Rebel XT issue ( won't power off )

Searched around , coulnd't find the answer to this one..

Recently my XT will not turn off , if I pull the battery and put it back in ( with the camera in the off position ) it powers right up , I can snap pictures in the one or off position ( images do save to the card ).

If I power the camera up , let it sit for a minute ( which is the auto power setting I selected ) , it "shuts " off , but to use it , I don't have to turn the swtich to off and then back on , just touching the shutter button wakes it up.

Rather than "powering off " it goes into a sleep mode.

Did I change a setting I am unaware of ? If I have to , I will send it back to Canon , but fear it will cost more to repair than is cost effective.

I kind of like the "sleep" mode , camera is ready to go quick , but carrying it in the case or backpack , it is probably waking from the sleep mode often and afraid it may drain the battery.

After a week of sitting , it hasn't drained the full charged battery.

thoughts ?

Love this forum , been plenty of reading ( and learning ) , and my pictures are improving ( at least I think they are ).

Sounds like a bad switch. However I quite frequently would forget to turn my XT "off" and it would just sleep. Because I have a 40D and it gets the most use, it could be a couple of weeks before I reached for the XT and it always had a charge. If I were you, rather than spending crazy money to get it fixed, I'd buy a couple of spare batteries to keep on hand. I have 4 batteries for my XT plus a grip that can use AA batteries if necessary. I also have a dual slot charger for the XT to charge two batteries at once (Digital Concepts used to make this).

With the battery grip and two batteries in it, I've NEVER run out of charge. I even shot a wedding and over 700 images without changing batteries. Just my $0.02.

thanks. I just may let it run it's course till it finally dies all together.

I figure with the little bit of $$$ I have set aside I can either:

A. Send it to Canon and see what the cost is ( guessing $200 ? )
B. Buy a refurb'd XTi with a 3 yr warranty for under $400 from Adorama.
C. Buy a Rebel XS for $535 plus shipping from B&H.

Anyone have any pro's or con's in going with the refurb XTi over the XS ?

I have no idea how many shutter actuation's on my XT , traded a friend a rifle for it over a year ago , he is guessing he had maybe 18K on it tops , guessing I put another 5K ?

appreciate any advice.

Doesn't sound like very many actuations to me. For my $$$ unless the "not turning off" thing is a huge problem for you, I'd save my money and just buy a couple of spare batteries. However if you feel you need a new camera, I'd save a little more and pick up a used 40D - the upgrade from the Rebel line up to the XXD line is significant and well worth it.

However XTi vs XS - I believe the XS uses SD cards doesn't it? It has some neat features of the XTi in some ways but I haven't compared the two head to head in a while and would have to do that before I could make any recommendations.

thanks,

Weird thing happened with it tonight , which could be related , maybe not.

This power on /off thing started happening when I was at a friends and was taking some picts for him and his wife at their kids b-day party , I was using his Canon 430ex flash , when I was done , I removed the flash ( without shutting the camera off first , not sure if that hurts it or not ).
Tonight I was out with the same friends , borrowed his flash to snap a few picts , this time I turned the camera off before removing the flash , and now the off / on switch is working like normal ?

Could removing the flash while the camera is still on have caused my issue ? Or could this just be a fluke ?

It was powered off / on about 10 times tonight over the course of 3 hours or so , and still working like it should...

though I admit I miss that " ready in a fraction of a second " power up

I would love a 40D , and am going to start socking away money for when this XT does go down all together , if I have enuff saved up then I will go that route . Although I do prefer to buy new , and get the extended warranty for my next body. Since my 16 year old son has taken an interest in photography , I may upgrade sooner and kick him the XT to start on.

thanks again.

Many people turn their cameras on, and never use the switch again to power it off. The sleep mode is very efficient and is very close to "off", thus why folks don't even bother to power off the cameras. You can switch lenses and flashes while it is on as well. But it does sound like a flaky on/off switch.

I have the exact same issue. Mine started with a problem where the flash wouldn't pop out automatically, then the power switch wouldn't work. I read in other posts that just adding a bit of lubricant to the flash mechanism solved the first problem, but now the power switch issue is there. Have you had any additional luck with this?

I never bothered to do anything with it , my son uses it as is ( I have moved up to a 40D ).

It is nice though , as it wakes up fast and is ready to go with a light tap of the shutter button.

i nearly never turn my 40D off. the way these things work they're not really off when in the off position anyway (just like all those vampire electronics you've got around the house, sometimes the only change is the light from green to red and ignore all input but the power button), so i doubt it'd drain the battery any more quickly than putting it in the off position.

A fully functional XT body only worth about $200-225 today (for a local sale you might get a little more. Or with a lens)
I don't think it's worth it.

A XS is no more than a Digital rebel XT, and I would go for a USED 40D on here or FM for ~450-500 bucks. If you are picky about the price pick up a 30D (325-375) or a 20D (225-255). The condition of a 20D or 30D might not be as good as a 40D, but they give you a little better photography experience than a XT.

I found a co-worker who upgraded to a 7D so I bought his 40D with Canon Grip for $550 , had less than 5K snaps on it too