I think hot shoe repairs are getting overcomplicated these days

Last month a guy brought in a Canon with a busted hot shoe. Everyone in the forum kept saying to replace the whole top cover assembly for $80 in parts. I told him to wait, cleaned the contacts with a pencil eraser, and bent the spring pin back with tweezers. It worked fine and cost him nothing. Has anyone else noticed folks jumping to swap parts instead of trying the simple fixes first?

2 comments

2 Comments

amy_foster791d ago

I hear you on that. "Everyone in the forum kept saying to replace the whole top cover assembly" - that's exactly the kind of thing that drives me nuts. I mean, I get that some shops want a guaranteed fix with a profit margin, but it's like nobody even tries the five-minute cheap trick anymore. That pencil eraser trick and bending the spring pin back? That's pure gold, and it's so much better for the customer. Idk, maybe it's just me but I feel like we're losing the old-school repair mindset where you actually look at the problem before ordering a whole new part. It's honestly refreshing to see someone else still doing that.

oliviagrant1d ago

Hang on, they seriously wanted you to replace the whole top cover assembly just for a stuck spring? That's wild. I've seen shops try to sell a new motherboard for a loose jumper before, but that takes the cake. The whole assembly is like half the cost of the machine new, right? Unreal.