Shutter jam.advice please,300d-100-400is

[christineredgate]

Can anyone advise please.I have been using a 100-400 Canon lens on a 300D.I was advised by the dealer,that it was best to use in the P mode,and focus with the ring,then zoom in ,then focus again.The lens is in AF mode,IS is on( I am sitting down ,handholding it),the non panning is on(1) .The dealer siad just to use it as one would one bins or scope,and to ignore the lights in re boxes.This is because I do not use ,or understand camera settings,eg F,nos etc,so I let the camera self focus.
I was trying to take some greenfinches in the trees etc,and occassionally,I would have a clear image,then when I pressed the shutter,it would haze over,and/ or the shutter would jam.It took ages before it was working again.Are there any simple rules I should be observing,or any settings I should be using,ie P or AV,is there a difference.Could it be because there was not enough light?.This is the first time this has happened.There is nothing wrong with the camera as it has just returned from being cleaned.
I have found it does take quite good images when one is too near to digiscope,and what is more important I can actually remain seated whilst using it ,if neccessary.But please do not say I should be setting F numbers etc,just which is the easiest Auto programme,and the best way to focus.
Many thanks,will be back in a couple of hours.
Just thought I would add a couple of pics taken this afternoon.The young Starling is on a roof in the bright sunshine,but the Greenfinch is amongst the leaves,so could that be why the shutter did not always release?

[Adey Baker]

I'm not sure what you mean by hazing over or shutter jamming.

Which exposure mode have you used it on?

If you've got the lens 'stopped down' to a small aperture this will give a long exposure - hence the viewfinder blanking out for however long a shutter speed is being used.

To get the fastest shutter speed available to you without under-exposing I would suggest you select 'Av' mode and use the dial (not certain of the layout of 300D - but it's usually next to the shutter button on Canons) to select the maximum aperture of your lens. Keep turning it until you come to F5.6 if you're at the 400mm end of the zoom.

Now, point it at your subject and when you touch the shutter to activate the exposure meter it should show in the viewfinder and LCD panel which shutter speed it will give you along with your F5.6 aperture chosen. Providing it's one of the faster shutter speeds then the viewfinder black-out should be no more noticeable than blinking!

If it suggests a slow speed either give up until the light improves(!) or select a higher sensitivity - that is the 'ISO' setting. If you don't know where this is you'll have to check your instruction book 'cos I don't know either!

[stevo]

Hi Christine

From reading your post it sounds to like you`ve got the camera in BULB exposure mode & that is why it`s taking such a long time.Hope this helps.

Regards Steve.

[Sumit]

Hi Christine,
I think your camera is set to single focus and is not on continuous focus. With such a setting the camera will only allow you to depress the shutter when the object is in proper focus. Birds which merge well with backgrounds or move a lot often confuse the auto-focus mechanism and this is generally the case with lenses which stop down to f/5.6. My lens camera combo gives me the nightmares with small grey or blue objects. Only if your camera is set to continuous focus mode (or whatever name the manufacturer calls it by) will every press of the shutter result in an image. Some though may be out of focus.
Also check the cameras focus points. Canon uses many points and you may have inadvertantly selected one out of centre while the object is in the middle of the lens.
Generally, the easy way out is to focus on something close by and you can try that the next time.
Hope I understood your question and the reply makes some sense.
Cheers!
sumit

[christineredgate]

Thanks,everyone,I'll check with the manual and sort out the focus settings.

[Geoff Brown]

Christine the 300D, like the 10D, has a green box on the mode selector signifying full auto. set the camera to that and you should not have any problems as regarding the camera working properly especially with a Canon lens attached.

[christineredgate]

Thanks,Geoff.I have to rely on the advice of other people.The dealer said to ignore the settings,eg,portrait,landscape,etc.So when I get around to trying the 1x4 extender,if I tape the 3 points as mentioned in another thread,can I leave the settings on the green box ,then?.But,thankyou.I have been using,P mode and AV as recommended,and some of the shots turned out okay,it was just that at times the shutter refused to depress,and when I had a good image and then pressed the shutter,it glazed over,as though it was trying to focus and sort of locked.But I will try your setting tommorrow,and see what happens.
Thankyou again,

[LzyPhotographer]

If you're shooting into super bright light or an object against a super bright background - sometimes the camera (or maybe the lens) won't take the picture. But it has to be grossly over-exposed for that to happen.

This has happened to me 2x. The first time, I thought the lens was broken. I tried power off & on and it still kept refusing to take a pic, so I swapped lenses. The 2nd time, I powered off, removed & replaced the lens, and it worked fine right away.

I have the 10D & the 100-400L IS lens - but this is what I do. ISO 200, center square focus, partial metering, P mode, continous shooting, zoom, focus, shoot. Lift my finger & depress again to refocus often, coz the little birds move a lot.

Also, don't forget that the focus square is a lot bigger than the bird... if it grabs something else a fraction away from the bird, you could get a wonderfully blurred image.

[Adey Baker]

Shooting through a window won't help with sharpness and this may confuse the autofocus as well, which, as Sumit has hinted at, is already close to its limit of useability at F5.6. If it 'hunts' for focus quite regularly then switch to manual focus to help out. Also, does this lens have a 'focus-limiter' switch? If so, select the zone in which you wish it to focus - probably something like 3 metres to infinity - and this will help cut down the amount of 'hunting' that it tries, especially if you can manually focus it to the approximate zone of your subject to start with.

Above all, a SLR camera whether film or digital is not like a point and shoot compact camera - it's made to be used as a 'tool' and like any tool you need to practice with how to use it and how best it works for you - for instance, your lens will focus close enough for some good 'macro' shots of butterflies and dragonflies but the autofocus will hunt like mad and get confused if you subject is amongst blades of grass, say. Most experienced snappers will switch straight to manual focus in these situations and you should do the same whenever you get better results by over-riding any 'auto' features

[LeeDavis]

Hi

I have the eos 300d with the same lens, the best setting for good results is having it in P mode as this allows you to under expose you images although you dont know alot at the moment you will soon need to learn. as you get in to more situation you will start to learn that sometimes the camera does not get it right all the time so P mode will allow you to control that more. using the fully auto wont let you do anything so it becomes a ristriction to your photography. the only time i have has hazy images is when i have been too close to the subject. or on the side of the lens you have set the af to minimum focus of 6.5 meters so anything closer it will be blured. you dont have to use the focus ring at all unless you use a x2 converter as AF dont work. Also your shutter jamming? you must have had it in AV at a high F stop. again i know you dont know alot about f stops but the bigger the number on the LCD the longer time your shutter is left open in laymans turms.

Best thing to do if this seems abit confusing is email me and i will give you my phone number so you can call me and i can talk you through it. i have seen all the posts and if i didnt know alot i would be a bit confused my self. like i said i use this setup have a look at my gallery i know the camera and the lens.

Ill leave it up to you. DONT PUT IT IN AUTO you have no control unlike what other PERSON said

regards

lee

[christineredgate]

Thanks,everyone.Yes ,it was when I was taking the Greenfinch pics through the leaves,when the shutter would not depress.I have been using the camera in the "green box mode " today,but yes I think P is okay,as that was what I was using.Lee,thankyou,I will persevere,and if any problems will contact you.I haven't got around to sorting out the 1x4 yet,that is next on my list.I must say this is quite a good camera,and does take remarkably clear images,without one having to use any settings.Very useful if one sees a bird a short distance away,and one knows that by the time one has sorted out ones digiscoping set up ,the bird will have flown,whereas with this camera and lens,one does stand a chance of a decent close up.
Again,many thanks to all who replied .

[Paulyoly]

First, read the manual. Learn how to select an individual focus point like the center one. I use the center point almost exclusively, but sometimes i will choose another, but only one point. I'm pretty sure in P mode you can still select the focus point. by shutter jamming i'm assuming you mean that the camera would not take the picture. This is probably because it did not obtain a focus lock. You should hear a beep to confirm you have a focus lock, no beep, no picture. I shut the beep off on my camera. Even with an image stabilized lens you will need a decent shutter speed at 400mm's handheld. I'm not sure how slow a shutter speed you can use to get sharp pics with IS(refers to image stabiliztion from this point on), but it depends greatly on the person holding the lens. If your hands aren't steady then try to stay around 1/400th of a second. If you are shooting birds in your yard in the shade, like the finch, then your shutter speed is probably not going to be fast enough and you'll need a tripod. I shoot almost exclusively in Av mode, that is aperture priority on the 300d. I select the F number and let the camera set the shutter speed. if my shutter speed isn't as fast as i think i need then i lower the F number. You should really learn something about exposure and depth of field to get the most out of this camera. I have the 300d and canon 400mm f5.6L, that is the prime lens equivalent of your lens.

Your green finch looks as though there is some camera shake which blurred the pic slightly.

[Geoff Brown]

Christine, at last I can seem to get on this forum to read comments and now seem able to give replies now hopefully after defragmenting my computer hard drive. Yes good advice also to get off "green for go settings" and gradually move onto "P" setting as it gives you a little more versatility with apertures and shutter speeds. At least you can almost immediately see your result and if it is poor then delete the shot, a very big advantage with digital SLR. Keep persevering and you'll get there. :bounce:

[christineredgate]

Geoff and Paul,thankyou for your comments.I think I have sussed it out now.The comment fromAdey,hepled re background leaves etc.I have been practising today,whils't out and about doing the GGBC count.I have been using P mode in auto focus,but if the camera will not focus,then I have changed to mf,and focussed using the lens focussing ring.\haven't checked the images yet,but I am going to put a couple on the thread re SLR versus Digisoping thread,to show the difference.I don't think I could cope with the F settings as I wouldn't know which F setting to use when.By the time I had sorted things the bird will have flown off.But I am taking note of all the comments.If any of the ones I took in the different modes are oklay,I'll put a couple on here.
Thankyou very much, everyone.I must admit it is a very useful camera for handholding and taking a quick shot.
I have added a couple of images a Pipit and a Linnet.These are very small birds and were quite a distance away,the sort one would normally Digiscope,but the fact is I have picked them up as reasonable shots(I think).I did once try with the Gull chicks to increase the pixels to enlarge the image but when I saw them in MY Pictures they were horrendous,so I guess there must be a knack to enlarging small images.

[joee1949]

Hi Christine,

if you switch the camera on, press menu, the first thing displayed in the window is "Quality" . Press the "Set" button and you will find several choices displayed, set the quality on "Large" by turning the wheel and press set again. Then press menu again and you will have large photos which you can crop to the size you want without degrading the quality too much.

By pressing the menu button again you can go to ISO and check which ISO setting you are using. Take preferably 100 or 200. Use 400 only if you have to (not enough light)

Photos from 400 ISO upwards are getting very grainy.

Try to match your speed to your focal length, i.e. if you are shooting with the zoom fully extended (400mm) use a speed not under 1/500. If you have unsteady hands, use a sturdy tripod with a stable head, at least support the camera/lens somehow (against a tree).

Hope that helps

Cheers
Joe

[christineredgate]

Thanks,Joe,will try the settings you recommend.