New information on 20D "lockups"

I think that this is new....

I just experienced my first lock up on my 20D. I changed from my 28-135 to my 70-200 and, when I switched the camera on in manual mode, the top LCD showed the shutter speed, but not the aperture. In fact the aperture value didn't appear in any mode. The camera would not respond to any action - even moving the power switch to 'off' - except turning the mode dial. I tried removing the batteries (2 in the grip), changing the lens back and removing the CF card. The aperture value still did not appear.

To revive the camera, I had to REMOVE THE GRIP!

It's reattached now and everything is working fine.

That sound like it very well may be baroque.

Good luck

N

OMG!!! This is too funny!!!

I had a lock-up last night........but I just removed the battery and everthing was fine..........(finger crossed).

Ro1

What I plan to try is instead of removing the CF card to transfer images, I am going to directly connect my 20D to my computer instead. If I can break myself out of the habit of removing the CF card to transfer pictures, I might avoid this lockup issue. Since the 20D has built in USB 2.0, there really isnt a need to remove the card to transfer pictures. Yeah it will have a little impact on the battery when transfering pictures, but USB 2.0 is very fast and shouldn't take that long to transfer the pictures.

I don't think that will help. I have only transferred images directly from the camera since I received it. It still locked up on me right after I changed the lens...

-Greg

That's good to know. Perhaps the real issue of lockups relates to a lens change, rather than a combination of card swap/lens change like most people have been reporting...

Uhmm... What do you plan to do when you are out shooting in the field? Are you never going to change CF cards? I've been planning on buying a 20D but I'm holding off until Canon addresses this issue. I've never connected a camera to my PC. I've always used a card reader. It is just easier that way.

The lock up is not related to any one thing. Mine locked up after sitting over night asleep. No CF card or lens change involved. On another forum the same conditions have applied. It appears the camers is never truly off. (Note the flashing light when you insert a CF card with the camera on or off) I suspect there is a intermittant connection problem caused by manufacturing or a firmware problem. Canon is aware of the problem but Chuck Westfall ( I think thats his name but not sure) only said tech service will respond when it identifies a problem. My 20 has been ok after 1 lock up for over 500 pics

JZ

How often does it happen and how long does it take to fix?

Yes, it sucks, but I just don't think that this issue is worth all the whining. It happens every once in a great while, right? It takes seconds to fix, right?

Deal with it.

Now go take some pictures.

This is an intentional bug that Canon has built into the 20D. Those who remember the early days of th 10D will recall the near-hysteria that surrounded the question of a back-focusing problem. Many people with perfectly good cameras nonetheless assumed they had the problem and filled the forum with countless posts and photos of rulers. Eventually, the furor died down, and people were happy.

Canon figured that to avoid the problem of imaginary or 'perceived' defects, they'd give us a real one...one that wasn't fatal, was easily dealt with, and only causes annoyance and not panic.

Eventually it will be dealt with, and we'll all be able to say, 'The 20D is perfect. All the bugs have been fixed." Other minor issues will be ignored or forgotten.

Trust me. I know these things.

It sounds like many of you are considering going the route of, "its not that bad, I'll just deal with it."

You folks just plopped down a good chunk of change on a very advanced piece of equipment - I can't see how anyone would settle for this type of functionality (or risk of lack of functionality).

If I had just paid $1,500 for something and it wasn't working correctly - back it goes for another one. If the second had the same problem back it would go too. At that point, I'd have to determine whether or not it was worth my time/effort to keep hunting for 'good' one.

That's not what I'm hearing. I believe, as do most of the folks who've bought the camera, that there will be a fix sometime in the (hopefully) near future. The camera (and the problem) is new, and as soon as the glitch is identified and understood, it will be dealt with. If not, Canon will suffer the slings and arrows of an aroused customer base. They won't let that happen, especially if it impacts future sales.

I think I can safely predict that the general mood will turn ugly if it becomes apparent that nothing is being done.

People seem to have short memories, Canon may decide to do nothing and let it blow over.

Ahh good point, I didn't think of that hehe. I currently use a 1 Gig card, so if I shoot JPEG I can squeeze about 300 or so shots on 1 card, RAW obviously a lot less. Damn, I thought I had a workaround

...............I'm waiting for Wasai to give us a firmware fix.

So far, it hasn't been a real problem for me. It occured during a lens change from the 50 f1.4 to the 70-200 f2.8.........Just had to remove the battery for it to restart and off it went without any problems.

Ro1