Is my 20D dying

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Archive 2008 · Is my 20D dying

terminator
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p.1 #1 · Is my 20D dying

I've got some strange problems with my 20D.

During the past 3-4 months, I noticed that sometimes, it takes 2-3 seconds to show the preview image after I press the preview button.

Last night, suddenly I could not press the shutter button. After taking out the main battery and putting it back, I can press the shutter.

However, the camera responded very slow. It takes 3-4 seconds to show the preview images after pressing the preview button.

And many buttons stopped working, like AF-WB, Drive-ISO buttons. When I pressed these buttons, the camera setting does not come to the mode that allows me to change the settings. I have to power off and power on. In 1 of 4 or 5 times, I can change the settings.

Moreover, the camera seems to be constantly focusing. When I switch from Av to Tv, or from Tv to full automatic mode, autofocus is automatically working even though I do not touch the shutter. Funny part is, after I switched to the full automatic mode, the internal flash automatically popped up.

For one time, the camera fixed the shutter speed under Av mode (1/6s for ISO 100 f/5.6 under sunshine), and refused to change.

I am wondering anybody there have had similar experiences? Is my camera dying? Thanks for any help or information!

Oct 16, 2008 at 08:01 PM

jvarszegi
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p.1 #2 · Is my 20D dying

Have you noticed a decrease in battery life?

Oct 16, 2008 at 09:15 PM

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p.1 #3 · Is my 20D dying

no, nothing wrong with battery life.

Later I found out that the shutter button feels weird. When I press it, I feel like something under the button is in the way to prevent me from pushing it down.

And every time I power on the camera, the lens starts focusing...

Oct 16, 2008 at 10:40 PM

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p.1 #4 · Is my 20D dying

When my shutter button on my 20D went bad the camera kept trying to focus whenever it was switched on. I sent my camera to canon to be fixed and it cost $300 to fix the button.

Oct 16, 2008 at 10:48 PM

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p.1 #5 · Is my 20D dying

New 3rd party batteries are really cheap. I would get one charge it up and pop it in and see what happens. Frankly it does sound like a battery issue to me. I have one Canon battery that charges up fine and once you put it in the camera you get about 50 shots and the shutter starts not to work and within 5 more painful shots it is dead, no further warning. Cheap enough to find out and if it's not the problem time to send the camera in because it is sick.

Oct 16, 2008 at 10:55 PM

mulder32
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p.1 #6 · Is my 20D dying

My 20D is doing one weird thing too. The last two jobs I've had it will "lock up" for no reason and simply fail to work. I have to turn the camera off and on to get it to work; almost like resetting it I imagine. I did get the latest firmware version for it and it still locked up on me during Monday's shoot.

Oct 16, 2008 at 11:05 PM

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p.1 #7 · Is my 20D dying

I have two batteries, one canon genuine and one third party. Both have been working well in the past two and half years. I switched batteries, but the problem persists.

davenfl wrote:
New 3rd party batteries are really cheap. I would get one charge it up and pop it in and see what happens. Frankly it does sound like a battery issue to me. I have one Canon battery that charges up fine and once you put it in the camera you get about 50 shots and the shutter starts not to work and within 5 more painful shots it is dead, no further warning. Cheap enough to find out and if it's not the problem time to send the camera in because it is sick.

Oct 17, 2008 at 01:22 AM

terminator
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p.1 #8 · Is my 20D dying

do you remember what canon did to fix your 20d? I googled and figured that if it is just a problem of the shutter button, it will be a lot easier to DIY it. If the shutter is broken, it will be a big project. thanks!

sir_saju wrote:
When my shutter button on my 20D went bad the camera kept trying to focus whenever it was switched on. I sent my camera to canon to be fixed and it cost $300 to fix the button.

Oct 17, 2008 at 01:24 AM

davenfl
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p.1 #9 · Is my 20D dying

honestly if both those batteries are 2 1/2 years old they are most probably past end life.

Oct 17, 2008 at 02:48 AM

Gil_W
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p.1 #10 · Is my 20D dying

davenfl wrote:
honestly if both those batteries are 2 1/2 years old they are most probably past end life.

Depends on usage. I have about 8 that I rotate through the battery grips of my IR 20D and 40D including the originals I bought back in 2004, They are still doing nicely.

Gil

Oct 17, 2008 at 02:55 AM

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p.1 #11 · Is my 20D dying

same thing happened to my rebel, and I installed the firmware again, and it works like a charm. Same thing happened to my friends mkIII, but he got the whole shutter replaced by Canon

Oct 17, 2008 at 02:55 AM

Rocketball
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p.1 #12 · Is my 20D dying

With you describing the shutter button feeling wierd, it almost sounds like there is something under or in the shutter button itself. Maybe some dirt or someting is in there causing the shutter button make contact and causing the lens to "self focus". Just a thought. Maybe having it cleaned would fix the problem

Oct 17, 2008 at 12:00 PM

B Rodkewitz
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p.1 #13 · Is my 20D dying

Sounds like your shutter switch is the issue. Skimming the OP and responses so far (sorry, no time to read carefully at the moment), if the shutter switch is glitchy and getting stuck in a the half-pressed position, that would easily explain the lens immediately hunting to focus, the flash popping up by itself (automatic fill), and some of the controls being locked up. Now I've never tried to change the shutter speed drive mode or iso *while* the shutter is half-pressed, but I imagine those settings would lock as well. I've also notice my preview images take a while to come up, and the camera takes a long time to dump the buffer. I'm not sure if this problem is related - I may also just have less patience than I used to {shrugs}.

I recently PM'ed someone on the BS board who was selling his 20D after sending it in for repair and I'm having the same issue he did. My shutter button will stop responding intermittently when I full-press to take a picture. He said it's the shutter switch, fixable by Canon (we're both in NJ) for around $300, at which point he decided to have the whole shutter replaced for I think roughly $380. Mine just rounded 40k clicks so as soon as I can afford it I'll probably have the shutter and switch replaced. Haha, I'm a poor college student, saving for a 5D II hoping to keep the 20D as backup. You being the 3rd person recently who's having an issue, my conspiracy theory is that the 20D shutter switch was set to fail after 3 years timed perfectly with Canon's delayed release of the new 5D.

What do you think?

Oh, and if it were me I'd set the camera to AI Servo and the * button to AF lock when pressed. If the AF stops going nuts when you press AF lock that might help determine if the shutter is stuck half down, or if the camera is just plain nutty. Sorry for the long post. Good luck!

Oct 17, 2008 at 03:07 PM

cgardner
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p.1 #14 · Is my 20D dying

I've seen several similar reports of problems where the shutter button switch was the culprit. See this LINK for information on replacing it.

Oct 17, 2008 at 03:34 PM

dk_samurai
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p.1 #15 · Is my 20D dying

mulder32 wrote:
My 20D is doing one weird thing too. The last two jobs I've had it will "lock up" for no reason and simply fail to work. I have to turn the camera off and on to get it to work; almost like resetting it I imagine. I did get the latest firmware version for it and it still locked up on me during Monday's shoot.

It's the batteries getting tired. I had the same problem a few weeks ago, but then I borrowed my friends 20D batteries and now no problem. He hasn't used his 20D as frequently as mine, so his batteries are relatively still fresh.

So I'll just get me a pair of new batteries as soon as I can afford them!

/David

Oct 17, 2008 at 05:09 PM

mulder32
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p.1 #16 · Is my 20D dying

dk_samurai wrote:
mulder32 wrote:
My 20D is doing one weird thing too. The last two jobs I've had it will "lock up" for no reason and simply fail to work. I have to turn the camera off and on to get it to work; almost like resetting it I imagine. I did get the latest firmware version for it and it still locked up on me during Monday's shoot.

It's the batteries getting tired. I had the same problem a few weeks ago, but then I borrowed my friends 20D batteries and now no problem. He hasn't used his 20D as frequently as mine, so his batteries are relatively still fresh.

So I'll just get me a pair of new batteries as soon as I can afford them!

/David

Thanks David. Do you mean freshly charged batteries or actually purchasing new ones? Do you know if Canon batteries are the best ones to get? I have two and 3 third party ones.

Oct 17, 2008 at 05:14 PM

stuarty
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p.1 #17 · Is my 20D dying

sounds like the 1st stage of the shutter button is going bad .

try switching to focus with the star button (cfn 4) and see if it stops focus searching

Oct 17, 2008 at 06:27 PM

terminator
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p.1 #18 · Is my 20D dying

thanks to all the replies. you guys are really helpful!

now I am going to try the star button first.

Oct 17, 2008 at 10:38 PM

dk_samurai
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p.1 #19 · Is my 20D dying

mulder32 wrote:
Thanks David. Do you mean freshly charged batteries or actually purchasing new ones? Do you know if Canon batteries are the best ones to get? I have two and 3 third party ones.

Yeah, try purchasing new ones. If the batteries are tired, they send the wrong information to the camera so that's what makes the camera act weird. With new batteries (or batteries that aren't as worn out as yours and mine) they give the camera the correct information e.g. the power status left on the charge. When I place my current batteries in the charger, it indicates that they are fully charged, even though I've used the camera with IS for two days straight - they ought to be depleted of power!

I don't know much about third party batteries, though. They seem to get decent reviews, but I wouldn't mind paying about $110 for a pair of new batteries from Canon. However, I read somewhere that the new 5D mk II uses a different type of battery that would last longer. I haven't done enough research about it, nor do I know how much they will cost, so I'm waiting a little bit before I'm going to get new batteries for my 20D.

To the OP: Sorry for hijacking your thread! But I hope you see this information useful as well, since this might happen to your 20D some day.

/David

Oct 18, 2008 at 12:44 AM

NinaS
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p.1 #20 · Is my 20D dying

sounds like your shutter button is stuck in the 1/2 way position, my 20D did this when it was 11.5 months old ... off to canon for repair ... has worked great ever since

Oct 18, 2008 at 01:39 PM

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