Canon 40D shutter button issue

[amlan]

<p>In an unfortunate recent event my old faithful 30D left me behind and went away (wherever he is, hope he is doing well). Out in the world to hunt for an "used" body I met a guy who was selling his lightly used 40D. The camera looked really in great shape, almost out of the box. He said he wanted to get rid of it since he bought a 7D. To test the camera I attached my Tamron 17-50/2.8, and tried shooting. And then came the surprise moment - it focused properly but won't do anything after that, no shooting. I changed the lens, tried different setting still no result. The guy looked a bit baffled, he tried one of his lenses, this time the camera fired but then again went into the silent "focus-only" mode! </p>

<p>The person was nice and honest, apologized and told that since he did not feel comfortable he won't sell it before getting it fixed from the Canon (the camera around 10 months old so it was still under warranty). A couple of days later I got an e-mail from him saying that he contacted the Canon and fixed the issue by simply blowing from an air canister. Canon tech support told him to give it a try because they thought that after being in storage, the shutter button was possibly sticking due to accumulated moisture and dust. </p>

<p>I am going to take a second look at the camera since it was in really great shape and I thought the guy was honest, but now I also feel a bit concerned about the incident in general. I did some Google searches and found related threads here and elsewhere; although this is not a frequent issue but sometime it does happen. I would appreciate any thoughts from those who experienced it re: how it was fixed, whether the problem came back again or not etc.</p>

<p>Thanks,<br>

Amlan</p>

 

[nathangardner]

<p>my first thought is that the self timer was on. If that wasn't it, but he "fixed it" then I would be cautious. Knowing that it has acted up once would make me believe that it will do it again. I definitely wouldn't buy it unless it was a great deal. 40D's go for around $500-600, I don't think I'd pay any more than $350 for it if its flakey.</p>

[amlan]

<p>Nathan - That was the first thing that came to my mind as well. The timer was indeed off!</p>

[buffdr_rasouliyan]

<p>My 40D did the same thing, I cleaned the button and it worked for few months longer. Although the 40D did an ok job, the LCD is ugly in my opinion, for that reason I sold it. I also did not like the noise I got from it shooting blue skies. As much as I enjoyed the AF performance of the 40D, I would sacrifice that for a 5D. You will get better images from a 5D. Although I have not used the T2i, but I have seen some clean images produced by it. You also get the HD video to boot. Final answer T2i or if you don't want HD video 5D. v/r Buffdr</p>

[wgpinc]

<p>I sold a 40D this year. I had used it lightly for a couple of years. It always worked well and produced great files and I'm sure it will give the person who bought it good service and great images. I 'simplified' with a T2i for when I go light and a 5D Mark II for the best image quality. The image quality of the T2i is outstanding and it is a great little camera, a real bargain and a qualitative leap beyond the 40D, XSi and 20D I have used in the past. The cameras have finally hit a plateau where they are all about as good as they can be, where newer will be bells and whistles and add-ons that are of dubious need. Good luck!</p>

[alan_chan4]

<p>This is what you need.<br>

http://www.pbase.com/tobbenh/40dshutter</p>

[frank_dzambic]

<p>Sticky or a non-responsive shutter button on the 40D is/was a known and relatively common issue. I had to get mine replaced by Canon, and I want to say it was around $250 but I can't remember for sure anymore. The symptoms were just as you described. The shutter button would focus and meter, but when it came time to depress it fully to take the picture nothing would happen. I had it happen once or twice when the camera was new, and chalked it up to a "breaking in period" until it came back with a vengeance 40,000 actuations later by which time the problem was known and widely reported. If you Google for the problem you'll see various fixes you can try, like blowing air, or pressing down the button and twisting it at the same time, etc. All are very temporary fixes and believe me your frustration will mount as you repeatedly miss shots until the button pretty much fails to actuate the shutter entirely. I think it should have been a free fix or recall myself considering how many people were having the issue. Otherwise it's a fantastic camera.</p>

<p>Frank</p>

[amlan]

<p>Thanks everybody. I am not very sure at this point what I plan to do. 5D is out of question since I invested heavily on APS-C lenses. T2i is a great body but having owned 30D (and Elan 7 even before that) I personally don't like the Rebel ergonomics at all.</p>

<p>Alan - Nice demonstration. I am sure I should be able to take it apart ... but putting the pieces back ? won't bet on my ability to do that!</p>

[timages]

<p>Before I consider buying any peice of photo equipment I always do lots of research, I have had a 10D for nearly a year now, and wanted something a bit faster, I thought of the 40D but went for the 30D after discovering about the 40Ds shutter problems. Maybe you should have got another 30D, I still prefer the feel and weight of the 10D (with the batt grip) and I wasnot concerned about the extra pixels on the 30D, its just the operating speed that lets down the 10D. I carnt understand why Canon insists on making this range of Cameras smaller and lighter, I just read here on photo.net they are planning to make even smaller dslrs? Been used to EOS 1Ns and the 3 I like a Camera with some weight to it, The 10D and grip is Ok, the 30D and grip is bearable but I wouldnt entertain anything smaller.</p>