Help!! My camera won't turn on!

Hello my dearest Canon faithful,

I just came back from a 10-day Italy trip, and i took my beloved Canon XSi with me. Took some nice shots in Rome and Florence, and just before i went to Venice, my camera died on me.

I will try to explain as clear as i can the situation, to see if any of you can help me out here or give me some possible solutions.

I charged my battery once in Rome (using the standard battery charger that comes with the XSi, with the power adapter for Italy), it worked fine. I charged it again during my day 2 of Florence and in the morning it was fine. In the middle of the day i tried turning it on as i was up on a bell tower to take some nice panoramic shots and it died on me. It was a full-charged battery and it can't possibly be out of battery already.

I tried taking out the battery, letting it rest for a few hours, put it back in, and still nothing. It just won't turn on. I never dropped my camera (+lens) or hit it against anything. It just died like that.

On my last day in Florence, desperate to do something before i headed to Venice, i popped into a camera store, a reputable Nikon/Canon dealer to have it checked out and explained my problem.

The guy was nice enough to take a look, and use one of his camera models (Canon XS or European equivalent i beleive...) and took his new battery on that camera and put it into mine. Flipped the switch.. wouldn't turn on.. He then took my battery and put it into his XS and it couldn't turn on. So clearly.. there is something wrong with my battery AND my camera.
The guy thinks there is something wrong my battery AND my electrical circuit/connection in the camera. Nothing is broken, nothing is scratched, just no power.

I am back in Canada now.. i let my camera rest, charged the battery again, put it in, and still nothing...

Any ideas?

Thanks in advance guys!

Sounds like somethihg is shorted out in the battery compartment or power circuit in the camera.

What if you reinstalled the latest firmware?

Canonman47 wrote in post #8120870
What if you reinstalled the latest firmware?

How do you propose he do that with no power?

@OP - If you have a multi-meter, test to see if the battery took the charge. Not that it matters really, you need to send it in to Canon, but it will answer the question of the battery in the mean time.

Canonman47 wrote in post #8120870
What if you reinstalled the latest firmware?

Nice !!!
How do you imagine reinstalling software on a nonworking camera ?
OP. Did the Florence guy try putting his battery into your camera ? If not try doing that in some local store. If it turns on just trash the battery.

I am trying to go out tonight go do my final photography project shot and my camera will not turn on at all. Charged batter, all three of them. Swapped them out and removed the grip and put it in without a grip. Nothing.. will not fire up.

The project is due this week! It was working fine yesterday then it just shut off and would not turn back on. I figured dead batteries so I just put it away.

Its always been kept dry and resides in a nice camera bag. Im totally screwed even if it has to be shipped out to Canon to be repaired. I am going to hit the camera shop tomorr.... just remebered they are closed on mondays.. USELESSS!!!!

mmm just a question:
do you happen to use a vertical grip? sometimes it doesn't work with grip so you have to take it out, put it back and stuff.

this is with the grip off. I removed all variables. Lens, memory card, flash, vertical grip, testing with multiple batteries, as well as 8 brand new AA's in the grips battery tray thing and nothing!

the small red light doesn't flash when I flip it on, I get nothing. No LCD, nothing through the view finder, no noises, etc

check the little switch on the battery door
flip it down with a pin and try turning the camera on