My Camera Froze

Scenario:

 

I was at one of the premiere locations on the Oregon Coast: Canon Beach. Had my

new super-duper tripod (Manfrotto 190Xprob with Joystick head 3265). It was

probably the only sunny Coast day for the next 6 months AND close to sunset. On

my modest XTi, I had my 10-22mm, I hiked about a mile on the beach to reach the

location I had chosen, the famous haystack rocks. Placed my camera on the

tripod and put it on Av (I picked F16) and.... NOTHING happened. No, it was not

inadvertantly put on Self-timer, there were no custom functions dialed in (at

least not yet). The exposure on ISO 100 was correct according to my view

finder. The battery was not cold. Just nothing happened. I finally put it in P

Mode and it fired off some random shots that did take. Then I went straight to

M mode. I ended up with the following settings: F16, AEB, the 2 sec delay that

comes when you pick mirror up in custom functions (as to minimize camera

shake). Now I have a couple of questions:

 

1)What could have happened to my camera? It freaked me out. This has never

happened before.

2)Would you have used F16 for all these shots?

3)Would you have used ISO 100? (Less noise, I thought?)

 

Input appreciated,

 

Herma<div></div>

I'd say it had a heart attack, due to the stunning beauty of the location. ;-)

Sometimes if the AF doesn't latch in then it won't take the shot. Is it possible you had a single point focus set somewhere in the sky? This could be a cause.

That's an valid point Jeff, but was the camera on AF or Manual Focus?

did you have mirror lockup engaged? If so the first time you hit the shutter the mirror lock's up and then you hit the shutter again to capture the shot.

"did you have mirror lockup engaged?"

 

On a 350D/Xti?

yes the 350d does have mirror lockup. it is in the custom functions I believe. Function #7 to be precise.

That first picture on P mode was on AF, so I would assume I had it on AF. The mirror was not up yet, I did that later, and yes, it is a custom function. Could it have something to do with the wind blowing on to the camera? Although it was not particularly cold.

 

H

i think Jeff probably has the best reason - i.e the camera could not get focus confirmation and hence will not take the shot - unless in manual mode for focus. I am not sure of the XTI but I know my XT struggles to get focus confirmation in low light - when this happens i switch over to manual focus and then take a few shots whilst focus bracketing.