T2i Durability... HA

B

Burritoclock

Active member
When deciding on what camera to get I read a lot about the "cheap plastic" case of the T2i vs the strong professional body of the 7d. While this is certainly true, it is relatively cheap. Yesterday while filming, I raised my tripod to get my camera behind a couch.... and jammed it into the running ceiling fan!

The hot shoe has wood chips embedded into it, the view finder cover flew off and there are paint scuffs all around it.

But it never even went off and it still functions! So other than the complete embarrassment, just wanted to say while it may be a cheap case compared to the 7d and 5d, it is still quite durable! haha
 
awesome to hear! That risky celling fan shot I was looking on skipping might be a reality now! Thanks!
 
The camera thing is a case where I think many people over buy for what they need. Even many pros have no need for the superior robustness of the 1D/7D bodies. I've known more than a few pros that have had a Rebel series camera at the heart of their photo business. Back in the day I could see a reason to go with an F1 over say ..an AT-1. The technology didn't progress as it does today. A film camera was a film camera, and it was good to have someting that would last many years.

I think digital cameras may be coming to that plateau now, but there's always going to be some minor improvement to sensor technology especially in LCD technology. It's good not to be heavily invested in anything digital and think of it as disposable. Do you really want to be stuck with a 1DsIV when the latest Rebel has a 4" OLED screen? The T2i construction is plenty good enough to last until the next version or beyond for most people's uses. The damn T2i is going to hold up pretty well I would wager even a couple of years from now, not only in durability. If not for the 5DII firmware upgrade, there would have been many 5DII owners highly pissed off when the T2i came out.
 
I agree, I read review after review and the major difference cited was the "flimsy cheap plastic case" to the T2i, having never owned a DSLR before I was expecting the worse, but when I actually took it out and slap a lens on it, it felt solid enough. Not solid enough to intentional slam it into a ceiling fan... but knowing it survived is worth sharing.

I currently do not use the hot shoe for anything, but looking at it I suspect that if I picked out the wood chips it would still function properly.
 
Now that could go viral on YouTube! Try it again but videotape it with another camera. Sounds like the T2i could withstand another go as well.

lenny
 
That's another reason to call it the Terminator 2!
I once dropped a plastic canon powershot A590IS for 1.5m. It bounced back up at least a metre. I picked it up and didn't have a scratch.
I find it robust too, my worry is mostly about sand and water. The 7D is weather sealed.

Also, shutter life expectancy of the T2i is 50,000 while for the XXD models and Xd models, it is more like 300,000.

So, there are arguments in favour of the higher end models, I guess for non-professional use, the 550D/T2i is the best value for money.
 
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Fortinbras said:
I find it robust too, my worry is mostly about sand and water. The 7D is weather sealed.

Also, shutter life expectancy of the T2i is 50,000 while for the XXD models and Xd models, it is more like 300,000.

So, there are arguments in favour of the higher end models, I guess for non-professional use, the 550D/T2i is the best value for money.
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Oh yes, all true! I am not trying to imply it's "good enough", simply that it was more robust and durable than I imagined. The weather proofing is a serious concern. If I had the money I would definitely spring for the 7d every time... I would have probably been buying a ceiling fan however.
 
Something like the Shars arm could give better potential to aim the monitor downward for holding the camera overhead. I'm always looking for a way to overcome the T2i's lack of articulating LCD.
 
Burritoclock said:
When deciding on what camera to get I read a lot about the "cheap plastic" case of the T2i vs the strong professional body of the 7d. While this is certainly true, it is relatively cheap. Yesterday while filming, I raised my tripod to get my camera behind a couch.... and jammed it into the running ceiling fan!

The hot shoe has wood chips embedded into it, the view finder cover flew off and there are paint scuffs all around it.

But it never even went off and it still functions! So other than the complete embarrassment, just wanted to say while it may be a cheap case compared to the 7d and 5d, it is still quite durable! haha
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Glad your camera survived. Another 550D owner here dropped his the first day and cracked the view screen in half. It doesn't matter it the body is made of titanium if the lens is still made of glass. The 550D body is made well enough to outlast it's technology which these days is about 12 months. It's an amazing little camera, but I still only plan to keep mine till the next 5D is released as long as it has 50p/60p.
 
Cool to hear. Also the 7d is weather sealed. The T2i isn't going to fall apart that easily. If it did that wouldn't make it out of the production pipeline. I'm sure they can both take a beating and both can be dropped several times.
 
People have questioned the plastic casing on the T2i and wondered about it's durability or toughness compared to the 7D.

If you drop, hit, run over or even throw something hard enough, it's going to break or jam something internally. The T2i is no different, even the 7D isn't unbreakable or idiot proof.

Glad to know your camera turned out OK. I baby mine right now and hate to think of the day it gets dropped. I once dropped a Canon SLR body (I forget which one it was as it was my school's camera) but it was plastic AND it landed in a puddle of water. I dried it off, plastic was fine and sensor was fine. I almost died though because I was running into school in a rainstorm and the body flew out of my bag and it skipping along the sidewalk into the puddle. Canon bodies are more durable than they look.
 
Burritoclock said:
When deciding on what camera to get I read a lot about the "cheap plastic" case of the T2i vs the strong professional body of the 7d. While this is certainly true, it is relatively cheap. Yesterday while filming, I raised my tripod to get my camera behind a couch.... and jammed it into the running ceiling fan!

The hot shoe has wood chips embedded into it, the view finder cover flew off and there are paint scuffs all around it.

But it never even went off and it still functions! So other than the complete embarrassment, just wanted to say while it may be a cheap case compared to the 7d and 5d, it is still quite durable! haha
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Advice: Don't get any camera stuck in a ceiling fan!
 
It's probably worth remembering that most of the Sony (and other) consumer video cameras had plastic cases. Personally speaking, the plastic casing was never the thing that would end up being a problem, it was always the rotating tape heads after a few years went by :)

I love the magnesium alloy body on the 7D and xxD line, but realistically I think for (my) normal usage either one will do just fine.

Glad to hear your camera survived!
 
Lenilenapi said:
Now that could go viral on YouTube! Try it again but videotape it with another camera. Sounds like the T2i could withstand another go as well.

lenny
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a second this motion.

there should be a camera smashing video on youtube!

though, it might hurt to watch.

those poor cameras!
 
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