Back in April of this year I was at a location getting ready to shoot and the laser wouldn’t connect to my iPad. After exhausting all attempts and contacting support, I was advised to send the IMS-5 camera back to Planitar for repair. They repaired the unit and replaced the Canon body with a new one (high image count) and sent it back to me. Now, 6-months later the same thing happened. After a long conversation with support and could not get the laser to connect again I have come to realize that I am the culprit. You see, when you pull the camera out of its case and then attach to your tripod mutliple times a day and all of the handling of the unit is around base, my index finger knuckle ends up rubbing and putting pressure on the cable(s) that connect the laser. Hence, they then start to pull of of the iGUIDE unit. Check the attached images. Image-1 is my second IMS-5 camera that is used by one of my photographers occasionally. Image-2
is my original IMS-5 that is used everday. You will see that the wires are now exposed from handling the camera daily. The original wires lasted 2-years of use before needing replacement, these lasted 6-months. I am sharing this for those that still use their IMS-5’s to be cautious of how far down the base you handle it. I love these cameras so I am going to try and figure out a sleeve/guard to keep my finger away from the cables.