Camera wont take a shot

[philcoop]

hi guys, um im hoping someone can help me i have a Canon 350D DSR which is about 2 yrs old, and lately its been off and on with not been able to take a shot, it doesnt matter what setting its on, auto or manual settings or even auto or manual focus, either way, when i go to take a photo it will focus but then when you press fire it wont take the photo. i cant seem to work out what the problem is, has anyone heard of this before or know what i can do to fix this??? your help would be much appreciated thank you.

[seeto.centric]

Phil,
stupid question maybe, but is there a CF card inserted?

-j

[!~DeViNe~DaRkNeSs~!]

also have u tried a diff lens on it?

[philcoop]

yeh guys, um yes i have tried 2 different CF cards, and my 2 different lenses as well.

[gstark]

Battery state?

[Greg B]

Battery state?

Yes, it sounds like a possible battery problem. Do you have another battery to try?

[dviv]

My vote is for battery - It happens to my 350D when the battery gets low as well.

[Big Red]

my guess would be the card door presuming that like the Pentax, if the card door is not shut properly the camera won't take a pic.

[philcoop]

yes guys um i have tried it with 2 different batteries, any other ideas maybe?? i just find it strange that it happens every now and then, like i can take one pic, then if i try and take another it wont take it.

[gstark]

Two different batteries ... what is the age of each of them?

Do you have access to a fairly new one?

[TonyH]

Sounds like the batteries are not up to scratch.....

[philcoop]

i have the original canon battery so its about 2 yrs old now, and another battery which is about 8months old.

could it be anything else, fault with camera maybe, i thought it might be dirty sensor but i have no dust or anything showing up on my pics at all. I have only notice when looking thru the camera 1 small dot, but that doesnt show up on any pics so i dont assume its the problem.

[gstark]

i have the original canon battery so its about 2 yrs old now, and another battery which is about 8months old.

could it be anything else, fault with camera maybe,

It certainly could be, but you also need to look what's most likely.

A two year old battery is likely to be best used as a paperweight.

The eight month old battery should be better, but is it a genuine Canon, or an aftermarket one, and what's its true age, as distinct from when did you acquire it?

You won't know the answer to that second question of course, but I hope that you can see where my line of thinking (yeah, I know ... ) wants you to go.

i thought it might be dirty sensor but i have no dust or anything showing up on my pics at all. I have only notice when looking thru the camera 1 small dot, but that doesnt show up on any pics so i dont assume its the problem.

And if there's dirt on your sensor, you will never see it when you're looking through the camera's viewfinder: that's a physical impossibility. Most likely, that spot is on your focusing screen.

Get a good blower (like a Giotto), remove the lens from the body, and hold the camera baody, lens mount facing down, a bit above your eye level. Use the Giotto to gently blow air into and around the mirror box.

Open the shutter (if you can) and repeat, being careful to keep the shutter open, and directing the air flow towards the sensor.

Release the shutter.

All should be well and relatively dust-free.

[philcoop]

thanks guys for your posts its all appreciated, i will look into all that, and buy a new genuine battery and get a good blower to and see if that solves the problem, and will let you know if it doesnt work.

[foonji]

could be a faulty/dusty/dirty shutter button...

i randomly get a similar occurrence with my 30d and i think its due to operating in some very fine dusty environments and dust getting in there, a few presses and it works fine or pressing the button on the grip if i have to instead. i should of gotten it looked at a while ago... like 6 months ago when it started happening. but oh well. haha