20d freezes up

have any of you had a problem were your 20d just freezes up? Mine did

the other night and it would respond to anything. it just had the lcd

on the top on and nothing would happen, I tried turning it off and

on.. nothing, shutter button ,, nothing.. the only thing that worked

to 'reboot' my picture taking computer was to remove the battery and

put it back in. then it worked fine.

 

the only other time in the past that this was a problem was when I

hooked up a vivitar flash (something older than the 283) to the camera

via an off brand version of canons off camera shoe cord 2.

 

it is mildy worry some and really inconvienient when you have a shot

set up and go to click your button and .... nothing.

It happens. Mine has done it a couple of times in the last year.

 

I think it may be more common when using the 70-200/2.8L IS lens. Mine locked when using the 75-300 IS.

 

It hasn't done it in about 6 months now.

 

I don't think it's an indication of a faulty camera. It seems as though the firmware can sometimes get confused. Make sure you have the latest firmware version loaded.

I don't know what to tell you, other than the obvious.

 

1st Make sure that you're running the latest firmware: 2.0.2

 

2nd A newly formatted CF Card. (Shoot, transfer images to computer, then reformat your CF Card prior to your next shoot.)

 

3rd Minimize the risk of lock-up by using Canon Products, i.e. EF / EF-S lenses and Canon Speedlites.

 

4th Turn power off prior to changing lenses. Then turn power back on after a lens has been placed on the camera.

 

This is what I do and I haven't had a lock up or error code since Firmware 1.0.0

I have had one instance of a lockup.

 

I think what triggered this was turning on , switching to M and poping up the flash in close sequence. Everything was on but the camera did not respond to anything. Battery removal fixed it.

 

However the battery was almost flat when I put it back, I think perhaps the camera crashed with an actuator on and draned it (the battery was warm when removed).

 

All OK after a charge but I lost a days shoot. As the 20D battery lasts so long a spare was not an issue I had thought.

 

Needless to say I ordered a spare battery as soon as I got home and charge the two alternatly.

<p>Yup, it happens occasionally. I've had it happen to me two or three times. It seems to be more common among those who use third-party lenses or the 70-200 IS, but as all my lenses are Genuine Canon lenses and my collection doesn't include the 70-200, it apparently can happen in other circumstances, too.</p>

 

<p>It's annoying, and I wish Canon would figure out why this happens and fix it. But unfortunately we've come to expect this from computerized devices, and I guess the manufacturers count on some level of user tolerance of their bugs as a result.</p>

Our 20D has locked up on me once - shutter wouldn't fire - right in the middle of shooting wedding ceremony alter shots. Was using a Canon lens and no flash. Rebooting/turning the camera off/on didn't unlock it. Changing the lens had no effect. Finally pushed the "Playback" button on/off and all was well. I thought later that perhaps I had somehow put the camera in Playback mode by accidently pushing the Playback button with a finger while shooting. But there was no image showing on the LCD as a clue - the LCD display might have timed out - dunno. Just glad to get it working again to continue the ceremony alter shots!

Have to report similar (error 99?) used to happen when I was using my Sigma 80-200 but since discovering it only happens when the aperture required is not attainable on the lens, I make sure I let the camera choose the speed when I'm using that lens :)

This was an often-reported problem in the early days of the 20D. I had it occur a few times as well, but never as far as I recall since I upgraded the firmware to a version that was said to have fixed this problem. I'm currently running version 1.0.5.<p><p>

 

<i>"Version 1.0.4/1.0.5 changes:<p><p>

 

1. Fixes the problem of shutter release not working."</i><p><p>

 

<a href="http://www.canon.co.jp/Imaging/eos20d/eos20d_firmware-e.html">http://www.canon.co.jp/Imaging/eos20d/eos20d_firmware-e.html</a>