40D Mirror Sticking

Hi,

I have just noticed the mirror on my 40 seems to be stuck in the up position when taking pictures. I have played about with the usual settings and I get the same...but only with a lenses attached. I took a few indoor pics using live view the other day and all was fine. Haven't touched it since, and it is in mint condition. The only way I have found to correct the problem is to remove and reinsert the battery.

I am very much an amateur, so I just want to know if I am I missing something obvious before I send it out for repair.

Thanks in advance.

First, check to see that Mirror Lockup(MLU) hasn't been enabled:
Menu ->far-right level ->4th down ->Mirror Lockup.

If you can confirm this is not at issue, then it would be of great service to responses that
you include much more detailed information about the problem you're experiencing.
Tell us anything and everything about the camera's settings and how you're using it.

Thanks. Looked at the MLU and it was not enabled.

Basically, switching the camera on and taking a picture at any setting will cause the mirror to stay up, after which the screens and viewfinder goes blank and all buttons, including off / on, are rendered useless. On a couple of occasions - minus the lens, the mirror has actually dropped, but there appeared to be an additional and unnatural sounding (3rd) shutter noise which again, resulted in everything going blank. Taking the battery out, replacing it, then switching the camera on results in a noise similar to an old film camera being wound forward, which effectively resets the camera until you take another picture.

The battery has been charged, settings have been put back to default, tried it with a variety of lenses, no visible dust or grime, haven't dropped it, never been out in the rain etc.

It's a mystery.

If what you report is true, I'd venture a guess that your camera's shutter system
is at fault. It sounds, from your description, that there is an electronic fault
somewhere within the camera.

I am hardly an expert on the 40D, however, so I am very surprised there are not
any other suggestions to go along with my own measly experiences of a used 40D
with around 26k shutter clicks on it. I will hope others will report in with their own
experiences, and soon.

Send it in......It will be like new when you get it back. If it isn't under warranty it will likely be around $150 -$200.

One of my 40D's just did this last weekend. On mine though, I got an "err99" message on the LCD but rest sounds the same. Turn off and on and it would do same. Liveview worked. Talked to Canon, they said sounded like shutter failed. On it's way back now, it was still under warranty fortunately!

HKGuns wrote in post #10148334
Send it in......It will be like new when you get it back. If it isn't under warranty it will likely be around $150 -$200.

Yeah first thing tomorrow, that is what I am doing. $200 is what I was expecting, so no biggy.

Bump...

Well, I sent my 40D off to Canon in NJ, and had no problems with turnaround or delivery. $217.26 later, and it appears to be as good as new and it was only out of my hands for a few days. I did notice on the invoice there were no replacement parts used, and there was no mention of what the problem was. Maybe the 40D is the Saturn car of DSLR cameras, in that they are designed to fail just after your warranty is up.

Either way, I have the backup for my 7D back in working order.

If it is possible to be completely happy and discontented at the same time, that is kind of where I am.

My gut is telling me, they replaced your shutter box. My friend had the same Err.99 on his 40D and Canon ended up replacing the shutter box.