relationship with the tech at CPS. Ask him if he opened a trouble ticket with Canon when he suspended your repair. See if he can attach your evidence files to the ticket as end-user input, something like that. I'm sure there's space for attachments like that on the form. Ask for the ticket number. He probably can't give it to you, but you never know, and he might even tell you how to track it.

Beyond that, you're just kind of throwing it into the wind. You don't really have any leverage to see this through. Your buddy at CPS will need to close your repair ticket with some kind of resolution code and comment, and that will surely be, "we kicked it to Japan under ticket #1234".

Talk you your guy at CPS. Tell him about the loaner and the data you've collected. See what the status of your repair ticket and any downstream tickets. Ask for your camera back.

That's probably all you can do. The next time you'll hear about it is in the release notes for firmware update 1.7.0, "Issue 4B, Fixes issue where shutter continues to fire after release button has been disengaged." If you see that, you'll rightfully be able to claim Issue 4B as the "Chris Summers Bug."

 

[timm]

My advice will not help your present situation, but it may be helpful overall. I am a retired embedded systems developer. Reproducing problems in a complex system can be very time-consuming. Please make sure the people you are working with have a complete list of your settings, etc. The hardest part of fixing many problems is reliably repeating the failure while troubleshooting.

 

[Bryan Conner]

I would video the same thing happening with Canon's camera, their loaner. Then I would ask for another loaner and return it to them with the settings intact.
It is pretty embarrassing for Canon to give a customer a loaner camera with the same problem that the customer's camera has that made the customer need to be given a loaner....that has a problem. Now, they need to give you a loaner to replace the loaner....

 

[timm]

We all want the things we buy to work perfectly. However, sometimes customers may not be willing to pay for "perfect," as it can involve thousands of hours of testing that can cost big bucks. It would not surprise me to learn that Canon itself may have first only been told that the camera had the same problem 3 times, but didn't get the specifics.

The fact that a) it is known how to reproduce the problem, and b) the exact problem occurs on multiple examples of the same model, will help make it more likely to get fixed quicker. The R6 MK II is one of their flagship models. It's vital to their bottom line.

 

[Chris Summers]

Just checked the repair status at CPS and it now says "Closed" and farther down "Your product has been shipped". But I have not gotten any kind of text or email which they usually send when a repair is done. I sent an email to the CPS rep I have been working with. and asked what this means. Waiting to hear back before I pick up the phone.

 

[Bryan Conner]

Hopefully they are sending you a replacement. But not just any replacement, a replacement that works properly.

 

[Chris Summers]

I had another chat with the service rep at CPS about my camera. We spoke yesterday and I told him the loaner had the same problem and that it is probably a software issue. He agreed and said he would relay that to Canon-USA. He also said he would speak to his superiors to try to figure out a solution for the time being.

Later yesterday afternoon he sent me an email that I did not see until this morning saying Canon-USA had duplicated my problem at their end and agreed it is probably a software issue. In the email he also said Canon USA said they should return my unrepaired camera and get the loaner back and at some point they will hopefully fix the issue via a firmware update.

So I called him this morning and told him, this is unacceptable and that they can keep the camera until they fix it and I will just keep the loaner. I reminded him that my concern is that my warranty just expired and now I'm getting the camera back and if they decide it's a firmware and hardware issue then would I be liable for repair costs. So, for now I am to keep the loaner and he will try to see if they will extend my warranty. I feel like if I keep the loaner I gain some leverage.

I've shot Canon cameras going back to the 20D DSLR and this is the craziest thing ever to happen.

 

[MikeZ]

Our modern mirrorless cameras are somewhat like modern cars - nearly as much software as hardware. And with all software there are bugs that manifest in some unpleasant ways (and become difficult to track down). It's sad that we enjoy what the software provides us, but must live with the glitches. Sorry that you have to deal with this, but I'm afraid that these problems will become more numerous as cameras become evermore software based.