20D lockups? canon have been told.

[malla1962]

Canon's response on 20D lockups:

I sent them an email today just so they're aware that I'm having lockups. I figured I may as well let them know so they can build their database of issues.

Their reply was:

"Thank you for contacting Canon Technical Support. We are sorry to hear
that your EOS 20D is locking up.

Canon is aware of this issue, and it is currently being investigated. It
seems to occur very rarely, under extremely limited conditions. If it
does occur, you can remove and reinsert the battery to restore your
camera to its normal condition. Please note that this issue does not
affect images taken with the camera. We plan to release a firmware
update for download from the web when the appropriate countermeasures
are determined. We will let you know the schedule for this release when
it becomes available.

I hope that this helps. If you need further assistance, please respond
at your earliest convenience."

Good to know!
this info is from the fm forum,
malcolm

[Morden]

Thanks for posting Canon's response. It sounds encouraging.

[drisley]

Yup, thanks for posting. That's good to hear.
Although, I laugh at the "very rarely" description.
I also laugh at how they say it doesnt affect the pictures. Sure it does, if it causes you to miss an important shot.
Although I haven't had the problem, the poll I posted yesterday shows that 47% of the 20D users who replied have had atleast one lockup.

[robertdrake]

Canon Canada front line people are still telling people to send them in. Word travels slowly in the corporate environment.

[Ogrt48]

Under limited conditions? If you count just using as limited.. sureeeee

[elbirth]

Yup, thanks for posting. That's good to hear.
Although, I laugh at the "very rarely" description.
I also laugh at how they say it doesnt affect the pictures. Sure it does, if it causes you to miss an important shot.
Although I haven't had the problem, the poll I posted yesterday shows that 47% of the 20D users who replied have had atleast one lockup.

I haven't ordered my 20D yet, so I personally haven't run into this issue....

however, just a couple notes about what I'm quoting:
- keep in mind that there are many, many 20D owners currently, and not all of them will be using web forums such as this one. The ones that DO are most likely the ones having problems and are seeking a solution, so therefore the people with problems will tend to be concentrated somewhat. While it's entirely possible that the lock ups ARE indeed NOT rare, it's sitll something to keep in mind.
- by them saying it doesn't affect your pictures, I'm sure you realized this, but I just wanted to point out, that they mean it won't affect the pictures currently on your CF card that you've already taken. But of course it's going to ruin your chances in some cases of getting the perfect shot by having to "reset" the camera.

[drisley]

Yup, good points.
And it is true. It's rare people are going to report that their camera hasn't had any lockups, but if they do have a lockup, of course they will point it out.
However, there is definately something wrong. I don't remember hearing this sort of thing with the 10D or Rebel.

Canon Canada front line people are still telling people to send them in.
:lol:
They may end up running out of room!

[dialdn]

I spoke to a Canon rep over the weekend at a Camera show and he claimed to not know about the lock-up issue. For that matter, he quoted the wrong part number for the new 20D grip.

D

[robertdrake]

Someone in another forum did a review of the 20D before it came out. She got her hands on a pre-release camera at a conference, started taking some shots and the thing lockup on her. The Canon rep took the camera back, pulled the battery out and handed it back to her saying something about that happening occassionally with the pre-release cameras. Makes me think they've known what's up before they even sent them out.

[defordphoto]

Someone in another forum did a review of the 20D before it came out. She got her hands on a pre-release camera at a conference, started taking some shots and the thing lockup on her. The Canon rep took the camera back, pulled the battery out and handed it back to her saying something about that happening occassionally with the pre-release cameras. Makes me think they've known what's up before they even sent them out.

This is very common in these days of high-tech competition. Release product with known problems and immediately start working on the fix.

I was a software beta-tester for 15 years and dealt with the same things. There are deadlines that have to be met and releasing the product with known issues is acceptable.

My wife works for a very famous high-tech company and it's commonplace.

Canon will fix this. It's obviously a software error and will be cured with the first firmware update.

As an aside, I will be buying a 20D on the next worldwide shipment and I have no hesitations whatsoever in making the purchase in spite of the multitudes of 20D lockup threads.

[Guillermo Freige]

I think lockups are mainly because certain body/CF card combination (and probably lens). I've tried to lockup mine, using all the lenses and both a Lexar 256 Mb 40x WA and an IBM 1Gb Microdrive, without success. I've filled both with deep bursts of both JPEG and RAW files also. 1000+ pictures later, still not a single lockup. It seems my cards (and lenses) don´t trigger the faulty part of the firmware, thanks god. It will be nice to know which cards are using the people with lockup problems. Maybe a poll?? I've heard problems with standard Sandisk cards but not with Ultra ones in this forum, for example.

[robertdrake]

My lockup was with an Ultra II 1GB card, a 50mm f1.8 II when changing from manual to automatic focus. Pretty basic setup.

[Guillermo Freige]

My lockup was with an Ultra II 1GB card, a 50mm f1.8 II when changing from manual to automatic focus. Pretty basic setup.

I've tried to lock mine using 20D/50 f1.8 II without succes switching to AF/MF with the Microdrive. Is your lock repeatable? It happens without a CF or with a different CF card inserted?

Guillermo

[photography By Evangelos]

I am not sure the issue is with lenses or CF cards. I had my 20D lock up with a Canon 17-35 L and a San-Disk Ultra 1GB card. I have the camera set to turn it self off after 4 Min. When I went to use the camera it would not power up until I removed the battery then it went back to normal.

Angelo 8)

[davidwegs]

Just for interests sake, I have and run three of these so far.

One of them locks up frequently, one locked up when first purchased but has not since, and one has not locked up so far. We share lenses between them all and Cf cards. This leads me to believe that it is a bug with only some of them and the fix will deal with the issue soon enough.

Mean while they are performing very well for me doing wedding/portrait work. The images are a touch soft but not bad.

[CoolToolGuy]

Is it possible that the electronics in the 20D are really from the 1D MKII, and they have been incapacitated like the Drebel/10D? And the lockups occur when the camera tries to use an incapacitated function?

Just food for thought...

I will be getting a 20D soon, regardless of whether this is fixed by then or not. Of course, I would prefer that it is resolved...

Have Fun,

[pcasciola]

My lockup was with an Ultra II 1GB card, a 50mm f1.8 II when changing from manual to automatic focus. Pretty basic setup.

I've tried to lock mine using 20D/50 f1.8 II without succes switching to AF/MF with the Microdrive. Is your lock repeatable? It happens without a CF or with a different CF card inserted?

Guillermo


My last lockup (1 of 2 total out of 1,000+ pictures) was also with the 50mm f1.8 II and Ultra II 1Gb Sandisk, but I think I had switched from manual mode to aperture priority right after switching lenses (not 100% sure on that part). Both times it was immediately after swtiching to the 50mm f1.8 II on the next picture.

I've also tried in vain to reproduce it, and then gave up realizing I was spending more time TRYING to lock the thing up than it would take me to clear a lifetime worth of lockups.

They ALL lockup. It's like riding a motorcycle. There are two types of riders. Those that have gone down, and those who have not yet gone down.

It's a firmware issue, and we all have the same firmware until Canon releases an upgrade. I've taken 1,000 pictures with only 2 lockups, so one 1 of 10 people might be able to go 4,000 or 5,000 pictures without a lockup (not up on my laws of probability calculations, so don't quote me on those odds) :wink:

[photography By Evangelos]

I also had a lock up this weekend. Just remove the battery and keep truckin.


Angelo 8)

[robertdrake]

My lockup was with an Ultra II 1GB card, a 50mm f1.8 II when changing from manual to automatic focus. Pretty basic setup.

I've tried to lock mine using 20D/50 f1.8 II without succes switching to AF/MF with the Microdrive. Is your lock repeatable? It happens without a CF or with a different CF card inserted?

Guillermo

I was doing the dead pixal test at the time. While off, set the lens to manual, manual shooting, six second exposure. Took the shot, turned the camera off, turned the lens to auto, turned it back on, and nada. Couldn't get the camera to come back on.

[JoeTampa]

My only lockup thus far occured while switching to the 50mm f/1.8. Initially, I simply could not change the aperture - then it went to all zeros. I power-cycled to try again with the same results. 2 or 3 tries resulted in a lockup.

[Yan]

Good to know that canon is going to take care of this problem.. I got the third lock up last night.. and.. well I am taking over 800 shots over a week.. and it did happen when I sway from my 100 macro to 50mm 1.8 II.. still cannot re-produce the lockup though..
Please keep us updated on this matter, if Canon contact you with further information.