Camera turns on, but won't take photos

I was wondering about my camera. I live on a small tropical island and there are no retailers on this island, let alone a repair shop.

No matter what setting I put my camera at. It turns on, the LCD screen works. I can set my ISO etc.. but when I press the shutter release, nothing happens. I can press and press and nothing works. I've tried every setting and the same results. Nothing. I've consulted my manual and there are no answers to this issue. on the far right side of the screen, I see a bright dot with a (9) beside it in the viewfinder. Again I cannot find out what that means.

Can anyone help me with this?

What camera? And I gotta ask, is the memory card in the camera?

Sorry, EOS Canon Rebel XS DSLR. Appreciate the help if I can get some. And yes the card is in the camera. I've tried taking it out. Same with the Battery.

Read here
http://www.richardsnot​es.org …50mm-lens-contact-points/

Lens, CF card, contacts,battery

Did you try using the green box mode? If that works and it doesnt on the other modes like p, tv, av, or m, then you can reset/clear all your camera settings.

Just a hunch, but does the XS support mirror lockup? Also, if you remove both batteries, the large one and the small watch battery and leave them out for a few seconds, the camera will reset back to factory defaults. It's worth a try. I'm trying to think of things that are easy to fix. clearly if there is a hardware problem with the camera service will be needed. But MLU will have similar symptoms. Everything works fine, one shutter press raises the mirror but no picture is taken until the second shutter press. Worth a try.

Thanks for the info. I think it may be the contacts. I took my lens off and it worked. Well, there is no image but it is taking pictures of fuzz now. Does anyone know how to clean the contacts? Any suggestions?

Our camera is the other make. When the switch -- focus mode selector-- is in single - servo alto-focus, the "shutter can only be released when in focus indicator is displayed (focus priority). "

This switch has settings for continuous-servo auto focus, and manual focus too.

We actually returned a dslr to the dealer, and then to Nikon because it wouldn't release the shutter. This was taking landscape shots, with lots of sky. There was nothing for the sensor to focus on.

Hope your case is this simple.

best,

Welcome to the forum!

I used to use lens cleaning paper on lens contacts. Others may disagree, but I also used a pencil eraser. The little pink ones. Not ink erasers...but be careful with lint and eraser debris anywhere near an open camera body, and sensor.

Today? I would probably try a microfiber cloth. The cloth might be dirty afterwards...

mettalchic wrote in post #13559153
on the far right side of the screen, I see a bright dot with a (9) beside it in the viewfinder. Again I cannot find out what that means.

Nobody seems to have answered this yet.

That should be your buffer space indicator. It tells you how much room is left in the buffer, in terms of number of shots. It won't go higher than 9 though, that means 9 or more. If you watch it as you fire off a burst of shots, it will sit at 9 for the first few, then start counting down as the buffer gets full. If it hits zero the camera will stop shooting until it has climbed back up to 1, then allow you to take 1 shot, etc. If you compkletely fill the buffer (i.e. hit 0) then it will take it maybe 30 seconds or so to completely clear it. Whilst it is doing so, you can see the number climbing back up.

mettalchic wrote in post #13560700
Does anyone know how to clean the contacts? Any suggestions?

Pencil eraser, Staedtler "Mars" type (white rubbery type with no grit). I've never tried it on lens contacts but it is very commonly used by technicians on other things.

What small tropical island do you live on? Is it in the Pacific Islands?

melcat wrote in post #13561034
Pencil eraser, Staedtler "Mars" type (white rubbery type with no grit). I've never tried it on lens contacts but it is very commonly used by technicians on other things.

I have seen others recommend this for contacts, too. But I've never tried it either. Just make sure you hold the camera / lens up, with the contacts facing downwards, so anything that comes off the eraser falls away from the equipment, you don't want bits of eraser falling into your camera body.

Try doing a factory reset on your camera.

I forgot to say: With the eraser you don't rub back and forth, just use a single stroke.