Canon Service and Tech Support Receive Higher Marks Than Competitors

My readers know I am the Wildlife Ho-tographer using Canon equipment for over a quarter of a century. On my frequent global wildlife photo tours, I need a company that can accommodate my busy schedule and keep my equipment bag in tip top shape. I find Canon to be that kind of organization with their responsive service and technical support teams, worldwide.


MELVILLE, N.Y., December 5, 2016 – Canon U.S.A., a leader in digital imaging solutions, announced today the findings from a nationwide third-party blind survey that compared customer perceptions concerning the speed of service and quality of tech support offered by Canon and Nikon. The survey was conducted among photographers (primarily professional, semi-professional, and advanced amateur) in November 2016 and found that customers perceive Canon’s service times to be faster than Nikon’s and that customer satisfaction with tech support is higher for Canon than it is for Nikon.

“Our customers need service they can count on,” said Yuichi Ishizuka, President and COO, Canon U.S.A., Inc. “We are very proud of our achievements in delivering world-class service and support. By making customer service an integral part of our business model, we are positioned to meet and exceed the changing needs and expectations of our customers.”

Key Survey Findings

Ultra-Fast Service: 76.9 percent of Canon customers who have had a service experience in the last 18 months indicated that the speed of their service was either ultra-fast or fast compared to 64.7 percent for Nikon.

Support Matters

90.4 percent of Canon customers indicated that they were completely satisfied or satisfied with the technical support they received, as compared to 73.7 percent of Nikon’s customers.
Canon has made significant investments in service and support programs and operations, starting with the opening of their first call center in Chesapeake, VA in 1995. The Company prides itself on providing 100 percent in-house U.S. technical support. When it comes to call center operations, keeping all tech support calls in-house allows the Company to tightly control the quality and depth of the tech support provided. Canon maintains full control of its customers’ repair transactions, unlike other industry players that may rely on local third-party service providers to augment their service processing. This is a key differentiator for Canon and is one of the factors that allows the brand to control quick turn-around times and quality service.

About the Ultra-Fast Canon Service & Support Team

Support Across the Country: Canon’s Service & Support Network spans from the East to the West Coast (reaching as far as Honolulu, HI) with 10 locations totaling more than 300,000 square feet of space devoted to serving customers. Canon has two call center locations – in Virginia and New Mexico – which boast an average wait time of only 78 seconds to talk to a live tech support representative. There are also three locations in key metropolitan areas that specifically cater to professional customers, in addition to four factory service locations that serve all customers. Canon also has a Customer Care Center, which offers a service drop-off point at its corporate headquarters located in Melville, NY.

In the spring of 2017, the Canon Hollywood Professional Technology & Support Center will relocate to Burbank, CA. In this new location, Canon service and support will be enhanced even further to assist the growing number of professional filmmakers and broadcast production clients in Southern California.

It’s More Than Just Support

The Canon Experience Center located in Costa Mesa, CA, not only offers service, but is also home to Live Learning workshops and seminars that provide opportunities to learn the latest photography, video, and printing techniques. Additionally, both the Costa Mesa and Lyndhurst, NJ, locations house product showrooms where customers can explore the latest Canon products.

100 Percent U.S. Based Service & Support Teams 

Canon provides 100 percent U.S.-based tech support that is completely in-house staffed with over 600 “all Canon” employees. Canon’s combined nationwide service and support network is comprised of over 1,100 expert service and support team members who maintain full control of service quality and speed of repair transactions.

In addition to announcing the results of this survey, Canon has also launched a new digital advertising campaign that highlights the Company’s knowledgeable tech support staff and efficient service times that average 2.82 days (1.59 days for Canon Professional Services (CPS) Platinum members).

About the Survey 

A blind survey was conducted between the dates of November 17-22, 2016, resulting in over 2,300 responses from photographers, primarily professional, semi-professional and advanced amateurs. The methodology and results were validated by a third-party expert, Dr. William Bleuel, Ph.D.

Canon USA Opens New Service Center in New Jersey

I am fortunate to live close to one of these state-of-the-art facilities. They are aesthetically beautiful to be in and the services provided are first class. The display of Canon cameras, lenses and other equipment inside are simply mouth-wateringly tempting to many photographers. 

MELVILLE, N.Y., October 18, 2016 – Canon U.S.A., Inc., a leader in digital imaging solutions, today announced that their service operation in Ridgefield Park, New Jersey has relocated to 125 Chubb Ave., Suite 100N, Lyndhurst, New Jersey. The new Professional Service & Support Center is geared toward industry professionals and photo enthusiasts and is designed to support the imaging community in the New York metropolitan area. This facility will be open Monday through Friday from 9:00 AM to 4:30 PM on a walk-in basis with no appointments needed.

At this new location, Canon will showcase many of its latest imaging products in the professional products showroom with a Canon technical expert on-site to demonstrate product features and answer questions. The state-of-the-art facility also offers repair and maintenance operations for Canon’s extensive lineup of professional Cinema and Broadcast lenses, EF series photography lenses, Cinema EOS and EOS Digital SLR cameras, and high-definition camcorders. Repair operations at the facility include six state-of-the-art lens and camera adjustment rooms, Canon’s most advanced adjustment and calibration equipment, spare parts inventory, and experienced repair staff.

“The new facility in Lyndhurst will provide an inviting location for Canon’s existing customers as well as new customers looking to learn more about our products,” said Yuichi Ishizuka, president and COO, Canon U.S.A., Inc. “This move also continues the expansion and improvements of our 100 percent U.S.-based service and support network.”

The Lyndhurst facility is one of three service facilities that Canon has made available to professional clients, joining the Canon Hollywood Professional Technology & Support Center, located in Hollywood, California, and the Chicago Professional Service & Support Center, located in Itasca, Illinois. These facilities provide local support to key markets and deliver an average repair process time of less than two days for CPS customers.

Additional camera and lens service facilities for both professional and consumer clients are located in Jamesburg, NJ, Costa Mesa, CA and Newport News, VA.

For an exciting video tour highlighting the features of the new facility, please visit : www.pro.usa.canon.com/lyndhurst

Top Ten Camera and Lens on Loan by Canon Professional Services at Olympics 2016

Last week, I reported Canon Professional Services was gearing up to support pro sports photographers at the 2016 Summer Olympics. Now Canon has released a list of the most requested camera and lens equipment they are loaning out at the Games. I have used and own many of the gear on the list and have taken them on worldwide wildlife photo shoots. You can read my reviews on them below.

My readers know I am The Wildlife Ho-tographer. Through the decades, I have used almost all of Canon film and digital cameras plus their entire line of EF lens. You can read my camera and lens recommendation, view my equipment bag and see my works on MichaelDanielHo.com


Most requested camera and lens from sports photographers :

• EOS-1D X Mark II - Loaned 285 Times
• EF 200-400mm f/4L IS USM Extender 1.4X - Loaned 231 Times
• EF 70-200mm f/2.8L IS II USM - Loaned 211 Times
• EF 400mm f/2.8L IS II USM - Loaned 131 Times
• EF 24-70mm f/2.8L II USM - Loaned 130 Times
• EF 600mm f/4L IS II USM - Loaned 126 Times
• EOS-1D X - Loaned 123 Times
• EF 8-15mm f/4L Fisheye USM - Loaned 105 Times
• EF 16-35mm f/2.8L II USM - Loaned 84 Times
• EOS-1D X Mark II VIP and EF 300mm f/2.8L IS II USM - Both Loaned 77 Times

Canon Professional Services Is Ready For The 2016 Summer Olympics

I am back from my Alaska/Canada Wildlife Photo Tour. It was my annual shoot and this time I put the Canon EOS-1D X Mark II camera to more real world tests. In addition to the EOS-1D X Mark II, I brought the EOS-7D Mark II, EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS II and EF 400mm f/4 DO IS II lens. You can see my equipment bag and my works on MichaelDanielHo.com.

MELVILLE, N.Y., August 3, 2016 – Canon U.S.A., Inc., a leader in digital imaging solutions, will be bringing their service and support expertise to Brazil to help maximize the uptime and performance of its users’ professional imaging equipment. From pro DSLR cameras and EF lenses to broadcast television lenses, Canon’s award-winning service and support staff will be providing preventative maintenance and repairs to help professionals who have put their trust in Canon imaging equipment.

Canon’s team of over 70 highly trained technicians and support staff will be in Brazil for nearly a month to support professional photographers and broadcasters, just as they do throughout the year. Canon Professional Services (CPS) is set to provide comprehensive equipment maintenance and repairs, extensive equipment loans and expert technical support.

“Canon is proud to offer professional photographers and broadcasters high quality image-making solutions that are thoughtfully designed and versatile so that they can capture sharp, clear, detailed images and video,” said Elizabeth Pratt, director, Professional Client Development and Support, Canon U.S.A. “Knowing that iconic images will be captured, seen and shared by people around the world really drives Canon to provide professionals with not only high quality equipment but the customer support they need to help ensure they never miss a beat if anything happens to their equipment.”

Canon EOS DSLR cameras and EF lenses are the camera and lenses of choice of a majority of the top U.S.-based news agencies and professional sports photographers.

The Associated Press will be using Canon cameras and lenses exclusively, including cameras which are integrated with advanced robotics systems. The robotic camera systems can be mounted both in the rafters high above a field of play and underwater in pools, all fully controlled remotely over a network. “High-speed and high-performing digital imaging solutions like the EOS-1D X Mark II camera and L-series EF lenses are key to our team’s success,” said Santiago Lyon, vice president and director of photography, Associated Press. “Canon provides innovative technology and world-class optics that give us the solutions we need to create compelling images.”

A majority of Reuters photographers from around the world will be using Canon DSLR cameras and lenses and trust Canon products and award-winning support team to keep them up and running. “Photographing large sporting events for thousands of news outlets and an audience of billions requires meticulous planning and technical resilience. The staff and engineers from CPS help ensure that the Canon cameras used by the world’s top sports photographers receive precision treatment that allows them to take pictures that capture key moments and illustrate the spirit of competition,” said Kevin Coombs, editor-in-chief for Thomson Reuters.

The Canon EOS-1D X Mark II DSLR camera and ultra-wide zoom EF 11-24mm f/4L USM lens were selected to be used for Getty Images’ new high-tech, remote-controlled underwater robotic system. The camera provides Getty Images with a fully networkable solution that features precise white balance, a blazing fast frame rate and impressive low-light capabilities, which make the camera ideal for capturing fast action. When combined with the durable and rugged EF 11-24mm f/4L USM lens, the system will allow Getty Images to capture images at extremely wide perspectives with incredible sharpness and minimal distortion from the center of the image to the periphery, all across the entire zoom range. “As the world’s leading visual communications company, we believe that our world class sports photographers must have the most up-to-date photographic technology that empowers them to do their job, and to do it exceptionally well.

Getty Images is using Canon’s EOS-1D X Mark II cameras and EF 11-24mm f/4L USM lenses in a unique, remotely-controlled underwater camera system that gives us the flexibility to follow and capture action from beneath,” said Ken Mainardis, vice president of Sport at Getty Images. “We recently used the new underwater system and the images were remarkable. We’re looking forward to using our Canon gear to capture more fantastic underwater imagery.”

“The European Pressphoto Agency (EPA) will have a photographic team of 40 capturing incredible moments. Months ago, EPA’s entire U.S. contingent switched over to the Canon EOS System,” explained Gernot Hensel, EPA’s long-standing head of sports and deputy editor-in-chief. “The EPA team is comprised of colleagues from all over the world, and the majority of them will be using Canon equipment, including robotic systems, to capture the action.”

Simon Bruty, an award-winning sports photographer and Canon Explorer of Light is one of the best sports photographers in the world. “As a professional photographer, I have to be able to capture every moment of the action because a hundredth of a second can mean the difference between capturing or missing the winning moment or race finish, and Canon cameras, like the new EOS-1D X Mark II, deliver the stunning image quality and speed I need while working,” said Mr. Bruty. “The 14 frames per second that the EOS-1D X Mark II camera can capture, which enables over 12 seconds of continuous RAW shooting without buffering, means that I could shoot an entire 100 meter dash without taking my finger off of the shutter release. If I shot in JPEG mode and have a large enough memory card, I could do it for the entire 2+ hours of a marathon race!”

World Press Photo Contest Announced New Code Of Ethics

I have been a wildlife photographer for 25 years using Canon equipment and never once entered a photo contest. These competitions offer me little satisfaction. I am my own severest critic and judge, always striving and take a better photo. You can see my equipment bag and works on MichaelDanielHo.com


The following is a post from Canon Professional Network, Europe :

In recent years, the photographic industry has called for clearer criteria on entering and judging World Press Photo Contest submissions. The World Press Photo Foundation has answered this call for the 2016 Photo Contest by publishing a new code of ethics, revised entry rules, and a transparent description of the judging and verification processes. The 2016 Photo Contest changes are part of a new strategy which the World Press Photo Foundation devised during a five-month review involving 17 consultations with photographers, editors and publishers at events in 15 locations worldwide.

Entries to the highly anticipated annual World Press Photo Contest are regarded as visual documents and are therefore expected to be an accurate and fair representation of the scene the photographer witnessed. The first entry rule concerning manipulation was enforced in 2009 and in the 2014 Photo Contest World Press Photo began requesting photographers submit original camera files. The challenge being addressed now is making contest participants more aware of what counts as manipulation.

Managing Director of World Press Photo, Lars Boering, says: “In the past two years 33 entries, out of a total of 240 in the second last round, were excluded, and one story was disqualified after the award. If we want pictures to be documents and evidence, we cannot accept the addition or removal of content, even if it is just ‘tidying up the image’.”

As photographs are at risk for manipulation during every stage in the photographic process – capture, production, publication, and circulation – the World Press Photo Foundation has introduced a new code of ethics and committed to continued use of independent digital analysts and a fact-checking team to review original camera files, metadata and caption accuracy.
Entry requirements

“It is important to stress that processing by itself is not manipulation,” states World Press Photo. That said, the new code of ethics shows that sensible cropping, sensor dust and scratches on negatives are among the few alterations in content permitted for contest entrants. Some level of colour correction as well as conversion to greyscale is accepted but changes which diverge from the original colour or obscure objects and/or people in the background of a picture are viewed as manipulation.

Those entries that have made it to the second to last round of judging will be checked for manipulation. Entrants who are eligible for the fifth and final round of judging are required to provide original camera files which World Press Photo will then pass on to two independent digital analysts. If unacceptable modifications are found, a 36-hour timeframe begins where entrants are given a chance to explain the apparent alteration. From 2016 onwards, entrants whose work has been excluded for altering content in two contests will be prevented from entering the contest for the next five years.

Captions will also be under strict scrutiny; requirements are outlined in the revised entry rules. As well as giving attribution for action not seen, providing sourced context of an event, the photographer must also state if he/she influenced the scene in any way. In the contest’s Portrait category which has been renamed as People, photographers must disclose in the caption if they “gave directions to a subject to pose in any way for a portrait”. Eligible photographs will be subject to an independent fact-checking team who will determine the completeness and accuracy of the captions.
What else is new?

The World Press Photo Contest has introduced an entirely new category: Long-Term Projects – Group. Entrants can now submit a photo essay which has been shot over a period of at least three years by two or more photographers.

For the first time all category prize winners (1st/2nd/3rd) will be invited to the awards and have travel and accommodation expenses covered by the World Press Photo Foundation. In addition, usage rights that applied to the Photo Of The Year winner will now apply to all awarded pictures.

To determine the photo contest winners, five specialised juries as well as one general jury deliberate independently of the World Press Photo Foundation during a two week judging process. For the first time, the complete judging procedures handbook has been made publicly available. Find the handbook, entry requirements, as well as explanatory videos on the World Press Photo website here.

Aside from the Photo Contest, the World Press Photo Foundation has announced that it will launch a standalone website in 2016, with its own publication name, which will act as a forum to investigate and report on visual stories.

Lars Boering concludes: “Now our team is looking forward to pushing ahead with building the online channel so we can showcase great stories and new approaches, lead debate, and connect visual journalists with the global audience that wants and needs their work.”
How to enter

The 2016 World Press Photo Contest will be open for participants to enter their work on 2 December 2015. The deadline for submissions is 13 January 2016, 23.59 (CET). Entries may only be submitted online via the World Press Photo entry website. A username and password are required to enter and can be requested until 7 January 2016, 23.59 (CET). 

Canon Professional Services Hospitality Suite at 2015 NAB Show

Canon Professional Services will once again host the Canon Hospitality Suite at NAB 2015. The Canon Hospitality Suite will be open to all NAB show attendees and will feature complimentary Clean & Check service for Canon professional products. The Clean & Check service is limited to (2) Canon EOS DSLR bodies or EF/ EF-S lenses, or (1) Cinema EOS product or (1) XF professional camcorder. All items are taken on a first-come, first-served basis and same-day service is not guaranteed.

The Canon Hospitality Suite will also include an exclusive product showcase highlighting Canon’s full professional line-up and Canon professional product reps will be available to provide product demonstrations and answer questions.

The Canon Hospitality Suite is located in room C201, just a short trip from Canon’s booth (C4325) in a private CPS elevator.

Show Special Registration Promotion!

As a bonus, sign up, renew, or upgrade a Gold, Platinum, or Cinema CPS membership in the Canon Hospitality Suite at NAB 2015 and receive an additional Canon Maintenance Service (CMS) redeemable at any Factory Service Center. Registration kiosks will be available in the Canon Hospitality Suite throughout the show.

Please read! Important information about registering for CPS :

To expedite your registration process, please sign-up, renew or upgrade your CPS membership prior to the show. To enroll, renew or upgrade membership please visit our website at cps.usa.canon.com and click the “LOGIN/REGISTER” tab. To enroll follow the instructions for “New User” or to renew or upgrade follow the instructions for “Returning User”. Be sure to print out your confirmation page as it must be presented to a CPS representative to receive the bonus Canon Maintenance Service (CMS).

To sign up in the Canon Hospitality Suite at the show, serial numbers for all qualifying CPS products must be supplied. (See full list of applicable products at www.cps.usa.canon.com). Equipment information must be entered at our registration kiosk in the Canon Hospitality Suite where a representative will be on hand to assist you.

Dates and Hours of Operation :

Monday April 13, 2015 10:00 am – 6:00 pm
Tuesday April 14, 2015 9:00 am – 6:00 pm
Wednesday April 15, 2015 9:00 am – 6:00 pm
Thursday April 16, 2015 9:00 am – 12:00 pm
(Gear pick up only, no new items)

(All times indicated are local time and schedule/content subject to change without prior notice)

See www.cps.usa.canon.com for full details regarding program and membership.

Canon Professional Services In 'Support Matters' Campaign

I have been a wildlife photographer using Canon equipment for 25 years. Over the years, I have used or owned almost all of Canon's film and digital cameras, FD and EF lenses. You can read my recommendation on Canon lens here. 

When I am on a photo shoot anywhere in the globe, it is comforting to know there is a world class technical team and center to call upon for advice and support. Unlike the photographers featured in the videos below, I do not have any affiliation with or receive any form of compensation from Canon. Not all of Canon's equipment are the best but they are consistently high performers across the entire product line, backed by excellent customer service. That is why I have stayed with them all these years. You can see my works on MichaelDanielHo.com