never shut off 20D - anyone?

[madhu1]

I'm wondering what'll happen if we always leave the 20D in the

"ON" mode with the auto shut-off set to, say, 1 minute. How

much power does it consume in that sleep mode? Negligible?

Also, the manual says switch 20D to "off" before removing the CF

card. Is that necessary? Or can we safely remove the card

and/or insert it when the 20D is in its sleep mode?

 

In case you are wondering why, I fear that the on/off switch is

rather likely to be the first to break over time, unlike the switch on

the Digital Rebel. Also, it'll be one less thing to do before we

start shooting if we leave it always "on".

 

So are you leaving your 20D, or other applicable eos dslrs, "on"

all the time?

 

Madhu

[PuppyDigs]

When on a shoot, it would be stupid to constantly turn your camera on and off. You'll

waste precious seconds turning it on and miss the shot. Recharging batteries is cheap. The

time to turn it off is when you get home.

[henry_minsky1]

The only time I turn the camera off is when I finish a sensor cleaning.

 

It appears to use no detectable power at all in sleep mode.

[kai_griffin]

I leave mine (D60) on all the time, with time-out set to 15 minutes (or whatever the maximum is; I can't actually remember), to avoid the frustration/lost opportunity caused by start-up time. Once heading home, or sitting down to lunch... I switch it off, if it hasn't switched itself off already.

 

I've never switched it off before removing the CF card; I suspect the warning in the manual is there merely to prevent people opening the door while a write operation is still ongoing: just make sure the red light near the CF card door isn't still flashing before removing the CF card, and you'll be safe.

[scott_meilicke]

Mine only gets turned to 'off' if I am afraid the shutter release button will accidentally get pressed. Most of the time, I go for weeks without turning it 'off'. I have sleep set at 1 minute. I do not regularly turn the camera off before taking the flash card out or putting it back in, or changing lenses.

[andrew_carlson]

I'm in the same group as everyone else. I leave my 20D on the hockeystick/on position pretty much all the time. I've gone weeks w/o a recharge and use an IS lens constantly too. The battery life is amazing. When I do swap out CF cards I'm usually putting an old one in that has photos on it so I format it - yeah missed opportunity, but I got to clean it off somehow. I don't turn the camera off either though I recall the manual saying something like that. No worries and I've only had 1 Err 99 and 1 Err 01. Powered off and pulled the battery out briefly and was back shooting in seconds.

[jose_marin]

How about removing the lens while it's on. Can you damage electronics, etc. if you remove the lens to swap out with onother while the camera is in the "on" of "hockey" stick position?

[cyr_.]

Yes.

[jon_austin]

I turn mine off after sensor cleaning, whenever changing lenses, or if I'm storing it away. When I pull it out of the bag to use it, I just turn it on and forget about it.

[sjg]

I only turn my 20D off when packing it in a bag where the shutter may get pressed. Otherwise it is on all the time, lens and CF changes included.

 

The battery life is very impressive to say the least, I always carry a spare battery, but rarely need it.

[vincent_j_m]

This got me thinking. I sometimes use a G6, with a lens filter adapter so that the lens barrel is not damaged, and the camera can be left on without fear of damage to the lens barrel. Has anyone experimented with how the G6 does if you never switch it off, but let it sleep after 1 minute of not being used? Does the battery drain fast?

[tim_kong]

I rarely turned my 20D off too, except changing CF cards. Since most of you guys out there said its safe to change cards w/o turning the camera off, I'll do that next time. However, I do swap my lens w/o turning it off, will that affect the electronics of the camera in the long run? I don't have any problems as yet, not even an error sign since I had my 20D 3 months ago. Tim

[phil vaughan - yorkshire u]

Leaving it on whilst switching lenses will definitely attract more dust to the sensor than switching it off (and leaving a short while). When the sensor is on there's a static charge, this will attract dust.

 

I leave mine on, but mostly turn it off to switch lenses.

[tim_kong]

Got you Phil, make sure I remember that the next time I swap lens. Thanks for advice.

[mike_smith2]

I thought there was no such thing as "off" with any Canon EF mount body.

 

Cameras go into sleep mode, all that turning to L does is Lock the shutter button to prevent inadverdant shutter release. It does not powerdown the camera. There is always battery drain even when switched to L as the LCD is active showing frames remaining etc etc. Half depressing the shutter reactivates the camera from sleep mode to make the exposure calculations and charge the sensor etc

[splat]

The "L" or Lock mode is only on film cameras. The Digital ones have a on /off switch because they drain the battery a lot faster then a film camera. On a film camera if you aren't taking pictures the battery will last years. The only big drains on the battery are the builtin flash, focusing, and motor drive. A digital, on the other hand, has microprocessors, memory banks, sensors, etc that all drain the battery. The 20D however, while it does have a on/off switch, doesn't ever reeally turn off. It just goes to sleep but in sleep mode the battery will last a VERY long time. I only turn the camera off when I think the shutter release might accidentally get pressed. Even then I sometime don't bother turning it off.