YouTuber Peter McKinnon apparently likes to take things apart. Complicated things. For example, he recently decided to look inside a Canon 1Dx Mark II, a $6,000 camera (unless there’s a rebate) that’s at the top of the line of Canon’s pro DSLRs. Apparently, he can’t help himself. At the beginning of the video, he forecasts, “this was a really bad idea.”
It started when McKinnon went out in the snow to shoot some images with his Canon 1Dx Mark II, and he noticed a problem: a broken cable to an external on-camera mic. This led to him discovering that the mic input receptacle on the camera was damaged. One thing led to another and he decided it would be a great idea to open up the 1Dx Mark II and “take a peek inside, see what it looks like” before sending it to Canon for repair.
Here’s the video:
It becomes obvious during the video that McKinnon has no experience opening or repairing cameras, but nonetheless, he persisted. He figures out how to get into the camera (“the screws are hidden in the hand grip,” he exclaims at one point). The video continues as he hesitantly takes the camera apart in what turns out to be simultaneously hilarious and cringe-inducing.
He was also very quotable in his comments as he’s taking the camera apart:
“Holy mother-of-what-did-I-do?”
“You know what, folks? I’m not even gonna pretend that I know what’s happening. I’m just gonna start unscrewing things.”
“Holy mother-of-what-is-going-on?”
“This is for sure daunting. But so cool! Look at the inside!”
“That’s the image sensor! Oh! that’s the image sensor! Oh! It’s like I’m Indiana Jones and I just found the Ark!”
Once he got both the front and back off, he put it back together, and somehow, by the end of the video, he had it all back in one piece and, other than the broken part that needed to be returned to Canon for repair, the camera was working. However, as McKinnon notes at the end of the video, “I’m pretty sure I voided the warranty.”
What did McKinnon hope to achieve with this video? He wanted to satiate his curiosity about what is inside a pro tool that he and other pro photographers rely on. But it turned out to be even more meaningful than that: “It really makes you appreciate any camera you’re using… they’re delicate and extremely impressive devices.”
Would you ever risk taking apart your equipment? Tell us in the comments below!
