How Canon Fix 5D Mark III Light Leak!

Last month Canon received some pretty bad press on their 5D Mark III’s light leak issue — granted a minor flaw where light from (or through) the top LCD panel can affect the camera’s exposure readings in very dark environments.

Canon finished investigating the issue last week, and reported that only 5D Mk III cameras with a certain range of serial numbers are affected. They also confirmed that the company has implemented a fix for newer bodies.

Canon also announced that service centers would be providing free “inspections” for owners concerned about this issue.

After the announcement 5D Mk III were wondering what high tech fix Canon has came up with ;)


Thanks to LensRentals, now we know!

Pictures from LensRentals

The top picture is the innards of a affected 5D3, the bottom; a "newer" 5D3. 

BLACK TAPE, yes; black tape, that is what Canon used to fix the light leak problem!

You might think Canon did a low tech fix but according to Roger Cicala of LensRental who did the two Canon strips...

"It is a perfectly good solution and it work flawlessly!"

Roger continues...

"Sometimes I forget that other people don’t spend most of their days looking in cameras and lenses. Some people seem to think tape is bad or cheap fix. 

It’s not. 

Actually, I can’t think of any camera that doesn’t have a bunch of tape inside. Nor can I remember any high quality zoom lens that doesn’t have tape inside (some of the cheaper consumer grade lenses don’t). 

This stuff lasts for the life of the camera and then some. 

Trust me, I’ve taken some water soaked equipment apart where the only thing still working was the tape.

In a previous post, I praised the broad sheets of the same tape used to cover all of the circuit boards: it obviously provides added protection. This solution seems silly, but it’s logical and effective."

ROGER!  ;)

As for the million dollar question:

If YOU owned a “leaking” 5D3 would you send it in and have it played with or would you leave well enough alone?

Roger's response:

"I wouldn’t bother, but I don’t do long exposure night photography with auto metering. It wouldn’t make the slightest difference to me!"

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