![\"OLYMPUS](\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/06\/P5250492.web_.jpg\")
CPS technician Kish Dhayatker gets to grips with a high-end DSLR<\/em>. He is one of 15 technicians at the Canon Service Centre in Elstree<\/em><\/p>\nHowever, it\u2019s not just working professionals who send cameras in for a health check or repair job.<\/p>\n
Many amateurs are among those whose DSLRs qualify for treatment. \u2018The mix is roughly 50:50,\u2019 says Darren O\u2019Mahony, service director for Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA).<\/p>\n
\u2018For [enthusiasts] dropping cameras in for repairs we aim to turn around all cameras within eight days.\u2019<\/p>\n
The centre handles DSLRs from the EOS 70D upwards as well as professional video equipment, Speedlite camera flashes and flashguns, lenses, projectors and other accessories. Entry-level DSLRs and compacts are dealt with at a separate centre in Germany.<\/p>\n
The next few weeks could prove a busy time for staff, with technicians dispatched to provide onsite support to press photographers covering events such as Wimbledon, the UEFA Euro 2016 football championship and Formula 1 motor racing.<\/p>\n Among the centre\u2019s 60 staff are 15 technicians. Basic training takes about 6-12 months, though most have 30 years\u2019 experience in the job. Four technicians are assigned to mid-range DSLRs, while eight CPS staff work on higher-end lenses and cameras, such as the EOS 5D Mark III and EOS-1D X models.<\/p>\n \u2018We are largely a repair service but a lot of the work is centred around things like sensor cleans and adjustments,\u2019 adds O\u2019Mahony, who points out that occasional adjustments are needed when a photographer\u2019s working tool gets knocked or dropped.<\/p>\n The cost of a repair depends on what needs doing, but the staff say they operate on a \u2018no surprises\u2019 policy and encourage customers to discuss the \u2018diagnosis\u2019 and repair with a technician beforehand.<\/p>\n AF adjustment, calibration or sensor cleaning in a \u2018dust-free\u2019 room may be the order of the day. However, occasionally, the centre calls out in a crisis, such as the time when a technician was asked to join a photographer on board a helicopter during an aerial shoot.<\/p>\n When asked what has been the service centre\u2019s greatest challenge, O\u2019Mahony says: \u2018We\u2019ve had lenses that have been sat on by elephants and we even had a lens that was infested by red ants. But these are rare cases.\u2019 One camera also came a cropper when a stuntman rolled a car during a film shoot.<\/p>\n One of the success stories is recounted by CPS technician Kish Dhayatker who explains that photographer Jonathan Scott was on assignment in the Masai Mara, Kenya, when he accidentally dropped his kit in some water. Five hours of TLC at Canon\u2019s A&E, however, and it was ready for more action.<\/p>\n It\u2019s not all about urgent repair work though. \u2018A lot of the requests are simply for preventative maintenance,\u2019 adds O\u2019Mahony.<\/p>\n \u2018If a photographer knows they have an important shoot then they will quite often bring the product in a few days before the shoot, get the camera back up to spec and back out for work.\u2019<\/p>\n Taking pride of place among the centre\u2019s labyrinth of corridors and science-lab decor is a piece of equipment that nobody is allowed to see. It checks lens resolution and helps provides information about how a lens is set up.<\/p>\n \u2018This takes the technician\u2019s judgement out of it because the software will analyse the image,\u2019 says service centre manager Martin Donoghue. \u2018It will tell the technician whether he needs to make adjustments.\u2019<\/p>\n A 33m-long track allows technicians to test lenses of up to 600mm focal length. While, a shorter one, measuring 10m, is designed for lenses up to 200mm.<\/p>\n Owing to the machine\u2019s vibrations and the need for consistent readings, there was a requirement for the concrete floor it sits on to have a maximum 5mm change in level from one end to the other.<\/p>\n We also spy some innocuous-looking test charts to check a camera\u2019s focusing system, for example. However, such is the secrecy surrounding them that photographs of these are well and truly off limits\u2026 Time to get that taxi back to the station.<\/p>\n [All photos \u00a9 C Cheesman]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" \u2018The Canon offices in Centennial Park please,\u2019 we say to the taxi driver outside Elstree & Borehamwood train station in Hertfordshire, to which the man unexpectedly enquires, \u2018Do you want me to wait 10 minutes when we get there?\u2019 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":324,"featured_media":79559,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"video","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[39],"tags":[],"product-category":[],"class_list":["post-79545","post","type-post","status-publish","format-video","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-photo-news","post_format-post-format-video"],"yoast_head":"\n![\"OLYMPUS](\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/06\/P5250500.web_.jpg\")
Darren O\u2019Mahony, service director for Europe, the Middle East and Africa<\/em><\/p>\n![\"OLYMPUS](\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/06\/P5250487.web_.jpg\")
Booking administrator James Dan<\/em><\/p>\n