7D Issues with All Buttons

Hello,

I am currently in Ireland, and then a week in Paris. In other words, out of the United States. My 7D has been doing great the last few days, but as of last night when I turned it on, the shutter would immediately start taking photos, and no buttons would work...

I thought maybe something got wet, or some contact was messed up, so let it sit with the battery out over night... No improvement.

No switches, menu buttons, or ANYTHING is working. With a lens attached or without. With a memory card or without. With a battery grip or just with 1 battery.

In addition when I click the shutter button HALF WAY it starts to take multiple pictures. Don't even need to click the entire way down...

I naturally don't have the option to send it in to Canon for Repair while I am in Ireland... So wondering what I can do if anyone has any ideas?

Thanks so much

Here is a thread that might help:

https://photography-on-the.net …1&highlight=reb​oot+camera

Tried that originally with no luck at all...
It also would have done the same when I left it out all last night... Unfortunately, it doesn't fix anything.

Bummer...

Sounds like a shutter button fault, which means it's triggering all the time. That would block all other buttons, since the shutter release has priority over most things. Some dirt has entered in between the contacts, perhaps?

TimberCLipse wrote in post #14727745
Tried that originally with no luck at all...
It also would have done the same when I left it out all last night... Unfortunately, it doesn't fix anything.

Are you sure?

You wrote that you removed the battery and let it sit overnight. And in this most recent response you refer to it, as if it's a single battery. Both posts imply you didn't take out all the batteries.

To force the camera to reboot, you have to remove a minimum of two batteries (three plus the grip, if using a grip)... You have to remove the main rechargeable and the small, silver date/time memory battery that sits in a tray alongside it in the battery compartment on the bottom of the camera. You then have to leave the batteries out for at least half an hour... maybe more. Or try the trick of turning the camera on without any batteries and pressing the shutter release button once to speed up the process (it won't actually fire).

Then put the batteries back in and check the date/time. If you have to reset it, you got the camera to reboot. If not, you have to repeat the process.

If you get the camera to reboot, be sure to check your menu settings and custom functions before going out and shooting. Any settings might have reverted to the defaults.

If none of this helps, I suspect the shutter release button is stuck... either on the camera or, if you have one installed, on the grip. (If the camera does the same thing without the grip installed, that eliminates the grip as the source of the fault.)Dirt or grim getting into the switch might cause that. I suppose moisture might, too.

Try pressing the button repeatedly a few times, with camera turned off.

I have not heard of this being done on a 7D or it's grip, but there are some posts here and on the internet about cleaning the shutter release button of 50D and 40D with isopropyl (rubbing) alcohol. It's not ideal, but might work in a pinch. Not sure if it will work on 7D because I know it uses a different shutter release button than those other models, at least on the camera body. The 7D's shutter release button is more similar to what's used on the 1D series cameras (shorter stroke, less lag and better sealed than 40/50/60D). You do this "repair" at your own risk. It involves "flood cleaning" the shutter release button from below, without disassembling the camera. It really should be professionally disassambled and cleaned more carefully, but we do what we have to do when on a trip. Again, if you try this, it's at your own risk and there is some danger of getting the alcohol into places it shouldn't go.

Given the increased weather sealing of the 7d, I'm not sure the isopropyl alcohol fix will work, I suspect it will pool somewhere else in the body due the extra gaskets and seals.

Hello,

I believe what ended up happening was some moisture got caught in the shutter... I let it sit not just over night, but then again ALL of yesterday. As of right now, the camera seems to be functioning. The shutter release does feel a little weird, it almost clicks and catches on something... but, hopefully it will continue to work.

I saw the isopropyl option, but I am glad to know that it may not work in the 7D...

I am wondering if anyone has any suggestions otherwise of helping keep moisture out of the 7D? I thought it was weather sealed so the fact that anything happened does concern my a great deal...?

Thanks so much for the help!

There's no such thing as completely weather sealed.... some cameras just resist a little damp better than others.

You can spend a lot of money waterproofing your camera, or you can put it in a clear plastic bag with the opening downward. Make a hole in the corner of the bag for the lens and secure the bag around the glare shield with an elastic band. Your hands go in the bottom.

If the weather's extremely bad, you can put a second bag over the lens hood and secure that with the elastic band too.

It's crude but it works and it's cheap.

Don't change lenses unless you're inside and the camera is dry!