40D screen won't work when lens attached (nor AF)

Hello Folks,

 

I am hoping someone might have suggestions for me to try before I concede I

"killed" my 40D in the rain at an airfield today :(

 

All of a sudden it stopped auto focusing and wouldn't shoot, switched to manual

and it continued to shoot but the review screen was black. Top LCD was fine,

shots remaining was counting down and I could continue to change all settings

via both wheels, but I could not get the screen up via any of the buttons - it

was like having a manual focus film camera I guess!

 

6 hours later in the dry it exhibits the following behaviour:

 

WITH LENS attached (EF or EF-S) - back screen will not work except for when you

switch 40D off it shows the sensor cleaning animation. Cannot shoot with lens

set to autofocus, but the camera shoots when set to manual and the pictures are

taken and written to CF card. Cannot turn on Live View.

 

WITHOUT LENS attached (so can see mirror). It will take shots and the back

screen works as normal, you can press the buttons, get into all the menus and

review any shots taken - obviously they're not much good without a lens ;) but

can see the manual ones shot previously...so the screen is not completely broken.

 

ATTEMPTS TO RECTIFY....I have tried the following:

 

- Different lenses, all allow shots to be taken in MF but not AF (screen does

not work either way)

- Changed battery

- Taken out internal coin battery for an hour and put back in - with a lens on

this fired up and prompted me for date setup, eureka I thought, but once I had

entered the date the screen refused to work again, but camera continued to fire

when lens switched to manual.

- Reset all camera settings

- Cleaned contacts, the whole AF issue would suggest problem with contacts...any

advice on making sure I cleaned them properly?

- The inbuilt flash still fires.

 

I have NOT tried a firmware update yet, still on the 1.0.3 it shipped with - is

it worth a stab before sending it back or will they have a way of telling I

flashed it and thus refuse to work on it? is there any point?

 

If indeed it's a problem caused by moisture, is this something that might just

rectify itself as it dries out? As I've said the screen does work, just not when

a lens is attached, and it won't take shots when lens set to AF.

 

Any help gladly received, it's a bad time for me to screw up, I have shoots the

next 2 weekends coming so it's back to the 350D if I can't get this turned

around....what turn around time could I expect from Canon (UK)?

 

Thanks,

 

John

Take out the battery, CF card, detach the lens (don't put the body cap on) , the grip (of you use one), wipe off any moisture from the battery and/or CF card compartment and from the lens and camera contacts, open both compartments and leave the camera for a few hours in room tempeature (in a paper bag or something like that, so dust won't get inside.) See what happens - it may be just a bit of mositure shorting something. If the camera is still dead - send it to Canon (call them first for an estimate 'cos some water damage is non-repairable or costs an arm and a leg.)

Michael is on the right track, but I'd go further if I didn't want to fry my camera:

 

Remove everything he said, and also don't forget to remove the memory cell.

 

Leave the camera body as wide open as possible, and attempt to dry it out over a fairly long time period. A few hours is simply not enough. Think in terms of days (at least) or perhaps even weeks. If you have a backup camera, use that instead, while your 40D dries out.

 

Another list member dried his rain drenched camera successfully by warming it to 120F in an electric oven for several hours. He was smart enough not to trust the oven thermostat and was very careful to measure temperatures before heat-drying his camera. A less scary method might be to hang the camera over a table lamp and to let the warm air drift up around the camera. Measure the temperature first! I would think 100F would be ideal, but use your best judgment. To keep dust out of the mirror chamber, tape a piece of tissue over the lens mount. If you have an extension tube, a better approach might be to mount it up and to rubber-band a tissue around the open end. This will allow air exchange but will filter out any/most dust. If you don't like the tissue idea, then use Michael's paper bag idea, which should also work well.

 

Only when you are CERTAIN your camera is dry inside and out -- really BONE DRY, re-install your batteries and test. But note carefully: If it doesn't work quite right, don't keep messing with it. Remove the batteries immediately and try drying further -- or send it in for service.

 

Above all, remember this: Moisture only rarely damages electronic equipment, UNLESS THE EQUIPMENT IS POWERED UP. When you operate sensitive electronic equipment that is wet, you are probably doing damage to it.

I agree with Sarah. Remove the batteries and don't power it up until completely dry. I would not advise putting the battery back in for several weeks. It takes a long time for the internal spaces to dry out. In your "ATTEMPTS TO RECTIFY" you may have fried the camera already, but perhaps not, so don't try again until you know it's dry. It just might come back to life.

 

One thing is for sure, if you tell any competent repairman that the problem might have been caused by water damage, your repair estimate will not be less than the retail price of a new 40D. No one will touch it, so you have nothing to loose by trying at this point -- and possibly nothing to gain either.

 

Actually, what I would do is get some jeweler's screwdrivers and remove as many body covering parts as I might fell safe with, and then put a fan on it. You will no doubt have to clean the sensor, mirror and mirror chamber afterwards, but during the time it's left to dry you can read up on how to do those details without destroying more of your camera.

 

Let us know if you have any success, and what you did to gain that success.

So by the looks of things this really could have gone either way, and I appear to have been very fortunate for it to have gone my way this time considering my actions continued to risk the circuitry! (thanks for highlighting that Jim! heh - and also info on a repair situation). I will take a lot more care in the rain next time, and if somehow I'm stupid enough to end up in the same situation I will be a lot more cautious in my approach to getting things running again (thanks for the very thorough guidance Sarah).

 

Thank you all for your input on this, given timings Michael's post was the one I read before I went to bed - with my 40D in a plastic bag in the same room - cheers for such a quick response Michael. Keen to see if it worked I woke up this morning and turned it on (having now since logged in and read Sarah & Jim's post I cringe thinking I was tempting another fry-up!). So I would say about 10 hours between last failed attempt to work and trying it this morning, 18 hours post-rain total.

 

Alas everything seems to be back to normal, and I'm one happy puppy who is staying inside in the dry today!

Maybe you should have a mechanical film body as backup ;). An interesting warning to anyone who thinks that a 40D is weatherproofed to a high standard.

Hi John,

 

I'm glad your camera seems to be functioning now. However, I'll warn you that moisture can still hide in little nooks and crannies. Even if your circuitry is working, it could just be *barely* working. And remember that moisture migrates by evaporating on some parts and condensing on others. It's best to continue to dry it. If nothing else, there's a mold risk. Use a backup camera for a few weeks if you have one. If you MUST use your damp camera, open it up and leave it to dry between uses.

 

Just curious... How much rain did you get on your camera for you to experience these problems?

 

One final note: Your lens got damp too. If it was an L lens, you're probably OK, as it would have seals on it to keep out moisture. (I've watched with amusement as gaggles of press photographers would stand in the pouring rain with L lenses on 1 series bodies.) The exception would be some L lenses with moving front elements, which really need filters screwed on to be moisture-tight. If it was a non-L lens, you probably need to dry it out the same way I've suggested with the camera body. Heck, I'd even keep an L lens out of any case for a while if it got rained on. The biggest risk is mold, which can damage the lens beyond repair if left long enough.

 

Good luck with everything!

Mark - yep I knew it wasn't properly weather proof, I was just overconfident in how much it could take!

 

Sarah you're scaring me now! ;) I will leave it drying out for as long as I can, is there not a risk that warmth will encourage mould growth? Guess I don't have much choice since stuff will grow at room temperature anyway and I'm not going to keep it in a freezer!

 

I was using the 70-200 f2.8 L IS USM at the time, with a UV filter and lens hood, so the weak link was the 40D, well if I'm honest...the weak link was me! lol. The rain was not particularly heavy but it was persistent, I covered the camera at times but I was out and about for say 3 hours. Thanks for all the advice, I'll never let myself get in this situation again.

 

It was an *interesting* day out shall we say! hehe, haven't gone through all the shots yet, not sure I even got any good ones, but this was a photo opp I didn't expect to get!

Good to hear that it has come back to life so soon. You may have trouble with it later, but hopefully not. It's also good to hear how long it endured before initial failure. As evidenced in my above post, I get paranoid about wet cameras. :)

John, sorry to scare you! ;-)

 

I don't think you need to worry about mold growing in that short a time. It's enclosing and retaining the moisture that would court mold. However, if you want to be certain about it, you could always up the temperature a bit. I think 110F would be sufficient to kill most organisms, including mold. I don't think that temperature would hurt the camera. As I said, someone else baked his camera at 120F with no ill effects.

 

I'm glad to hear you were shooting with an L lens. Just the same, I'd leave it outside of any cases for a week or so. ;-)

John,

 

Don't leave a wet camera in a plastic bag for very long. It can't properly dry in there.

 

I'm not sure about the electric oven.

 

However, I have heard that a gas oven with a pilot light works well. It dries things nicely at about 85 F.

 

Alternatively, you might get some desiccant. www.rue.com sells it in packs that can be dried out and reused.

 

For now, just open the doors and compartments, remove the batteries and grip, and let it sit on a counter in a relatively dry place with a little gentle air flow. If you have forced air heat, near a vent would be good.

 

I successfully used a hair dryer carefully on both my 30Ds, a couple lenses and two 550EX flashes that all got drenched in a sudden storm. However, that has to be done very very carefully, so as to dry thing out and not blow any of the moisture further inside.

 

Carry some plastic bags or a poncho in your camera bag. That'll be handy the next time you are caught out in a storm.

Hello everyone - following comments here and from my brother I left it to dry for a week solid but not in the plastic bag and I'm happy to say it performed without problem yesterday. I'd like to think I've gotten away with it!