Oh no! 300d not working

[wintoid]

Hi all,

I upgraded to a 300d from a G1 about 2 weeks ago, and have been happily shooting away with the kit lens and also a 50mm 1.4 lens. Just now, I picked up the camera to take a shot, and it wouldn't autofocus, although it would appear to take a shot. Remembering something I read here, I removed the battery and CF card, and switched to my spare battery and CF card. Same thing! It will take a shot, and then Err01 comes up on the LCD (and flashes briefly in the viewfinder). I did at one point see Err99 as well.

I've tried resetting all camera settings, and also have formatted my CF cards, but still no joy. Does anyone have any other ideas?

I'm afraid I went for the cheapest price I could find, being www.buyacamera.co.uk, and I've no idea how good their support will be. The website indicates something along the lines of "don't talk to us, we'll just refer it to Canon, so talk to Canon directly".

Any help or advice would be very gratefully received.

[IanD]

Win,
Is there an AF/MANUAL focus switch on the lens body? If so you might have bumped it from AF to Manual.

[wintoid]

Hi Ian,

Both lenses have the AF/Manual switches, but both are set to AF. I checked.... twice :cry:

At the moment, I'm hoping that leaving the camera with the battery out might cause it to reset itself somehow. Here's hoping.

Cheers

[Malaxos1]

Hi Ian,

Both lenses have the AF/Manual switches, but both are set to AF. I checked.... twice :cry:

At the moment, I'm hoping that leaving the camera with the battery out might cause it to reset itself somehow. Here's hoping.

Cheers

Being that you got an error 99 before, I would clean both the lens contacts and the camera's lens mount. An error 99 is a incompatable lens or dirty contacts...Dean

[samdring]

You say 'appears to take a shot' - just in case you have 2 CF cards 'gone' can you copy files/photos to them (and then view them from the card) with explorer or similar.
I had similar problem with 'better half's' A70 which I solved by 'flooding' CF card to maximum capacity with a number of files (text or anything), formatting in computer and then formatting in camera.
I hope I am not fibbing but methinks 'twas Bob Gross who suggested this many moons ago

[wintoid]

Hi Dean,

On the day the camera arrived, I tried it with the kit lens, then tried the 50mm lens, and have not changed lenses since (I really love the 50mm), so I can't imagine how the contacts would be dirty. Even so, right now I'll try anything, so what would be the recommended way to clean the contacts?

[wintoid]

Sam,

Just tried your suggestion. No joy :(

Gah what a nightmare!

[wintoid]

Sorry, I wasn't very clear there. I was able to format and write the CF cards through the computer no problem. I also formatted them with the camera afterwards, but on the first use of the shutter, I got Err01 again.

[robertwgross]

Sorry, I wasn't very clear there. I was able to format and write the CF cards through the computer no problem. I also formatted them with the camera afterwards, but on the first use of the shutter, I got Err01 again.

I guess you know that Err 01 suggests a problem in the lens contacts. That means the little gold contacts on the camera, where the lens connects, and that also means the corresponding ones on the lens, where the camera connects.

If you clean a contact, don't do it very aggressively. All it takes is a poor fit or a bit of human body sweat to screw it up, so I once wiped mine off with a clean stiff cloth. When you do that, see if any one of them wiggles.

All that, you might get lucky with. Otherwise, it is the electronics behind the contacts on the lens or on the body... typically on the body. If you swap out the lens for another lens, that should allow you to rule out the lens.

---Bob Gross---

[wintoid]

Bob,

Thanks for that. In fact thank you everyone for your responses. At least I feel like I've explored the possibilities that could be fixed here at home.

Unfortunately, I think you're right. I probably have a problem with the electronics behind the contacts. I had a go at cleaning them gently with a clean dry cloth, and I could tell that there was nothing wobbling, although the contacts on the body do have a bit of up-down leeway. Given that prior to this problem I had only ever changed lenses once, I really think it's unlikely to be the contacts themselves.

I'll just have to keep my fingers crossed that Buyacamera give me some decent support tomorrow. The camera is only 20 days old, but I suspect they're going to refer me to Canon and leave me to sort it out myself.

Cheers,

Simon.

[wintoid]

To my great relief, Buyacamera are happy to send me a replacement camera!

[mr_clean001]

Excellent news! That is great support although I can understand the frustration of having a new camera quit on you. Happy shooting.