20D Autofocus issue

Recently I've had the autofocus on my 20D lock up on ocaision. The last
time I was taking photos in Raw+Large Jpeg, selected one for deletion from
the card, then went to continue shooting but the autofocus wouldn't work.
Powering the camera off then on solved the problem. I am using Firmware
v1.1.0, fully charged battery, and yes the lens was set on AF not MF. Anyone
else have this issue? Is there a fix on the way?

Kelly

Hi Kelly,

Yes I've had the very same problem a couple of times shooting simultaneous
Raw + Large Jpeg (can't comment on other modes as that's all I shoot). First
time a simple on/off as you describe sorted it out. However, second time it
happened I had to power off; disconnect the lens; reconnect & then switch on
before the lens would autofocus again. Weird. The rest of the time the lens
20D combo has shot some 4000+ shots without a hitch. In both situations I'd
also been deleting photos just prior to the 'error' (though I hadn't
connected the 2 till you mentioned it)...

Regards

DM

"Kelly" wrote in message
news:n%E4e.13$L64.2@okepread07...
Recently I've had the autofocus on my 20D lock up on ocaision. The last
time I was taking photos in Raw+Large Jpeg, selected one for deletion from
the card, then went to continue shooting but the autofocus wouldn't work.
Powering the camera off then on solved the problem. I am using Firmware
v1.1.0, fully charged battery, and yes the lens was set on AF not MF.
Anyone else have this issue? Is there a fix on the way?

Kelly

Thanks DM, good to know I'm not just nuts Guess I'll limit deleting
photos to the times in between photo opportunities. Hopefully Canon will put
out a patch for this in an update.

Kelly


"DM" wrote in message
...
Hi Kelly,

Yes I've had the very same problem a couple of times shooting simultaneous
Raw + Large Jpeg (can't comment on other modes as that's all I shoot).
First time a simple on/off as you describe sorted it out. However, second
time it happened I had to power off; disconnect the lens; reconnect & then
switch on before the lens would autofocus again. Weird. The rest of the
time the lens 20D combo has shot some 4000+ shots without a hitch. In both
situations I'd also been deleting photos just prior to the 'error' (though
I hadn't connected the 2 till you mentioned it)...

Regards

DM

"Kelly" wrote in message
news:n%E4e.13$L64.2@okepread07...
Recently I've had the autofocus on my 20D lock up on ocaision. The last
time I was taking photos in Raw+Large Jpeg, selected one for deletion
from the card, then went to continue shooting but the autofocus wouldn't
work. Powering the camera off then on solved the problem. I am using
Firmware v1.1.0, fully charged battery, and yes the lens was set on AF
not MF. Anyone else have this issue? Is there a fix on the way?

Kelly

"Kelly" wrote in message
news:LvY4e.336$L64.333@okepread07...
Thanks DM, good to know I'm not just nuts Guess I'll limit deleting
photos to the times in between photo opportunities. Hopefully Canon will
put out a patch for this in an update.

Indeed. It appears that there are several lock-up issues with 20Ds; even
those using the latest firmware and without the battery grip. When mine
locks up, I have to remove and reinsert the battery. Canon needs to look
into this.

Charles Schuler wrote:
"Kelly" wrote in message
news:LvY4e.336$L64.333@okepread07...

Thanks DM, good to know I'm not just nuts Guess I'll limit deleting
photos to the times in between photo opportunities. Hopefully Canon will
put out a patch for this in an update.


Indeed. It appears that there are several lock-up issues with 20Ds; even
those using the latest firmware and without the battery grip. When mine
locks up, I have to remove and reinsert the battery. Canon needs to look
into this.



I have heard that it can lock up with lens requiring a lot of AF motor
power. Any one else see this?

I've experienced one lock-up with the 20D so far, but it was with a 50
f/1.4, and I don't really remember the other details. Turning the camera
on & off fixed it.

--

J

www.urbanvoyeur.com

I have heard that it can lock up with lens requiring a lot of AF motor
power. Any one else see this?

I have had dozens of lock-ups with a 20D and a 100-400 IS lens. Other
posters, in other forums, have speculated that the 20D lockup problems are
due to high current drain situations. I'd guess that there is some validity
to this speculation. Looking at the 20D lockup history (as posted on
several forums) reveals that the battery grip often caused problems due to
its ill-fitting characteristics (hence, faulty contact integrity and more
than expected electrical resistance). It's Ohm's law ... when high current
flows through a significant resistance, there has to be a significant
voltage drop. The voltage drop, in this case, means that the camera system
voltage has dropped below reliable limits.

What is emerging here indicates a droop in system voltage caused by
compromised electrical contacts and high current drain lenses. When the
system voltage dips low enough, the microprocessor has its brains scrambled.
Canon should be more honest about this issue. The 20D, in my opinion, has a
serious engineering flaw (hardware or software or both). I have contacted
Canon about this and they want everything shipped back. Reading the forums
reveals that some have complied and then found the same issues after their
cameras/lenses were shipped back. It's an endemic problem, Canon!

It's not my intention to bash the 20D or Canon ... damned good camera and a
good company. I think they will eventually fix the problem.

"Charles Schuler" wrote in message
...

I have heard that it can lock up with lens requiring a lot of AF motor
power. Any one else see this?

I have had dozens of lock-ups with a 20D and a 100-400 IS lens. Other
posters, in other forums, have speculated that the 20D lockup problems are
due to high current drain situations. I'd guess that there is some
validity to this speculation. Looking at the 20D lockup history (as
posted on several forums) reveals that the battery grip often caused
problems due to its ill-fitting characteristics (hence, faulty contact
integrity and more than expected electrical resistance). It's Ohm's law
... when high current flows through a significant resistance, there has to
be a significant voltage drop. The voltage drop, in this case, means that
the camera system voltage has dropped below reliable limits.
I've shot a lot with the 100-400IS with nary a lock up, even before the
firmware upgrades. I'm sure there are more out there than just me with this
experience, so this may be why Canon hasn't fixed it. There's no
consistency to the problem. (I don't mean to cast doubt on the fact that
you've had the problem.)

What is emerging here indicates a droop in system voltage caused by
compromised electrical contacts and high current drain lenses. When the
system voltage dips low enough, the microprocessor has its brains
scrambled. Canon should be more honest about this issue. The 20D, in my
opinion, has a serious engineering flaw (hardware or software or both). I
have contacted Canon about this and they want everything shipped back.
Reading the forums reveals that some have complied and then found the same
issues after their cameras/lenses were shipped back. It's an endemic
problem, Canon!
That's a problem I have with Canon, if I complain of a glitch, they want the
whole shebang shipped back to them for review. Over the next 6 weeks, I
have 5 weddings and 6 potrait shoots, I can't be without my gear, but they
don't offer backups. If my car goes in for an extended time for repair
under warrantee, they offer me a loaner, why can't a camera company?

It's not my intention to bash the 20D or Canon ... damned good camera and
a good company. I think they will eventually fix the problem.

--
Skip Middleton
http://www.shadowcatcherimagery.com

This would certainly tie in with both my lock ups (as on both occasions I
was using a 70-200 F2.8L IS USM with the IS set to mode 2).
However, the lock up did not occur mid shot but after deleting photos on
returning to shoot the camera would simply not focus. If it was just the
high drain one would surely expect to get that occurring mid shot as the IS
is actually trying to do it's stuff.

Personally, IMO it feels more like 'a computer glitch' (hell you can even
get mobile phone's crashing these days as they become more computer like in
functionality)

Regards

DM

"UrbanVoyeur" wrote in message
...
Charles Schuler wrote:
"Kelly" wrote in message
news:LvY4e.336$L64.333@okepread07...

Thanks DM, good to know I'm not just nuts Guess I'll limit deleting
photos to the times in between photo opportunities. Hopefully Canon will
put out a patch for this in an update.


Indeed. It appears that there are several lock-up issues with 20Ds; even
those using the latest firmware and without the battery grip. When mine
locks up, I have to remove and reinsert the battery. Canon needs to look
into this.

I have heard that it can lock up with lens requiring a lot of AF motor
power. Any one else see this?

I've experienced one lock-up with the 20D so far, but it was with a 50
f/1.4, and I don't really remember the other details. Turning the camera
on & off fixed it.

--

J

www.urbanvoyeur.com

"Skip M" wrote in news:cIj5e.60$lz2.48@fed1read07:

I've shot a lot with the 100-400IS with nary a lock up, even before the
firmware upgrades. I'm sure there are more out there than just me with
this experience, so this may be why Canon hasn't fixed it. There's no
consistency to the problem. (I don't mean to cast doubt on the fact that
you've had the problem.)


(Support info.)

I haven't experienced any lockups with my 20D and I have the battery grip
attached.

nick c wrote:
"Skip M" wrote in
news:cIj5e.60$lz2.48@fed1read07:

I've shot a lot with the 100-400IS with nary a lock up, even before
the firmware upgrades. I'm sure there are more out there than just
me with this experience, so this may be why Canon hasn't fixed it.
There's no consistency to the problem. (I don't mean to cast doubt
on the fact that you've had the problem.)


(Support info.)

I haven't experienced any lockups with my 20D and I have the battery
grip attached.


If by "lockup" you-all mean to say the trigger is disarmed, the LCD
display is as if the camera had been turned off, then yes, I had a
lockup day before yesterday.

20D camera with grip, one Canon 511 in place.

Conditions we
Battery had been in use for a few hundred shots since previous charging
Camera was at frame 175 or so of the current (raw + small) session
Battery indicator was in the near-empty but not blinking stage
Just finished a set of in-camera flash exposures
Erased one image
.... lockup

I removed and reinserted the battery and got another exposure, 2-3
times, then _nada_

Inserted a battery that had been fully charged a week earlier, and
everything came right, finished the session


My conjecture is that the I've-got-enough-power-to-function circuitry in
the camera is responsive to some other factors than enough-to-function,
alone, or that the battery indicator should be adjusted to blink earlier
and stop function after a set number of frames at blinking stage.

If when the camera "locked up" I looked at the display after turning the
camera off and on, or remove-replacing the battery, and it showed low
battery blinking, I'd not be miffed.

That it shows low battery without blinking means to me it should
function normally until it blinks. If it were blinking, I'd know any
further activity without battery charging or substitution would be
risky. That it still shows low-battery no-blink and will take a picture
or two and then another or two, means to me the blink threshold is set
wrong.

Should be simple enough to correct in firmware.


--
Frank ess