D30 Seizing Up

[Digi Girl]

Hi there,

I have just purchased a second hand canon D30 and after taking the first few photos the camera has started to seize up after taking a shot. The shutter stays closed. It will just not respond to anything. I have to keep taking the battery out to get it working again and the shutter back open?! Then, when I take another shot, it does it again. I have been on the phone to Canon who couldn’t help.

Do you know if this is this a common problem with these cameras? Am I doing something wrong? Have I inadvertantly set something on the camera without realising - very amatuerish!

I really would appreciate any help or advice anyone has.

Digi Girl

[BobbyC]

Is it possible you have Custom Funtion # 13 set to enabled? Or the self timer is turned on? May be time for a trip to Canon Service.

[Digi Girl]

very amatuerish...what is custom function 13? how do i switch it?
the self-timer isn't on.

keep ideas coming, i'd hate to have to go to canon, they couldn't even help me on the phone!?!

[henkbos]

Check if the sensor cleaning function is set to on. Without a manual it will take a long time though to explain.

[chris maddock]

A couple of suggestions - one following on from the previous one;

For both, go into the menu and scroll (using the thumbwheel) down to the bottom and select C.Fn.
In the screen that appears, the Custom Function number is in a small box in the top RH corner, use the thumbwheel to rotate through the options. To open a function press the button in the thumbwheel, then use the wheel again to run through the options. The button will select the displayed option whilst the Menu button will exit without changes being made;
1) Sensor Cleaning - this is CF13, make sure it's Disabled.
2) Mirror Lockup - CF03, again make sure it's disabled.

I don't think it's the second one (normally if that's enabled one press of the shutter release lifts the miirror and a second takes the shot) but it's worth a look anyway.

Come to think of it, I don't think it's the sensor cleaning either - that should refuse to do anything unless the DC coupler is plugged in.

One more thought - do you have more than one lens? Does it do this with all, or only one? Either way, try cleaning the lens contacts with something like a hard pencil eraser. The contacts look like little little brass pins in the bottom of the lens mount aperture of the body. They are "sprung" so don't be perturbed if the move a little. The ones on the lens are little brass (gold-plated maybe?) plates on the bottom of the back of the lens, at least 7 iof them, about 2mm square.

HTH
Chris

[Digi Girl]

okay, I've tried all your suggestions, everything you said to disable is disabled and I've tried different lenses and different cards - there is still no change. Basically, when I take a photo, the shutter stays down and remains there until I remove the battery. when i put the battery back in, the motor catches up and the shutter opens again.

Any other suggestions? Has anyone ever had this happen?

I really appreciate your help.

[Wolfgang7]

what kind and brand of lenses are you using?
Some of the sigma wount work.
Regards
Wolfgang
Germany

[xinther]

Mine locked up once at an airshow last year and another time at a carshow this past weekend.

At the airshow it was very cool. The camera was still at indoor temperature when I started shooting.

At the carshow it was a little cool with high humidity.

I'm guessing both of these conditions produced condensation in the camera. Anyways, I turn it off then on and/or remove the battery. It goes away after a couple of lock-ups.

good luck,

Carlos
Niceville, FL

[Digi Girl]

that must be it then, change in temp...weird. I bought this camera to do wildlife photography in Africa! I can't be dealing with a lock-up all the time! Grrr. Good ole Canon!

It's working now, but for how long?

I'm using Canon EF lenses.

[BobbyC]

I've used mine in very hot but not very cold weather and never had it lock up. I think I would see Canon service.

I did take my ElanII (it uses that film stuff) to an ice rink once for a birthday party and it would barely work when I was around the rink.

[henkbos]

Live in the desert and the temp is regularly above 100 (up to 130F/50C in summer) and never had lockup problems. Should do fine in Africa.

[photography By Evangelos]

Hello I have used my D60 here in florida were we have a lot of humidity and in Boston in the winter snow and have had no problems to date. I did how ever have problems with my EOS 3 in very cold weather. I sent it in to canon for an adjustment and never had problems since. You may want to send it in to canon so they can give it a look over or an adjustment. Good luck and enjoy your new camera.

[Cecil Walker]

If it continues to happen, you might want to do some shutter tests with your flash.

My D30 had a shutter failure that was first detected by the flash photos being extremely dark. No amount of flash compensation would brighten it to a usable state. The next thing that happened was the exact symptoms you described. Everytime I tried to take a picture, the camera would lock up with the shutter closed until I took the batteries out.

I sent it in to Canon for repair (was still under warranty) and they said it was a complete shutter failure. Found out that the D30 shutter was only rated for 20,000 photos and mine was at ~45,000. They replaced the shutter assembly and it's been working flawlessly since.

Cecil

[Digi Girl]

this will no longer be under warantee, is this a costly problem to get fixed?

[Cecil Walker]

Digi Girl wrote:
this will no longer be under warantee, is this a costly problem to get fixed?

I didn't get a cost breakdown when it was returned but I understand it's around a couple of hundred dollars... ouch! Hopefully, that's not what's wrong with yours.

Cecil