My 300D froze

I was taking a few photos and suddenly the camera didn't respond to anything and I'm certain that it wasn't because something was being written to the CF card or anything like that. There were still numbers and stuff on the display, but when I turned it off and tried to turn it on again it just wouldn't start. The battery was fully charged so that couldn't be it and the temperature outside wasn't any lower than -3 C. Now that I got inside it started working again.

Anyone know what's wrong?

Describe to us everything that was on the display.

For example, were numbers blinking? Was there a big dot blinking?

On the top display, was there any error message number?

Did the whole thing appear "dead"?

---Bob Gross---

It appeared totally dead and there was no error message. None of the buttons/dials worked. I've read the manual and I know the camera fairly well, so I'm pretty sure it wasn't my fault.

It works just fine now though, so unless it happens again it's no big deal.

Uhh, you changed your story.

In one place you stated that it had numbers and stuff on the display. In another place you stated that it appeared totally dead.

Pick one story.

---Bob Gross---

No no, I didn't.. First there were numbers stating aperture and all that on the upper display, but the thing didn't respond to anything. Then I turned it off and tried to turn it on again, which was when it was totally dead.

I had a similar problem on my 10D shortly after I got it. I simply removed the battery and took the lens off, cleaned the contacts for the lens mount. Made sure the camera was off and put it all back together and it worked fine. Haven't had the smae problem since.

If a camera like this suddenly goes *dead* (no display, no action, no nothing), then it can be from several things. The common cause can be a bad battery (low charge, intermittent internal battery connection, etc.) or bad battery contacts (where the battery pack gets into the camera).

However, if a camera suddenly goes *stuck* (display on, no action), then this can be from several reasons. If it goes *stuck* and gives an error message, then that might tell us something. Or, it might give Err 99, which means "I know there is a problem, but I'm not sure what." Often Err 99 means a communication problem from the lens (which could be caused by an old non-Canon lens, or any malfunctioning lens, or the contacts between the camera and the lens). If a camera goes *stuck* and displays no error message, then often it is indicating a user error or something close to a user error. For example, if it must have AF lock first, but it cannot find AF lock due to low light, it can blink an indicator. I've found the best way to prove or disprove that one is to change the mode switch. If it works in another mode, then consider the requirements for each mode and which one may have been missing to inhibit the original shot. The manual explains the requirements for each mode of operation.

Those are the likely suspects. It could be more mysterious than that if something internal to the camera is actually failing. The only way to prove or disprove that is if you can get it to consistently repeat itself. It might be a thermal intermittent and it only fails at a cold temperature, or a hot temperature. These are the worst ones to have.

---Bob Gross---

I'm pretty sure it may be a battery issue. I had the exact same thing happen to me earlier today. All of a sudden the camera switched off, the battery was showing full, turning it on & off did nothing. Luckily I carry a spare battery, changed it over & all was fine! I'm not sure if the 'faulty?' battery was the one that came with my camera (it's only a couple of weeks old) or my spare G3 battery which is also not very old. I shall over the next few days play around with the batteries to see if the same thing happens again.

I certainly cannot dispute that it may be a battery issue.

So, if you are really, really good, you will do some experiments to determine what kind of battery problem it may be.

For example, does it happen if the battery is simply low on charge? If so, drop a digital voltmeter on it and see the terminal voltage. Then drop a meter on it with a little bit of load resistance.

Or, does the battery seem to go funny, and then you whack it once and then it works fine? That would lead us back to the internal connections on the pack.

Or, is it a temperature thing? Warm it up and see if it works, or cool it down and see if it fails.

---Bob Gross---

I don't know. But my camera body can stand a lower temperature than my own body. And I don't think that -3C is a problem. (The battery leaks very fast in low temperature though).

Is it moisture that affect the camera (my wild guess only)?

Do you mean that humidity got inside the camera body? Or do you mean real water droplets?

---Bob Gross---

Humidity. I don't think Spock84 will let water droplets go inside. As written in my previous post, it was my wild guess:

1. spock84 used fully charged battery;
2. low temperature may be a cause (I used a different camera, D60);
3. I've seen a similar case that an EOS film camera under a humid weather (but not cold)

Just an update.. It's -10 C outside right now, and I've just been there for two hours and nothing out of the ordinary happened. Well, I might have gotten some decent shots, but other than that nothing. So obviously it wasn't the temperature. :P

There is an old rule of troubleshooting an intermittent problem:

You have to get to the point where you can consistently recreate the symptoms, and then you are halfway to solving the problem.

---Bob Gross---