Toronto-based photographer and filmmaker, Peter McKinnon, is a big jerk. You won't see me saying that very often as I truly do respect McKinnon as a content creator, but at the three minute, twenty-second mark of this video my butt clenched up and stayed that way for an entire six minutes and fifty-five seconds. If you're into that kind of thing then watch as McKinnon takes apart his very delicate, and very expensive Canon EOS-1D X Mark II.
I personally have always had a propensity for taking my electronics apart. My mother learned very early on not to buy me anything that flashed, beeped, cranked, or whirled unless she wanted to see her hard earned money sprawled across the living room floor. As cringe-worthy as this video is, it satisfies my curiosity. So if you're like me, and love stealing peaks inside your most cherished and often expensive possessions, then you'll enjoy living vicariously through McKinnon's mechanical exploit. He takes all the risk and we get all the reward. I suppose we should be thanking him for this public service, and let's be honest, it would've only been a matter of time before we cracked open the tools that make up the foundation of our beloved hobbies, and livelihoods. Now we won't have to.
My latest victim.
[via Peter McKinnon]
"He is a jerk" - Yes!
Okay, it's cool to see the inside. And yes, he has a point that it is impressive.
But I personally would not do that on any kind of device.
And I'm not sure what he "learned" about his camera to get a deeper understanding, by ripping off the tape unscrewing everything, looking at it with no knowledge and putting it back together. Seems to me just marketing.
"Just marketing" will earn him quite a bit of money...
You don't think he popped it open out of some child like wonder and curiosity? I suppose not. Views are the name of the game for sure but I don't think it's actually marketing for Canon. As a Youtuber he would have to tell us that or risk repercussions, no? Maybe if he swings by we can ask him.
No, not marketing for Canon, just to get a viral post.
I had a broken camera ones. My thought was: How can I fix it?
Which reasonable person in the world thinks then "hey, let's open the device completely and maybe destroy even more". For me, this is just another way of making a viral post, where 50% of the people tell him, how awesome it and 50% how stupid it was. And there you go, a discussion. As we have it right now.
So, from the business perspective he knows his things.
Totally. Undoubtedly. But every time something breaks on my end or even if there is a bit of dust behind the screen, I use it as an excuse to crack it open, "Oh I'm sure I can fix this". There is something wrong with me. :/
This year I bought a Huewai P10, two days later it fell in the pool. It worked fine, minus a small spot on the screen, two days later again, "Oh I'm sure I can fix this", two hours later, I'm back on my iPhone. Probably worked out for the best. :P
Haha, so I'm the complete opposite of you now.
I tried exactly the same in the past as you do, but instead of fixing them, I damaged them further. That's why I've learned my lesson. I even haven't cleaned my camera sensor myself at any time. I always bring it to the service. Paying the service 10€ for that is better than trying to fix it yourself and risking to break your 1500€ camera.
I'm going to say he's not a jerk because it made for an interesting video that has several sites like FStoppers talking. It will likely get him a bunch of views. If he damaged a ribbon or something it would be fairly minor since it was going in for repair anyway.
I'd say he's smart for thinking strategically and turning a bit of a set back into a huge opportunity because yes, outside of his followers who would see this, it was shared on pretty much every photography blog out there yesterday.
Curious, does Canon issue replacement cameras while others are on repair? Also of warranty would cover the broken microphone jack...or only canon internal related issues (i guess it depends on if it was extended warranty or not) also doesn't matter because he voided it any way opening it up. Which was also smart because he'll get more return on views and publicity than the cost of the repairs.
I would guess that McKinnon was willing to pay for the repairs if we decided to crack open the camera. It would pay for itself in views but now that I'm thinking about it, it's more likely he has some arrangement / good enough relationship with Canon to have a temp loaned out and repairs made. So ya, back to marketing. :)
No disassemble, no disassemble 1DXmii...1DXmii.... is....alive. ;)
He’s got the video footage to recce what screw is missing at least. ;)
I'm dying.
Was worried you might miss that reference lol. One of my fav movies growing up, look to quote it as often as I can where appropriate.
I think I'm officially old as $%^& now. You're going to have to go a lot further back than Short Circuit to lose me Mark.
Coincidentally, I recently tried to get my millennial wife to watch it... she didn't get it and last a whole of 10 minutes. :/
Challenge accepted mate! I still love the openening credit sequence to that movie.
Have a good day, thanks for the banter.
smart decision. Strong fan base, controversial topic that will split opinions and create a discussion, lots of views that might just pay him enough for a new camera. I don't see this as a jerk or dumb move at all. IT's actually a smart move
Absolutely, so much of being successful on youtube is marketing and strategy, timing, collaborations etc. Being noticed is how you achieve success on the tube for sure. I respect what he's done for himself, met him at Profusion for his Canon talk and had a few words after the event (mostly older people there and many didn't know who he was). Answered a bunch of my off the record questions sincerely and openly.
"And this is why we can't have nice things..." [grin]
I fail to see why he's a jerk. It's his own camera and an inanimate object, and he can do whatever he wants with it. He's not hurting anyone and he's not saying you should do it, or even forcing you to watch. You could have NOT watched it and, yes, still called him a jerk without seeing what happened entirely, but... you'd be wrong to do that. LOLs @ feelings.
lol. I know sarcasm and humor can be hard to read in copy but I was joking and think nothing of the sort. The opposite in fact. :)
Amazing! It powered up!
Peter, don't be surprised about finding extra parts laying around. I had the same experience when I replaced the camshaft on my Chevy 305 in my 1984 Chevy G10 van. The lead mechanic, a friend, and another mechanical minded friend helped me replace the camshaft. I had extra parts left over, primarily the emission control and the heat riser which helps in colder temperatures. After we got everything assembled, I had to take it to my regular mechanic to get it tuned up and running smooth.