topic Canon 5D mk lll DEAD! in EOS DSLR & Mirrorless Cameras

Canon 5D mk lll DEAD!

mitch236 — Fri, 27 May 2016 13:30:47 GMT

I posted this on the Facebook site but no replies.

Last while shooting my daughter's gymnastic event, first I realized I didn't have my Canon EF70-200f2.8 fully mounted to my 5D mklll and although it was working, eventually the focus stopped functioning and that's when I noticed it wasn't fully locked in. So now the lens is locked and finished the event and while downloading to my iPhone by EyFi card in the camera, my camera died! I freaked out and was losing it when I found a video on YouTube that explained that if I took the lens off, the battery out and the cf cards out, and then put it back together, it resets the camera and voila, it worked!! Has anyone else had this happen and how can I prevent it? Thanks!

Here's the video explaining the solution:

https://youtu.be/fqfDMikBKTA

Re: Canon 5D mk lll DEAD!

RobertTheFat — Fri, 27 May 2016 13:38:37 GMT

I would think that the obvious way to prevent it from happening is to always make sure that your lens is properly attached. That has other benefits as well. We've had reports on this forum of cases when the lens fell off and broke because it wasn't properly attached or because the user loosened it by inadvertently pressing the release button while zooming or focusing.

Re: Canon 5D mk lll DEAD!

kvbarkley — Fri, 27 May 2016 13:45:53 GMT

Not to mention the variation of focus across the sensor since the lens is almost certainly not flush.

Re: Canon 5D mk lll DEAD!

mitch236 — Fri, 27 May 2016 14:19:35 GMT

Yes, I certainly learned my lesson about not rushing to get the right lens on!! Not to mention the chance of damaging the mount when rushing.

Do you think the loose fitting mount could have caused my camera to die? I'm really trying to understand why this happened to prevent future issues.

Re: Canon 5D mk lll DEAD!

kvbarkley — Fri, 27 May 2016 14:38:01 GMT

"Do not go to the elves for counsel, for they will say both 'yes' and 'no'"

I really don't know whether Canon's lens mount connections are designed to be "hot plugged" like USB. I assume they are since nowhere does Canon say that you have to be sure that the camera is off to change the lens.

That being said, I can think of a lot of things that can happen when an electrical circuit - especially ones connected to motors and coils - is is broken when the power is on.

Re: Canon 5D mk lll DEAD!

Waddizzle — Fri, 27 May 2016 15:48:31 GMT

@kvbarkley wrote:
"Do not go to the elves for counsel, for they will say both 'yes' and 'no'"

I really don't know whether Canon's lens mount connections are designed to be "hot plugged" like USB. I assume they are since nowhere does Canon say that you have to be sure that the camera is off to change the lens.

That being said, I can think of a lot of things that can happen when an electrical circuit - especially ones connected to motors and coils - is is broken when the power is on.

USB ports are not designed to be "hot plugges", which is why the icon appears on toolbars that you should click on in order to disconnect the associated USB device.

Canon may not say that you have to be sure the camera is off to change the lens. They do tell you to turn the camera on AFTER you have attached a lens to the camera.

Re: Canon 5D mk lll DEAD!

RobertTheFat — Fri, 27 May 2016 15:57:58 GMT

@Waddizzle wrote:
@kvbarkley wrote:
"Do not go to the elves for counsel, for they will say both 'yes' and 'no'"

I really don't know whether Canon's lens mount connections are designed to be "hot plugged" like USB. I assume they are since nowhere does Canon say that you have to be sure that the camera is off to change the lens.

That being said, I can think of a lot of things that can happen when an electrical circuit - especially ones connected to motors and coils - is is broken when the power is on.
USB ports are not designed to be "hot plugges", which is why the icon appears on toolbars that you should click on in order to disconnect the associated USB device.

That's not why that icon is there. It's to make sure that any buffered partial results are written to the device before it's removed. I've yet to encounter a USB-powered device that had to be turned off before being plugged in or removed.

Re: Canon 5D mk lll DEAD!

kvbarkley — Fri, 27 May 2016 16:25:13 GMT

Besides, that isn't even what hot plugging means. After you dismount the USB device, you remove it, you do not turn off the computer.

And that diagram is the quickstart guide telling you how to first get your camera going. If you go to the lens only mounting/dis-mounting instructions it says nothing about the power on the camera at all.

Re: Canon 5D mk lll DEAD!

Waddizzle — Fri, 27 May 2016 16:53:34 GMT

@RobertTheFat wrote:
@Waddizzle wrote:
@kvbarkley wrote:
"Do not go to the elves for counsel, for they will say both 'yes' and 'no'"

I really don't know whether Canon's lens mount connections are designed to be "hot plugged" like USB. I assume they are since nowhere does Canon say that you have to be sure that the camera is off to change the lens.

That being said, I can think of a lot of things that can happen when an electrical circuit - especially ones connected to motors and coils - is is broken when the power is on.
USB ports are not designed to be "hot plugges", which is why the icon appears on toolbars that you should click on in order to disconnect the associated USB device.
That's not why that icon is there. It's to make sure that any buffered partial results are written to the device before it's removed. I've yet to encounter a USB-powered device that had to be turned off before being plugged in or removed.

Really? So, why is it that the icon doesn't change its' appearance when the device is being accessed by the computer? How would you know, or make sure, that any partially buffered results are fully written to the device? You look at the USB device for an "activity" LED, or some other sort of indication, not an icon on the taskbar.

No, the icon is there to let you know that there is something connected, and to provide a shortcut for disconnecting it.

Re: Canon 5D mk lll DEAD!

kvbarkley — Fri, 27 May 2016 16:57:32 GMT

Note that the only devices that show up in that list are filesystem devices like USB sticks and memory cards. Printers, keyboards, mice - and Canon cameras - don't show up there.

"Hot Pluggable" shows up all over the USB specification. Deal with it.

Re: Canon 5D mk lll DEAD!

Waddizzle — Fri, 27 May 2016 17:00:02 GMT

@kvbarkley wrote:
Besides, that isn't even what hot plugging means. After you dismount the USB device, you remove it, you do not turn off the computer.

And that diagram is the quickstart guide telling you how to first get your camera going. If you go to the lens only mounting/dis-mounting instructions it says nothing about the power on the camera at all.

Hot plugging means connecting, or disconnecting, something when it is "hot", or live. What does hot plugging mean to you?

Turning off the camera when attaching, or detaching, a lens is just plain common sense. I have gotten into the habit to always turn off the IS and AF on the lens whenever I attach, or detach, a lens, too. Sometimes, I do forget to turn off the camera, and sometimes I just simply don't take the time to do it.

You guys can do it your way, and I'll do it mine.

Re: Canon 5D mk lll DEAD!

Waddizzle — Fri, 27 May 2016 17:08:16 GMT

@kvbarkley wrote:
Note that the only devices that show up in that list are filesystem devices like USB sticks and memory cards. Printers, keyboards, mice - and Canon cameras - don't show up there.

"Hot Pluggable" shows up all over the USB specification. Deal with it.

My mouse and keyboard show up in the Taskbar. In fact, take a look for yourself. The EOS icon is #6 from the left, and appears whenever a camera is connected. Four icons past that is the icon for the mouse on my laptop, complete with left and right buttons.

Every USB device I have ever used recommends using the PC to disconnect from the device before you unplug it, especially USB memory sticks.

Re: Canon 5D mk lll DEAD!

mitch236 — Sat, 28 May 2016 01:37:54 GMT

I'm sad to say it happened again tonight. The lens was firmly attached as was the flash. I turned off the camera and it wouldn't turn back on until I did the steps outlined in the video. Is there a way to reset the firmware as I just updated it last week and now this! My camera is genuine USA. Someone please help!

Re: Canon 5D mk lll DEAD!

RobertTheFat — Sat, 28 May 2016 02:07:07 GMT

@mitch236 wrote:
I'm sad to say it happened again tonight. The lens was firmly attached as was the flash. I turned off the camera and it wouldn't turn back on until I did the steps outlined in the video. Is there a way to reset the firmware as I just updated it last week and now this! My camera is genuine USA. Someone please help!

Have you not called Canon? No offense to the people in this forum, or to those on YouTube and Facebook, but if that were happening to my 5D3, I'm pretty sure it would be in the Jamesburg shop by now.

Re: Canon 5D mk lll DEAD!

RobertTheFat — Sat, 28 May 2016 02:29:00 GMT

@Waddizzle wrote:
@RobertTheFat wrote:
@Waddizzle wrote:
@kvbarkley wrote:
"Do not go to the elves for counsel, for they will say both 'yes' and 'no'"

I really don't know whether Canon's lens mount connections are designed to be "hot plugged" like USB. I assume they are since nowhere does Canon say that you have to be sure that the camera is off to change the lens.

That being said, I can think of a lot of things that can happen when an electrical circuit - especially ones connected to motors and coils - is is broken when the power is on.
USB ports are not designed to be "hot plugges", which is why the icon appears on toolbars that you should click on in order to disconnect the associated USB device.
That's not why that icon is there. It's to make sure that any buffered partial results are written to the device before it's removed. I've yet to encounter a USB-powered device that had to be turned off before being plugged in or removed.
Really? So, why is it that the icon doesn't change its' appearance when the device is being accessed by the computer? How would you know, or make sure, that any partially buffered results are fully written to the device? You look at the USB device for an "activity" LED, or some other sort of indication, not an icon on the taskbar.

No, the icon is there to let you know that there is something connected, and to provide a shortcut for disconnecting it.

Well, yeah, but the reason you click on the shortcut before disconnecting the device is to ensure that all the data have been dealt with correctly. It's not, in any case that I've ever seen, to turn the device off.

Re: Canon 5D mk lll DEAD!

Peter — Sat, 28 May 2016 07:13:11 GMT

If you have updated your firmware from an eyefi card, maybe that is the problem. Firmware update from a CF instead.

Re: Canon 5D mk lll DEAD!

mitch236 — Sat, 28 May 2016 19:32:41 GMT

I actually updated by my MacBook using the usb cable. I've now replaced the internal clock battery and both cards (cf and eyeFi). So far so good. I've also cleared all settings but I'd love to reset the camera completely. Is there a way to reset the entire camera back to factory? Thanks!

Re: Canon 5D mk lll DEAD!

RobertTheFat — Sat, 28 May 2016 21:28:43 GMT

@mitch236 wrote:
I actually updated by my MacBook using the usb cable. I've now replaced the internal clock battery and both cards (cf and eyeFi). So far so good. I've also cleared all settings but I'd love to reset the camera completely. Is there a way to reset the entire camera back to factory? Thanks!

I'll offer you one last piece of free advice, then bow out. Updating firmare from a card is simpler, faster, and much less error-prone than updating via USB I haven't done the latter since I bricked my wife's XTi nine years ago by screwing up the complex instructions. Fortunately the camera was still under warranty, and Canon overlooked my clumsiness and fixed it for free. But I learned my lesson.

Re: Canon 5D mk lll DEAD!

mitch236 — Sun, 29 May 2016 00:13:54 GMT

Thanks I'll definitely use the cf card route next time!

Re: Canon 5D mk lll DEAD!

mitch236 — Sun, 29 May 2016 20:06:59 GMT

Well it still fails so off to Virginia to Canon for repair. Thanks everyone!