# 5D Mark III rear joystick came off?!



## Jemlnlx (Dec 31, 2013)

Hi everyone...just sharing an experience. The other day I was shooting around a relative's house and I noticed the the rear joystick had popped off. After a few frantic minutes, I was able to find it on the floor, near my bag (presumably it came off while taking it out of the bag). I was able to pop it back on and now it functions fine. I even applied a bit of pressure to see if it would come off easily and it held fine. The only issue is that the weather/rubber seal around the button tore. I think the button comes from the factory snapped on just as I re-did it and a little help from the rubber sealing. The tear is not noticeable until very very close inspection. I am sending my camera is for a CPS routine cleaning and will instruct them about this issue and told them to quote me a repair price to replace the seal. 

I saw similar topics here: http://www.canonrumors.com/forum/index.php?topic=7959.0
and
http://www.fredmiranda.com/forum/topic/1183370

I just wanted to share the experience. I will keep everyone posted about my dealings with CPS within the following weeks. Who knows? maybe I can humor you all with an outrageous price quote for a piece of rubber, which consists of tons of labor, much like replacing the head gaskets of an engine. Costs $1000 to put in a $20 gasket....or something...


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## Jemlnlx (Jan 27, 2014)

*Re: 5D Mark III rear joystick came off?! (Update)*

Update for those who encounter the issue in the future. I sent it to the Jamesburg, New Jersey facility who quoted a repair cost of $263, which includes my CPS Gold 20% discount. MY camera is out of warranty. Apparently the "parts" totalled $83 (less $17 with 20% discount). Labor "standard" out of warranty charge was $219 (less $44 with 20% discount). *Geez and I thought the mechanic was expensive* In my case, I had the button, so I'd imagine that could be re-used and all that needed to be repaired was the rubber seal, though I previously saw from another post online that someone with a similar issue was told that the entire back cover had to be replaced in order to fix and replace the button. For $263 I will live with the broken seal, no biggie, at least for me. Pics to come soon.


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## TexPhoto (Jan 27, 2014)

Mine popped off in the first few months I had the camera. I put it back, and it has stayed there, although it does seem a little stiff.


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## mackguyver (Jan 27, 2014)

Jemlnlx said:


> I sent it to the Jamesburg, New Jersey facility who quoted a repair cost of $263, which includes my CPS Gold 20% discount.



Yikes, I'll be careful with mine!


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## privatebydesign (Jan 27, 2014)

I've had them come off 1Ds MkIII's too, no biggie, they just push back on. With the 1Ds MkIII the rubber boot is normally damaged if the joystick was rubbed hard enough to pull it off.


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## Jemlnlx (Jan 27, 2014)

Same here, I popped mine back on and it seems pretty firm on there. I dont use the button too often, I usually use the two dials to manually select focus points. 

When is gets back to me, I will post a pic and you all can decide whether it annoys you enough to drop $263 for the fix


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## Jemlnlx (Jan 30, 2014)

$263? Worth it? Not for me at least....


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## AcutancePhotography (Jan 30, 2014)

Yikes that's a lotta money for that repair. I would probably pass on that too.


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## flowers (Feb 1, 2014)

Ouch!
To the "worth it" questions, if you ever use your 5diii in snow or rain you should probably get it serviced as it's part of the weather sealing. Then again my 5dII has no rubber under the joystick and it's served me just fine in rain and snow!


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## macktheknife (Feb 18, 2017)

*5D Mark III rear multi-controller/joystick came off*

This happened to me, on an out of warranty 5D III. I took it to a Canon service centre. I was told the part costs around £2-£5, but the service centre would charge a minimum of circa £100 to fit it, including VAT and labour. They directed me to purchase the parts - black knob and rubber seal - from Lehmann's in Stoke. Lehmann's told me the rubber seal cost just 20p, but even though I didn't need it I would have to buy it. A day later, the knob and seal arrived, at a cost of £12. I put the new knob in, and it did not work.

I spoke to Canon again. This time I pointed out that its charge of 50x the cost of the part was outrageous, and that it should simply be fitting the part for free. I said if it did not, I would report it to the market regulator, the Competition Commission for exhorbitant charging. Clearly, Canon should not be fitting a camera costing £2,500-£3,000 with a cheap £2 knob, when that knob is going to be very heavily used, and that the loss of that knob is going to seriously compromise the functioning of the camera.

Canon responded by agreeing to try replacing the lost controller for £40. 

I took my camera back to the service centre. Canon wanted £40 to replace the controller, to cover the cost of labour. I refused. This was now my second visit to the repair centre, which has a cost to me. Clearly, the Canon Mark III is poorly designed, with an essential part costing £2 that has, for a number of users, failed. That's a design issue, not a usage issue. There was no way I was going to pay £100 to cover Canon costs after having paid £2,500-£3,000 to buy the camera, when that cost arose from Canon's poor design and quality control. 

I also pointed out that I had bought an expensive pair of BOSE headphones (QC 25) at the same time as the camera. I'd had many issues with the headphones over the years. But, each and every time, without fail and without quibble, BOSE replaced the faulty part. I pointed out that this gives me confidence to buy BOSE products in future, because I know I'll be taken care of should anything go wrong with the product. I said Canon giving me the run around, wanting me to visit them up to 3 times (they had wanted me to leave the camera with them), sending me to Lehmann's for a cheap part they had upstairs and could have fitted for free on my first visit as a goodwill gesture, just created a bad impression.

Canon relented. They took my camera and replaced the missing multi-controller. Apparently, inside the black knob, there was a missing mini white stick, which Canon had not told me I needed to also get from Lehmann's. I saved myself £100. But the big picture here is that I don't think any Canon Mark III user should ever agree to pay Canon £100 to replace a £2 knob on their camera. It's a Canon design fault, not a usage fault. Design the camera better, and use better quality parts, and the problem goes away.


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## Mt Spokane Photography (Feb 20, 2017)

So, you managed to search and find that someone else had the issue in 2013 and its a huge design problem for users? I'd have expected a lot more posts in the last several years if people were breaking them off everywhere.


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## ejenner (Dec 29, 2017)

Maybe folks just don't mention it much? Not sure, but mine broke off when the camera was not old, but out of warranty. I paid $200. Now the seal has broken and only 1/2 of it remains. I'm probably going to try to fix it myself. At least I'm going to buy a new one for $5 and see how I feel as I open up the camera.

I gon't think you need a whole new cover, but it does look like you have to open up the camera which doesn't look too bad, but is not something everyone will want to do. If it wasn't snow season, I probably wouln't bother, but I bet I will be out in the elements with it.


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## Graphic.Artifacts (Dec 30, 2017)

Knocked the joystick off of my 5D3 with a well placed tripod hit after only a couple months of ownership. It's a snug fit with a metal snap ring as I recall and it would be pretty hard to seat the joystick again without damaging the seal around it. Although I was a bit worried about the effect on the weather sealing I was on an extended trip at the time so repair wasn't an option. 

After a month or two it was still working fine so I pretty much forgot about it. That camera saw a ton of extreme weather and I never had any trouble with water penetration. Nor did it ever come off again. I wouldn't be too concerned about it if seems to be working properly. 

When I'm shooting my thumb is either planted on the AF On button or Joystick so it had a lot of very heavy use.

It was definitely my fault and I was thrilled that I was able to get it back on again and keep shooting. I couldn't operate that camera without it.

--- just noticed this was an old thread. Assume the OP has already sorted this so fyi to anybody else who might be interested.


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## sama (Dec 30, 2017)

If you dare to risk opening up the camera, the video shows how to replace the joystick.

https://youtu.be/cEtloREF2LA


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