Digital Rebel XT Freezes Repeatedly.

Hey folks,

 

Well, I'm hoping the reaper isn't coming for my 3-year-old Rebel XT. My

faithful waterfall companion is finally starting to get quirky. Here's the

story...

 

Last night, in preparation for my hiking this morning, I charged up the

batteries and went to check them in the camera for confirmation that everything

was working. Flicked power on, no response. Changed batteries. No response.

Finally, I took the main battery and the backup battery out, and totally reset

the camera. Turned on and worked fine last night.

 

I get out to my first waterfall today, same thing. Power on, no response.

Battery removal worked, again.

 

I get to the second waterfall, take the camera out of the bad, and this time is

is frozen, with the rear status display on, but no response. Battery removal

worked after a few tries.

 

I get to the third waterfall... same thing as before, no power-on. Forth

waterfall, same thing, no response. Took a couple of tries before it perked

back up at the third waterfall, but popped right back at the forth.

 

Obviously, I'm not sending the camera to Canon. It is three years old, and I'm

already planning to replace it as my primary hiking camera in May or June. My

two suspected culprits are sweat damage, and a failing backup battery, which

happens to be three years old.

 

Any ideas?

I would try replacing the backup battery first, it should be a cheap first attempt at fixing the problem. If that doesn't work, try putting it in a warm dry place for a while. If you have been shooting lots of waterfalls you might have inadvertently gotten some mist into the camera. Drying it out for a few days won't hurt.

Brian,

 

The waterfall mist, believe it or not, is not my biggest moisture concern. My own sweat is typically all over the back of the camera, and the tripod, and of course, all over me.

 

I do plan on replacing that backup battery tomorrow.

Old thread followup comment for posterity: changing the battery ended up working. This camera served as my backup

camera until a few weeks ago, and is now a tertiary camera awaiting transfer to a relative. It still works.