50D issues - Help with making a decision

Hey guys,

I'm hoping you can lend your advice and help me make a decision. I purchased a used 50D here from the POTN board last year after selling all my gear three years ago, and along with the birth of my daughter, I've been reinspired to get back into photography. I've come a long way in a relatively short time, built up a respectable amount of gear, including a Genesis 200, two speedlights, stands, umbrellas, a Qbox, backdrop system and white seamless, and I've actually got work coming in. From just great fun shooting my new little girl, now to shooting familes and kiddos, portraits- I'm getting paid. I still consider myself working in the red, as I'm basically paying myself back for all the lighting gear I've bought! But still, I've got work...

Annnnnnd, now my 50D has problems! For the last month or so, just about every time I turn it on, at some point it loses autofocus. It wll be focusing fine, and then bam - it will start hunting. Doesn't matter the light - good light, dim light- flash- outside - it's like it looses the ability to autofocus. I only have two lenses - a Canon 50mm 1.4 and a Sigma 17-70. It does it with both lenses. Now I'm having the problem every single time I go to shoot. it will just lose autofocus- I'll move the camera around, trying to land on something to get focus on, eventually it will, and then it will be fine for awhile.

I have three paid shoots coming up in the next 2-3 weeks- and I'm starting to freak out. I feel like I'm just getting into it, and now I'm deathly afraid this thing is going to poop out on me in the middle of a shoot and I won't be able to deliver to the client.

I've been wanting to go FF, but don't have the cash for a 5D MKII, so my thought process is - purchase a used 5D classic here on the board with low clicks, and get going- then once I get the shoots done- perhaps send the 50D into Canon to get it fixed- then sell it and the 5D at some point to put the money toward a 5dMKii. I've heard that the 5D has exceptional IQ (with the mirror fix) and will really show noticable improvement in quality over the 50D, and I can live with the bad LCD..I hope. Sigh.

What do you think? Any advise or other suggestions on how to handle this situation and whether this is a good move?

Thanks for listening to my rant!

Michael

Send the 50d in to Canon CPS for service, in the interim rent a 5D mark II or even a 7D to not only get the shoots done but also get a flair of what they have to offer to you over and above your 50D. Just my opinion.

I don't think OP qualifies for CPS.
Why not just rent a body? Have you tried a settings/body reset?

Reflash the firmware. Sometimes when things are acting up, this can clear the issue. Latest, which was just this past February, is at http://www.usa.canon.c​om …os_50d#DriversA​ndSoftware. Even if you have the latest, I would still do a reflash.

What Focus setting you using? One shot/AI Focus/AI servo. Even after a reflash mine does some cronic hunting when on AI focus (Canon dont know why) but One shot and AI servo work bang on everytime.

Also Are you using a single point or multiple point focus? Ive never had this problem with my 50D but my 350D developed a "dodgy" focusing point that cause allot of hunting when multipoint focus was used, turned out there was a bit of dust "interfering" with that AF point.

If I was in your position I would plan to Rent/Borrow a backup (Doesnt need to be a 5D/7D it can be a xxxD model, its just to get you through the shoot if something does go wrong), Also do a bit of cleaning/reflashing/te​sting of the 50D before jumping the gun and getting another camera. Settling for a camera you dont reallllly want could do more harm to your photography than good

I'd check if there is any dust or fluff obscuring the AF sensor which is in the bottom of the mirror box, I would then use a blower to dust this off

Thanks for the replies. I am using one-shot, with single middle AF point selected (focus recompose).

Just saw the other post about 50D focus problems, so I'm going to try the suggestions of flashing the firmware and maybe doing a reset. I do want the 5D, just am holding out for the funds for the MKii. Renting is an option, but these aren't highly paid shoots - they are hour/hour and a half portrait sessions and such- so at $125 bucks a day for the 5DMKii, I'd basically be shooting to pay the rent for the camera I'm shooting with! : )

But, I'd do it if necessary...


Thanks again!
Michael

I agree: do a full reset (first) and then update the firmware. If that does not do it, off to Canon it goes.

If the repair is prohibitively expensive, you will have the option of using the Canon loyalty program, which gives you 20% off whatever refurbs that are in stock. The refurb prices of the 7D and 5D MKII are not all that different now, I think about $350 more for the MkII.

I looked into this over the past couple of weeks because my 50D has developed what appears to be an intermittent short, perhaps in the main board, and I won't know for a bit what the repair cost is. For my mix of shooting, the 7D turns out to be the better choice, but I looked at the 5D as well, particularly given the small difference in price.

Make sure lens and sensor is clean. It may be seeing dust

If you go from crop to full frame you'll need to change up your lenses too....

The 50/1.4 will work on FF, but will now be a wider "standard" lens. Assuming you like the short tele portrait uses of the 50mm on your current camera, you'll need or want to add an 85mm to have equal on FF. You'll have Canon f1.2L, f1.8 and Sigma f1.4, if you want autofocus. There are also Zeiss manual focus and far less expensive Rokinon/Samyany that's both manual focus and manual aperture.

And the 17-70 will need to be replaced, won't work on the FF camera. To have equivalent, you'll need a 24-105 or a 28-135, depending upon how much budget you have.

Besides the smaller/dimmer LCD and possible mirror fix, going from 50D to 5D classic you would be going to lower resolution (approx. 13MP vs 15mp and 12 bit instead of 14 bit), giving up self-cleaning sensor, Micro-Adjust, Live View. You'd be buying a 3 year older model, with who knows how much more wear and tear on it and somewhat lower specification autofocus.

Now, 5D classic is a really nice camera and quite capable of fine images. But so is 50D. Besides the cost of the camera, you are looking at approx. another $750 to $1500 in lenses, to switch over to FF. So, you might want to weigh your choices carefully.

But, before you consider a replacement, there are other things you might want to try first....

I'm surprised no one has mentioned it yet... any time focus acts up the very first thing you should try is removing the lens from your 50D and cleaning the electronic lens to camera contacts. Dampen a clean rag with a few drops of isopropyl alcohol (inexpensive "rubbing" alcohol, 70% solution, is fine). Use that to carefully wipe the contacts both on the back of the lens and just inside the camera. Pre-moistened swabs and wipes can be used too. Just don't use standard cotton swabs (i.e. Q-Tips) here or anywhere inside any camera. Those shed tough, tiny fibers that are capable of jamming a camera mechanism. Of course, be careful to keep off the lens optics and the camera's mirror.

Also inspect the contacts in the cameras. They are spring loaded and sometimes one will get stuck pressed in causing intermittent contact with the flat on the lens.

The next thing to try is operating the AF on/off switch on the lens a few times. If, like many of us, you never change it, over time those switches can develop issues if unused. They are self-cleaning when operated on and off. But if they are left in one position for a long time, it's possible for the contacts to develop internal oxidization that interrupts the connections. I don't really think this will help in your case, since you mentioned two lenses started giving problems at the same time. But, what the heck, it doesn't cost anything to try!

Next do as suggested by previous posters.... First force a reboot of the camera by removing the batteries.... there's more info about doing a reboot in this previous post.

While doing that, you also might want to replace the little silver memory battery. I doubt that will help, the camera should be able to shoot fine without it (you'll just lose date/time and perhaps some other settings every time you turn the camera off). But those batteries are usually good for roughly 5 years and the 50D is now about a 4 year old model. Those little batteries are widely available for a couple dollars. At any rate, wipe down that battery to remove fingerprints (finger oils), when you put it back in.

Then I'd suggest the last thing you might try is the firmware update or reflash. It's also pretty easy... and free to try. Just be sure you have a fully charged battery in the camera and follow the instructions carefully. It is possible to "brick" a camera by installing firmware improperly or if the camera shuts down in the middle of the process.

If none of these work, then it's time to have a tech look at the camera. Since it's out of warranty, there would be no problem having someone other than Canon look at it, if you have a local repair tech or know of another place that you prefer. But Canon repair is usually quite good, too, depending upon where you are in the world.

It was reported about 4-6 weeks ago that the discount was changed to 10% making it hardly worthwhile to use the CLP. Some people suggested that Adorama and B&H prices for refurbs were better.

Thanks for the helpful replies! I've done the battery removal reboot on the camera (and got the date/time back to 000 so it worked) and now I'm going to do a firmware update.

One question - you said that the 17-70 will not work on FF? Not at all? I know the 50mm will work, at 50mm 1.4 I bought it more for the IQ-cost ratio more than for the focal length, so I'm okay with it being 50mm prime. Bbut man I like the 17-70 as a walkaround lens. So you are saying the 17-70 won't work at ALL, or are you saying that it will actually be a 17-70 lens on the 5D, just as the 50mm will actually be 50mm instead of an 80mm on a crop. It's the Sigma 17-70mm f 2.8 4 dc macro os hsm.

Thanks for all your help and info, guys! I'm going to try and firmware this baby up, service it a bit, and keep saving for the 5DMKii...

The Sigma 17-70 is designed for APS-C sensors, so the image circle it produces may not cover a full frame sensor leading to significant vignetting. I think it will fit on a 5D unlike EF-S lenses, but the images may not be what you want. You could crop them in post to the same fov you get with the 50d.