 Jennifer M. Combs |
Problems Canon EOS 20D Lately I have had problems with my Canon EOS 20D. If I set it on Auto Focus then often it will refuse to take a picture. It will focus and focus but wont snap the picture even if the distance is right and in sharp focus. It will take the picture if I switch it to manual at the same focus settings and distance to subject and the picture comes out perfectly fine. Also sometimes it refuses to take a picture all together and the battery sign is still on full. If I switch battery anyway it will work again. Putting the "old" battery in the charger it will show me that it is still 50% full. The battery sign on the camera showed me that it is completely full and the camera did not snap the picture, even though it was still half full. Do I make any sense? Does anyone else have this problem or know what the cause might be? I have a shoot coming up where I need the auto focus to work because I only have a second for each picture. Thanks in advance
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Jon Close |
Which AF mode? One-Shot and AI-Focus will not allow the shutter to release unless the camera can confirm focus (lights in-focus light in the viewfinder and/or beeps). AI Servo (continuous AF) gives shutter release priority to the user and will release the shutter when the button is pressed, whether focus is confirmed or not. One-Shot and AI Servo are preferred over AI Focus, which is a combination of the two that doesn't work as well as either. Most of the Basic Zone exposure modes force One-Shot or AI Focus (blech). Use the Creative Zone modes (P, Av, Tv, M) to independently select the AF mode. Which AF sensor? Are you letting the camera choose automatically or are you selecting manually? The auto-selection may not be finding your intended subject. The center sensor is the most sensitive, manually selecting it may improve AF performance. Note that manual AF sensor selection is only enabled in the Creative Zone exposure modes. Which lens? AF generally needs f/5.6 or larger maximum aperture to function reliably, and will function better with f/2 than f/2.8, which is better than f/4 which is better than f/5.6. Additionally, if light levels are low or the subject has low contrast the AF may not lock regardless of how fast the lens is. The built-in AF assist light of the 20D (flickering flash) can help, but is very distracting/annoying. Better is to use the patterned near-infrared AF assist light of an accessory flash. The 20D has a custom function (C.Fn 07) which can be set to use the AF-assist light of a speedlight without having the flash go off (Custom functions are active only with Creative Zone exposure settings). Sorry, I can't help you with the battery problem.
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Peter K. Burian |
As usual, Jon's comments are very useful. Jennifer, I suspect your problem is: A) Very low light; any camera will have some problem. Set the central Autofocus sensor only. That can help in low light, as Jon said. B) The subject is too close; your lens cannot focus extremely close. Move further from the subject and try again. It's certainly not an issue of the battery. Regards, Peter Burian, Instructor,
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Jennifer M. Combs |
Thank you both for your response. I am not sure if those are the reasons. it happens when I shoot in my studio as well and I have softboxes set up. I am using same conditions and lenses and settings that I always did but one day for some reason this started happening. I will go through all your suggestions and see if I can find anything ! Oh, do you know why it starts working again if I do change the battery (even though battery was still half full?)
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Peter K. Burian |
Jennifer: Unless you have a defective camera, the battery has nothing to do with it. As long as you have power, focusing should work. Regards, Peter Burian, Instructor,
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C, William Dunsay |
I had some problems with my 20d and sent it back to Canon for repair. I called Customer Sevice for help. They are first rate. They will talk you through a problem and recommend repair if necesary. There was no charge but I paid for shipping to them.
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Bob Chance |
Jennifer: Firstly, what lens(s) are you using? If you are using a third party lens, could be a compatibility problem. If all of the other responses don't seem to give an acceptible answer to your problem. Bob
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Cathy Stancil |
Hi Jennifer, Oddly enough it happened to me today !! Luckily it was the end of the shoot. It had happened once before and each time, the battery level showed low. I assumed that was the reason ! I turned it off, finished up and tried again a few mnutes later and it worked again ! But did not want to lose all my pics, so turned it off again and changed the battery to a full one... Not sure why it's happening, so I'll keep an eye on this thread... Sorry I wasn't more helpful ! Just know that it did happen to someone else...
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Jennifer M. Combs |
Thanks Bob, I will check into this today! Cathy, not wishing anything bad on you but I am glad to hear it happened to someone else, so I know its not just my camera being defective. Must be more behind it. I will do that program check that Bob mentioned
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Jim Macino |
Cathy, I don't believe you will lose your pictures if your battery goes dead. The memory card is not powered when you remove it to put it in a reader, or swap with another card. A CF card will remain in it's state for years, until altered again under power.
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Jon Close |
Following up on Bob's suggestion, the current firmware version for the 20D is 2.0.3, and can be downloaded at http://web.canon.jp/Imaging/eos20d/eos20d_firmware-e.html.
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Jennifer M. Combs |
Bob, I am searching in menu but cant find "firmware" as an option
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Jon Close |
Jennifer, if the camera is set for a Basic Zone expsoure mode, the Firmware (and many other options) will not be displayed in the Menu. You have to be set for one of the Creative modes (P, Av, Tv, M) to display all the Menu options.
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Jennifer M. Combs |
Thanks Jon.. sure enough.. I always have it on a creative mode, but the other day I tried out some self portraits with remote and needed automatic setting for best results.. so I hadnt set it back. Anyway... you were right, it is the 1.1.0 version. So that must have been the problem. I just bought a second 20D, I better check that one too
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Cathy Stancil |
Hi Jim, the only reason for my fear is that I lost 100 shots of the grand canyon last year: the battery was low and I kept shooting till it wouldn't anymore.... The camera shut down and I couldn't do anything with it... Changed battery did not do anything. I had to reformat my card unfortunately...(after trying everything eslse first !) Anyway, not sure what had happened but now I change my battery as soon as it shows low, even if it's not the reason for losing these shots... Just paranoid I guess !
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Jennifer M. Combs |
Cathy, when that happened did you take out the back up battery too? Canon techincal support hotline told me to do that when I had the trouble with my camera. I didnt even know there was one. If you take your battery out, on the side you will see that there is a little button battery. Take that out for a few seconds and it should reset everything, but should not delete anything on your memory card. Jon and Bob, I tried downloading this but something didnt work. Windows couldnt open the file because it didnt know what program created it. I will have my husband look at it, he is better at technical stuff than I am.
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Cathy Stancil |
I had no idea !!! Thanks for the tip ! Hopefully I won't have to use it... For the upgrade, it seems that you have to have a version 2 to begin with ?? Not sure, it was kind of chinese to me ...lol... But it says: "This fIrmware update applies to cameras with firmware versions up to 2.0.2 installed" ??? Does this mean that if we have 1.0.5 we can not upgrade ??
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Jon Close |
Cathy, the FAQs at the link I gave earlier indicate that the v.2.0.3 firmware includes all the updates made in the prior versions. >>Q: Are the previous versions of the firmware included in version 2.0.3?<< >>A: Yes, the following improvements from the previous version are included:"<< I'm pretty sure you can update directly from 1.0.5 to 2.0.3. Jennifer - follow the instructions given in the link. Download the file eos20d203.exe to your hard drive. Then either (a) do START - RUN - c:/[whatever folder you downloaded it to]/eos20d203.exe ; or (b) double-click on it in My Computer or Windows File Manager or Windows Explorer. It is a self-extracting file, Windows should not ask you what program created it, but will pop-up a window to ask you where you want the extracted file [20d00203.fir] to be written. When that is done, do not try to execute 20d00203.fir. Copy the file 20d00203.fir to a CF card that has been formatted in the 20D. Follow the remaining instructions for loading the firmware to the camera.
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Bob Chance |
Hi Jennifer: Sorry I didn't get back to you sooner. Was working all day. Anyhow, I've read the additional responses and Jon has steered you correctly. The latest version does contain all the previous upgrades as well. Not sure why they would put that statement in there, but anyhow, just follow Jons' guidlines and those on the Canon website and you should be okay. Just remember not to disturb the camera in anyway while the upgrade is taking place. Bob
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