Digital Rebel XT froze on me...

[yobri]

Hello newbie here (to the forum and DSLR scene :D ),

Did a search using Rebel and freezes and didn't find an answer to my question... I've had my Rebel XT for about a month now, and it froze on my for the first time. Even when I turned the camera off, the LED screen wouldn't turn off. Kind of disconcerting, so I decided to find a forum to post my problem/question. Here is some information that may help in any plausible diagnosis... :)



I was shooting in the P mode
It might've happened after I manually adjusted the focus point (using the red dot)
Pressing the shutter halfway still made the same confirmation sound, but shutter for taking the picture wouldn't happen
Shutting off the camera didn't turn the camera off (from the LED screen standpoint). Opening the battery door cleared the screen, but closing it again made the LED come back on. Only after taking the battery out did the camera seem to return to normal function.
The camera was being used with the kit lens (18-55mm)
I was using a Lexar (4x) 256MB CF card
The flash was up and being used for each shot
Lighting conditions were a tad under optimum conditions
I don't believe that I remember seeing the light indicating that the CF card was being written to
I hope that I don't have to [deal with the hassle of] return or ship the camera for repairs or anything... but I'm just wondering if anyone else has had this happen to them or heard of it happening to someone they know with the XT. This camera is great, but this instance has got me somewhat bothered.

Thanks for any replies :)

[yobri]

Just got out of the shower and thought of a few more tidbits...

I was shooting on JPEG mode on Fine
I might've changed the mode to Auto (from P) before this happened... trying to play back the events in my sleepy head... :D

[Andy_T]

Yobri,

first of all ... welcome to the forum :D

I'm afraid it's one of the 'facts of life' that you might have to accept.
Rest assured that it is a perfectly normal behaviour for any highly complex piece of electronics. Nearly every DSLR user has experienced some kind of lockup once or more often. That is basically because it is a highly complex piece of electronics with a lot of possiblities for errors ... empty battery, less than perfect contact with the lens, vibration, etc...

I assume you accept that your laptop of desktop computer freezes (IBM: 'Blue screen of death', Mac 'Bomb' or else) now and then ... turn it off ... turn it on again ... continue to work :wink:

Look on it from a lighter side:
You might have a *real problem* if the main computer on your Boeing 747 or space shuttle 'freezes' just as you prepare to land, enter orbit or do some other activity where real danger is involved.

So ... let me ask oyu those questions ...
- Did you lose any images through the incident? That *would* be a problem, as earlier this year experienced by some 1DsMKII users with certain CF cards.
- Can you reproduce the problem?
- If so, does it impact your shooting?

If your answer is not 'yes' to one or more of the above questions ... just take it easy.
If it happens again, just remove the battery, insert it again, and continue shooting.

I would not try to send it back ... after all, Canon will ask you to reproduce the problem.

Best regards,
Andy

[yobri]

Thanks for your welcome greeting and reply Andy :)

You've got a point there. I was just being overly worried about my new (and favorite) toy right now... I haven't tried to replicate the problem (yet) and am a bit afraid to do so... ;) I was shooting so much, that I can't remember if I missed any shots of note.

So as long as I'm not alone in this matter, I can rest easy and accept this little nuance. I appreciate your response. Thanks! :)

[Hobbes330i]

Do you have the latest firmware? v1.0.2 is out.

[Andy_T]

Yobri,

I don't think you are alone there.

I don't have a 350D, but a 20D, and I have experienced some lockups so far. Not spectacularly many, but some. Also, when the discussion about the 'freezing' 20D reached its climax, many 10D users replied that lockups on the 10D were also quite a normal occurence ... just nobody found it that much of a tragedy at that time.

Hope it works out and hope you like your new toy!

Best regards,
Andy

[yobri]

Do you have the latest firmware? v1.0.2 is out.

Not yet. I had no idea that you could update the firmware on these digi cams until I read some posts mentioning such on this forum. I'll find a thread with instructions on how to do this and then update it. Thanks :)

[yobri]

Yobri,

I don't think you are alone there.

I don't have a 350D, but a 20D, and I have experienced some lockups so far. Not spectacularly many, but some. Also, when the discussion about the 'freezing' 20D reached its climax, many 10D users replied that lockups on the 10D were also quite a normal occurence ... just nobody found it that much of a tragedy at that time.

Hope it works out and hope you like your new toy!

Best regards,
Andy

Thanks again for your reply Andy :) I'm now afforded the peace-of-mind that I was hoping to find.. :D

Gotta lot to learn about this camera and the whole DSLR scene, and this forum looks like the right place for such knowledge (and good camaraderie too!).

[Andy_T]

I'll find a thread with instructions on how to do this and then update it. Thanks :)

Be sure to read the warnings and follow the instructions ... this activity has a potential of danger to your camera if you encounter a problem (e.g. battery empty in the middle of the process). There are threads (http://photography-on-the.net/forum/showthread.php?t=44526&highlight=upgrade+firmware+problem)on the forum to that effect.

Should not be a problem, though, if you do it with reasonable care.

Best regards,
Andy

[yobri]

Be sure to read the warnings and follow the instructions ... this activity has a potential of danger to your camera if you encounter a problem (e.g. battery empty in the middle of the process). There are threads (http://photography-on-the.net/forum/showthread.php?t=44526&highlight=upgrade+firmware+problem)on the forum to that effect.

Should not be a problem, though, if you do it with reasonable care.

Best regards,
Andy

Thanks for the warning Andy. Hmm... I'll have to assess if this mod is necessary for me right now...

[Maxima]

yobri,
Yes, unfortunately lockups are a fact of life when it comes to DSLR. Having a lockup once in a while is quite normal, as long as it's not too excessive. I had an XT which lockup on me 6+ times in a matter of an hour, and many more times after that. At which time, I couldn't find anyone else w/ the same problem(s) so, it went back to the store. I didn't think that was normal for a brand new camera.

Cheers!

[Andy_T]

Maxima, I agree with you.
That's a bit excessive ... maybe some loose contact in the camera.

Best regards,
Andy

[SteveTetch]

Lockups may be a fact of life but I can only accept them as such when they're momentary and easily rectified. The first time my two month-old 350D locked up was after about 6 weeks. It took at least an hour to become responsive again, if not more, (I'd resigned myself that it was broken and it was only when I tried it before researching my warranty options that I discovered it was working again).

Last weekend, it happened again: after about 15 indoor shots on fully-auto setting it exhibited exactly the same problem as described by Yobri in the opening message. I took out the battery and the card and left it for a while. After several attempts to get it started, leaving it for longer and longer intervals, I finally gave up and went to bed.

Sunday morning (yesterday) it worked briefly and I was able to ascertain that I had firmware version 1.0.1. It was when I tried to turn the camera on again after downloading and expanding the new firmware to a formatted CF card prior to performing the upgrade that the damn' thing froze again. I left it all yesterday and it still didn't work this morning. I left it all today while I was at work with the battery out, the card out and without the lens but, when I came in from work, it's still knackered.

I fired off a message to the Canon European support people yesterday but as yet I've had no reply. Can anyone tell me if there's a knack to getting the camera to work again, (other than what I've tried already)? And does the firmware upgrade cure the problem?

I bought the camera in Florida and I'm now back home in Essex so, if it needs repair, taking it back to the retailer isn't really practical. Has anyone had any dealings directly with Canon warranty repair and can let me know how it works, how long it takes etc.?

Many thanks,

Steve

[buze]

I'm up to 6000 shots with the XT, and never had a lockup.

"Rest assured that it is a perfectly normal behaviour for any highly complex piece of electronics".

Saying that lockups are "normal" and "a fact of life" is really silly. Would you say that if the ABS system in your car had a lockup when you tried to slow down ?
The fact is, it's a piece of electronic equipment, complex but not rocket science either; and it requires proper testing in the field. And debugging, and yes, lockups are *product defects* either of the hardware or software, or both, and they are not a "fact of life" they are an annoyance due to bad QA from the constructor.

[SteveTetch]

Well, I seem to have answered my own question regarding immunity from the lock-ups after a firmware upgrade! Having left the camera for about 18 hours with battery unplugged, no CF card in the slot and no lens connected, it fired up correctly this morning when I put it all together again.

The CF card I used had the firmware upgrade on it, so I followed the instructions to install it. I got all the correct feedback from the camera at each stage of the process, culminating in the message "Please tun off the power supply and reload the battery", after an tense couple of minutes watching the progress bar edge up to 100%.

The documentation recommends leaving the battery out "for at least two seconds" to allow the firmware upgrade to take effect, so I left it out for a couple of minutes. On putting it back and turning on the camera, the same unresponsiveness as before was apparent. I can't even check that the firmware version is correctly showing 1.0.2!!

This is really getting me down and is looking more and more like a warranty repair. :cry: :cry: