Canon stopping EOS 5D Mark III shipment (?) – UPDATE

UPDATE 5: thedigitalpicture is reporting that Canon USA will not stop shipment of the EOS 5D Mark III. No sources are named.

UPDATE 4: This was posted in the clubsnap forum and then reported by canonrumors, apparently the answer of Canon Singapore to a concerned customer: With reference to your question on whether Canon Singapore will recall the EOS 5D MK III due to the light leak issue, we wish to inform you that we will not. However we will contact you later this month to rectify this issue. Please leave us your contact number for our Service team to contact you.

UPDATE 3: Things are getting worse. Canon France, asked by focus-numerique (Google translated), says that: Canon states that all cases seem to be unaffected and that ultimately the problem is marginal. For now, the 5D Mark III deliveries are slowed in France in order to check current inventory. The distribution is expected to resume a normal pace in the month of May.

UPDATE 2: Adorama, Amazon and B&H all have the out of stock and available only for pre-order. Don’t know if this is related to the supposed hardware problems of the Mark III, but at least it is a strange coincidence. Quoting Adorama: This item is currently out of stock and on backorder. Please note: You can order this now and have us ship it as soon as it arrives. We will not charge your card for any backordered items, until it is ready to actually ship.

UPDATE: Changed the title since techradar is reporting: Canon UK has said that shipping of the 5D Mark III has temporarily stopped while it investigates problems with the top LCD causing exposure issues. Following techradar, the Canon UK spokesperson could not say when shipping will resume.

It’s still not sure what it is about with the light-leaking issue that’s reported in relation to the EOS 5D Mark III. While it is true that it is not a problem that will affect your everyday pictures (and that means >90% of what you may do with your camera), it is also true that this is a rather annoying issue on a $3,500 gear. Beside an official statement by Canon there are no news so far. The topic is heavily discussed in forums (see here and here).

Now there is this news reported by Canada based photographer Rob Galbraith on his website:

Canon Canada has begun informing dealers that shipments of the EOS 5D Mark III have been suspended while the company sorts out a solution to a metering error problem that can occur in dark environments when the top LCD backlighting is switched on.

While Canon Canada’s shipping-stoppage notice applies to the Canadian market only, it’s likely that Canon in other regions and countries will also be holding back the new digital SLR while a fix is developed.

Learn more about the light-leaking issue with the following videos.