What was wrong with my 40D?

[senatore]

On Moday morning I was on Dunwich Heath and had just located a Dartford Warbler when the 40D (with a 400 prime attached) let me down.Nothing happened when I pushed the shutter button.

I checked if I'd got it switched etc. and I knew the battery was fully charged.Everything seemed OK.

I don't know why I did it I can only think that I'd seen it on another thread I took out the battery and then put it back in.The shutter worked OK.What relief mind you the Dartford Warbler had gone.

What had happened ?Do I need to worry ?

Max.

[Malcolm Stewart]

Very difficult to say. I've had just one incident like yours, in over 30 months use and >10,000 images, with my 5D. No idea what caused it (using a Canon L lens) but I did get ERR messages when using Sigma lenses on my 10D a few years back.

[Pluvius]

I am afraid same thing as mine except it happened a few more times and now doesnt work at all and is going back to Warehouse for warranty repairs. I have read on other forums this has happened quite alot and shutter has to be replaced.

[Ragna]

I am sure that most canon users have had this happen or something similar at some time or other i would'nt i would only worry if it happens regularly

[Roy C]

I had it happen once with my 40D several months ago but have taken almost 10k of shots since with no problems.

[gmax]

I have read on other forums this has happened quite alot and shutter has to be replaced.

My 20D suffers from time to time from the same "disease": no ERR messages in my case, the camera shuts down and just stops working .. the only cure is removing the battery for a couple of seconds, replacing it and the camera works again ... it is useless to switch the camera off and on again, as it is to replace the battery too quickly.
This happens with

3 different batteries (original and not, fully charged and not),
4 different lenses (Canon and not)
2 different converters
even after the whole shutter system has been replaced ...
oh, and yes, weather, moisture and temperature are not relevant :CNow, where's the witch doctor? ;)

Cheers,

Max

[senatore]

Thanks for the replies everyone.I've taken 750 shots since the problem so it's fingers crossed for the future.

Max.

[K-Lex]

I've had a similar problem with my 40D on the odd occasion. It's never happened in the field but has happened in the studio so I blamed the infrared trigger - no idea why I blamed it but still!!
I just turned the camera on and off and it was fine.

[Marmot]

Lets hope it does not go the way that Ians did and a few others

http://www.birdforum.net/showthread.php?t=108669

[Keith Reeder]

Cameras are computers - computers occasionally have bad days.

[Peter Ericsson]

I attribute it to electronical overload. Same phenomenon as in computers. They freeze.
Sure is annoying but as long as they start up again I am game.

[timills]

I'm onto my third 40d in 8 weeks. After 3 weeks the first one developed a problem - some of the led characters in the viewfinder wouldn't light up. No problem took it back to Jessops and they changed it immediately. After 3 weeks the second camera developed the shutter problem. Erratic at first - I pressed the shutter and nothing happened but then it was ok for a few days. Eventually I discovered that when it wouldn't fire I had to press hard and it worked. Back to Jessops and another replacement which seems fine so far.

Ian

[tzanampeths]

I'm onto my third 40d in 8 weeks. After 3 weeks the first one developed a problem - some of the led characters in the viewfinder wouldn't light up. No problem took it back to Jessops and they changed it immediately. After 3 weeks the second camera developed the shutter problem. Erratic at first - I pressed the shutter and nothing happened but then it was ok for a few days. Eventually I discovered that when it wouldn't fire I had to press hard and it worked. Back to Jessops and another replacement which seems fine so far.

Ian

Why do I have this feeling that Canon has left their quality control up to us consumers?

I really don't enjoy paying 900euro in order to have to debug the camera myself!

All the best to my fellow beta testers!

Takis

[Keith Reeder]

Why do I have this feeling that Canon has left their quality control up to us consumers?
Nope.

Some Nikon D300 users are on their seventh body - so far.

Conversely many of us are up to 5 figure shutter actuations on our 40Ds with no problems whatsoever.

[tzanampeths]

Nope.

Some Nikon D300 users are on their seventh body - so far.

Conversely many of us are up to 5 figure shutter actuations on our 40Ds with no problems whatsoever.

Keith,
I never said that 40d is a bad product. From what I read in the forums, quality control seems at the least inadequate. The indication for that being that you are happily clicking while @ 5 figure shutter actuations and others are already in their 3rd body and not happy at all.

Nikon I don't know because I don't follow the forums.

A couple of months ago, doing my research on what camera to buy, I narrowed it down to 40d or d300. Then I made a wish list of the lenses I would like to have and the only option for myself was canon. Nikon lenses I just could not afford buying them!

Other than that, as I've read somewhere choosing between the two is like choosing between a blond and a brunette, if I could I'd love to have them both! ;>

All the best

Takis

[IanF]

Nope.

Some Nikon D300 users are on their seventh body - so far.

Conversely many of us are up to 5 figure shutter actuations on our 40Ds with no problems whatsoever.

Lol! I seem to remember some people having problems with their 30D's and 100-400mm lenses.

Quality control must be pretty good as it's just the odd one or two problems you hear about - if it was hundreds then people wouldn't be buying their products.

I have six Canon lenses/bodies and only had problems with the 40D. I suspect the delay in repair and it's return to me was down to the repairer rather than Canon - albeit Canon approved.

Such items are so complex it's not too surprising that one or two problems crop up every now and again.

[Keith Reeder]

Hi Takis,

it's just this idea that as a matter of company policy Canon - or Nikon, or anyone else - are intentionally letting any old rubbish out of their factory gates that I baulk at: buying any mass produced commodity carry with it a risk that you might get a bad one, but that doesn't mean that there's QC issue, it just means that the company has made certain decisions with regard to the level of QC to be applied which best suits the product.

This "Canon Quality Control Conspiracy Theory" thing gets a bit old.

I've had no problems at all with my 40D, but had the shutters on my two 30Ds die within a couple of weeks of each other: rather than get bent out of shape about it, I accepted that sometimes sh1t happens, got them fixed or replaced, and moved on.

At no time did it occur to me that Canon was conspiring to ruin my life!

;)

[tzanampeths]

You're right Keith,

Shit happens. That's why I bought a ruler today to test the focus of my camera. An action that sounds like QC to me.

It's just the rate that is a bit alarming:
You've had problems with 2 D30s out of a total 3 or 4 cameras? well that's 50% failure at the best case!
Ian had 40d problems out of 2 or 3 cameras? that's 30% failure again at the best case!

Meanwhile it's a bank holiday here today, warm and sunny and I'll be at the beach swimming in an hour or so!

All the best

Takis

[Helios]

Nope.

Some Nikon D300 users are on their seventh body - so far.

Conversely many of us are up to 5 figure shutter actuations on our 40Ds with no problems whatsoever.

Surely this isn't true? The D300 only came out last November, so that makes one camera dying about every month!

THe mean time before failure is quoted as 150000 activations, so a body should last about 4 to 5 years of regular use. I've had no problem with mine so far (or my D80, or even the CP4500).

[Roy C]

Surely this isn't true? The D300 only came out last November, so that makes one camera dying about every month!


Of course it can be true, you can receive a camera one day and send it back the next because something is wrong (not necessarily dead but some other problem).

[Keith Reeder]

True as I'm sitting here, Helios.

Have a wander to Nikon.cafe and look up Jim Fenton's posts ("JFenton" on there, I think) - he's a capable, talented, knowledgeable bird photographer, and he's had no end of problems: major things too, like the camera simply refusing to AF with long lenses attached (not the more commonly reported 70-200mm problem).

Many of his posts have attracted "me too" comments, so he's not uniquely disadvantaged here.

That said, his latest cameras (his sixth and seventh) seem to be performing admirably so far.

One thing I will say is that he's really lucky he had his problems in the US - I don't know that he'd get this many bites at the cherry on this side of the pond...

[Clive Watson]

My 20D suffers from time to time from the same "disease": no ERR messages in my case, the camera shuts down and just stops working .. the only cure is removing the battery for a couple of seconds, replacing it and the camera works again ... it is useless to switch the camera off and on again, as it is to replace the battery too quickly.


Just to add my contribution, I've had this happen to my 40D too. Turning it off and on doesn't work, only removing the battery and replacing it. Seems to be OK at the moment (tempting fate). Never had a problem with the 20D.

I never really compared it to a computer 'hanging up' before. Quite a good analogy.

[Helios]

True as I'm sitting here, Helios.

Have a wander to Nikon.cafe and look up Jim Fenton's posts ("JFenton" on there, I think) - he's a capable, talented, knowledgeable bird photographer, and he's had no end of problems: major things too, like the camera simply refusing to AF with long lenses attached (not the more commonly reported 70-200mm problem).

Many of his posts have attracted "me too" comments, so he's not uniquely disadvantaged here.

That said, his latest cameras (his sixth and seventh) seem to be performing admirably so far.

One thing I will say is that he's really lucky he had his problems in the US - I don't know that he'd get this many bites at the cherry on this side of the pond...

Thanks for explaining Keith. Can't imagine getting away with returning a £1000 camera five times to Jessops! Still if you look hard enough I think you'll find horror stories with any product. I'll check out this "Nikon Cafe" though when I get time.

[Keith Reeder]

Absolutely, Helios - things break, and no one manufacturer or product has a monopoly on that.

[Jaff]

I think this is down to the whole yin/yang pleasure/pain thing. Some people get cameras that work fine until the day they die of old age. Others get cameras which cause them to question the existence of God and what is this thing called life all about.

It's the way of the universe man. :hippy:

[wings]

[QUOTE=gmax;1219315]My 20D suffers from time to time from the same "disease": no ERR messages in my case, the camera shuts down and just stops working .. the only cure is removing the battery for a couple of seconds, replacing it and the camera works again
_____________

That's exactly what I did when the same thing happened to my 20D. Open the battery compartment, remove battery and re-insert after a couple of seconds. Worked for me.