New here with a big, big problem!!

[Jill R]

Hello everyone! I'm glad I found this site! I'm Jill and am a SAHM from Wisconsin with four kids. Now my problem. I have the dRebel and was doing a mini photo shoot with my youngest when my camera wouldn't focus. After a minute, I took the next picture only to find that over half is black. Took more, more black. :cry: Did this ever happen to anyone, does anyone know what it is and is it fixable?

I hate to introduce myself with a problem but I need help. TIA

Jill

[BlueTit]

Sorry I can't help, have no idea what that could be, but did you check the lens is still correctly attached. Did you try taking out the battery and trying again?

Welcome to the forum, someone here will sort you out. BTW, what is SAHM ??

[karusel]

Post an exif of one of the black photos.

And/or tell us in which mode it was shot, did camera focus when half-depressing the shutter button, etc.

[Huckaback Photo]

Jill
this might be a process of checking different things.
first is the lens set to manual focus.
if its set to auto on the lens unless the camera gets sharp focus (in one shot mode) it wont let you take the shot. is the focus confirmation light coming on in the viewfinder ?

take off the lens and clean electrical contacts, or swap lenses if possible.

Martin (Huckaback Photo)

[eastcoast909]

Jill:
This sounds familiar, somewhat like this thread:

http://photography-on-the.net/forum/showthread.php?t=73567

Hope this helps,

Welcome to the forum

[Jill R]

Blue Tit - I took the battery out and tried again - still the same. SAHM is stay at home mom:)

karusel - haven't figured out how to post pics yet but I was shooting on AV mode and it does focus when you are half-depressing the shutter button. I still get the 3/4 black pic.

Thanks!

Jill

[Andy_T]

Eastcoast ... you beat me to it :D

Check the link, Jill, maybe your camera has to go in for repair.

Best regards,
Andy

[Jill R]

Thanks everyone! I could've posted the other link myself - that's exactly the problem! Off to a Canon dealership:(

Jill

[BlueTit]

Told you someone here would sort out what the problem is, pity it has to go for repair though. Don't forget to come back when it's repaired.

[karusel]

Wow, this is new for me... an interesting malfunction.

[Huckaback Photo]

Eastcoast
well done. looks like your spot on in my view

Jill R
I forgot to mention above,
welcome to the forum, theres a wealth of knowledge on here, nice someone can point you in the right direction to get this sorted.
Martin

[nat869]

Were you using lights or a flash? Maybe the shutter speed is too fast. I had that problem once with studio strobes, backed off the shutter speed and no problems ever again. Now I always use 1/125 or 1/90 on my 10D with a flash or lights.

[Mike H]

Were you using lights or a flash? Maybe the shutter speed is too fast. I had that problem once with studio strobes, backed off the shutter speed and no problems ever again. Now I always use 1/125 or 1/90 on my 10D with a flash or lights.

Definitely check this possibility before sending the camera in for a repair. If you use a flash and set the shutter speed higher than the camera's maximum sync speed a portion of the picture will be black.

[schmoelzel]

I had a similiar 'problem' occur with my old DRebel. It was related to using the flash..........no hi-speed sync available and I forgot to puch the switch on the flash. If you were using a flash, that might be the problem!

[robertwgross]

The two things that come to my mind are (1) shutter speed too high for normal sync, and (2) mirror malfunction. The first one is a user problem, and the second one is a camera hardware malfunction that would have to be fixed by Canon.

---Bob Gross---