topic Re: Faulty Canon 5d mark iii in EOS DSLR & Mirrorless Cameras

Faulty Canon 5d mark iii

rogair747 — Fri, 26 Jun 2015 17:17:49 GMT

Purchased a Canon 5d mark iii just under a year ago. The Camera developed a fault about a month ago. Would not communicate with the flash( photos over exposed ) and two vertical lines on the pictures. I bought it via the net. Sent it back to them. They had it nearly three weeks and sent it back to me with the same fault. It is now back with them. I have no faith in their "repair " department or the camera and am pushing for a replacement. Other "canon approved" service centres have not come across this fault and I doubt very much if these clowns can fix it. Any advice appreciated

Re: Faulty Canon 5d mark iii

Peter — Fri, 26 Jun 2015 21:27:40 GMT

Did you send the camera and the flash?

Re: Faulty Canon 5d mark iii

TCampbell — Sat, 27 Jun 2015 00:54:57 GMT

Which flash are you using?

There was, for example, an issue with some 580EX II speedlights in which the screws that hold the foot plate in could become loose. If that happens then the pins may fail to get a good connection.

The solution was as easy as re-snugging the screws... complicated by the fact that the screws are actually tightened from the inside of the flash. Canon will do it for you if you send it back to them (assuming this is a Canon flash.) They had a service kit which replaced the footplate and screws with a newer design that should be less prone to becomming loose.

But this could happen to any flash. If the flash is on the camera and the locking lever in secured, the flash should have very little play (if you gently wobble the flash it shouldn't move much at all.) If it does wobble, then it's loose and needs service.

There are YouTube videos that show the issue and also show how to fix it (for the mechanically minded person.)

Re: Faulty Canon 5d mark iii

ebiggs1 — Sat, 27 Jun 2015 13:30:30 GMT

"The Camera developed a fault about a month ago. Would not communicate with the flash( photos over exposed ) and two vertical lines on the pictures."

Try a different flash. It does not sound like the camera.

Re: Faulty Canon 5d mark iii

rogair747 — Mon, 29 Jun 2015 12:18:34 GMT

Flash works perfectly on my 650d. It's not the flash

Re: Faulty Canon 5d mark iii

Peter — Mon, 29 Jun 2015 12:35:25 GMT

So, what kind of flash is it and did you send both the camera and the flash to the service place?

Re: Faulty Canon 5d mark iii

TCampbell — Mon, 29 Jun 2015 17:06:03 GMT

@rogair747 wrote:
Flash works perfectly on my 650d. It's not the flash

It's not really safe to draw that conclusion.

Specifically which brand & model flash is this? Third party flashes reverse-engineer the interface and it's happened before that one will work on one camera model, but not a different model.

The 5D III allows flash control via in-camera menus (previosu models didn't offer that to the degree that you can do on a 5D III). It's possible do dial in flash exposure compensation via the camera (instead of using the menu on the flash.) Have you checked that? And of course it's also possible to dial-in flash exposure compensation using the flash menu as well. Have you checked that too?

Re: Faulty Canon 5d mark iii

rogair747 — Mon, 29 Jun 2015 18:16:55 GMT

It's a Canon 439ex2. The vertical lines appear on exposures flash or no flash!

Re: Faulty Canon 5d mark iii

Peter — Mon, 29 Jun 2015 19:55:01 GMT

An example picture? Full size with exif embeded.

Do you get a message about TTL or A-TTL - rather than E-TTL or E-TTL II?

Re: Faulty Canon 5d mark iii

ebiggs1 — Mon, 29 Jun 2015 22:18:36 GMT

"The vertical lines appear on exposures flash or no flash!"

Doesn't this indicate it is not the flash as the problem?

If the "clowns" at Canon Service did not find anything wrong, I would start looking elsewhere.

Re: Faulty Canon 5d mark iii

TCampbell — Tue, 30 Jun 2015 03:01:41 GMT

Canon makes a Speedlite 430EX II -- is that the flash? If so, the flash would be fully E-TTL II compatible (it wont have any problems understanding the communication.) I was more wondering if this was a third party that claimed E-TTL compatibility, but didn't do a good job with the implementation.

As for the verticle lines, it might help to see a sample image with them -- especially when you indicate that you get them even if you do not use the flash.

Also, what image type are you saving... are these RAW, mRAW, sRAW, or JPEG (size & compression level)?

Does changing the image mode change the lines?

Do you format your memory cards? If so, do you do this in camera or on the computer? (Note: Always format in-camera (never on the computer) and make sure you check the option box to do a "low level" format the first time you format it (you don't need to do "low level" every time, but you should do it at least once with each new card.))

Do you see the lines only on the rear LCD display of the camera, on your computer after import, or both? (e.g. if the LCD has a couple of failed columns you might see it on the LCD -- even if the sensor is fine and the images are fine once they are imported onto the computer. That would indicate a need to service/replace the LCD, but not the whole camera.)

If the lines are only visible on the computer (but not on camera display) then what software are you using to import and view the images (Canon software, Adobe software, or something else?)

Re: Faulty Canon 5d mark iii

rogair747 — Tue, 30 Jun 2015 08:27:18 GMT

Thanks for the advice. It's the 430ex flash Canon. The camera is back again with the Internet dealer I bought it off. I do t have any faith in them fixing it!

Re: Faulty Canon 5d mark iii

ebiggs1 — Tue, 30 Jun 2015 13:07:42 GMT

You are not sending it to Canon Service? Why would you not? You should. Is this a grey market version?