topic Canon 60DA Won't Power On in EOS DSLR & Mirrorless Cameras

Canon 60DA Won't Power On

timtrice — Fri, 09 Aug 2013 12:11:14 GMT

I just received my brand new 60DA on Wednesday. I was able to use it, read the manual, get comfortable with it the rest of the evening. That night I hooked it to my scope and using Backyard EOS took it for a run capturing numerous pictures. No issues. When finished, I disconnected from the program, powered off, unplugged and put the body cap cover back on.

The next night, I was not getting any power at all. Thinking the battery may have drained (though it was fully charged during the two hour photo session), I removed it and plugged it into the wall charger. I then inserted the AC adapter. But it still would not power on. The battery was nearly charged as I was getting three flashing lights from the charger.

From what I've read so far some Canon camera's will not power on if there is an issue w/ the memory card or if the lens isn't put on correctly. None of those are issues (the memory card was present both occassions and not used to store images during the session and the camera was mounted to scope using t-ring).

Humidity/Dew was not an issue neither eveninig.

I also read the switch inside the battery housing can sometimes defect though it locks in the battery fine and I see no reason to suspect it isn't operating.

Please someone tell me I didn't get a jacked up camera!!!

Re: Canon 60DA Won't Power On

TCampbell — Fri, 09 Aug 2013 16:48:56 GMT

If you're using the battery then it may just be that the battery is drained. The camera includes the AC adapter because astro imaging tends to take a great many exposures each of which are very long... this will really dip into the battery power far more than people experience when using a normal camera for daytime/terrestrial use.

If I'm doing very bright objects (e.g. the moon) then I'll go ahead and use the batteries because that's no different than taking normal pictures with a camera. BUT... if shooting something in deep-space where the exposures are many minutes long each and I'll have to take a lot of them, I don't even bother with the battery... I use the AC adapter. There's a small rubber flap near the battery door that opens to let you pass the wire out of the camera body.

It will power on with no lens at all. That's no problem. Have you recharged the battery and tried with both the battery and also with the AC adapter? (e.g. if it's just the battery then the AC adapter will work fine.)

It's possible to put it into a mode where the rear LCD stays dark, but the top LCD should be displaying info so you'd still be able to tell that it's on if this is the case.

Re: Canon 60DA Won't Power On

timtrice — Fri, 09 Aug 2013 17:36:25 GMT

Tim, I have alternated between the battery which was mostly charge and the AC adapter (even multiple outlets). I get no display on the top LCD nor on the viewfinder. I even just tried the fully charged battery about an hour ago. There is no response at all.

Re: Canon 60DA Won't Power On

TCampbell — Sat, 10 Aug 2013 02:40:54 GMT

I grabbed my camera to check a few things. There are two interlock switches that prevent the camera from powering up.

1) If I leave the memory card door open (even though the card is inserted), the camera wont power up. But it will power up if the door is closed.

The door swings shut and then you have to slide it forward to lock it. There are two tiny tabs on the door that slide into slots on the body when you slide the door forward to lock it in place. The lower tab appears to press one of the interlock switches. Make sure your tab isn't damaged and that the door is able to slide forward completely to lock in place. The door should fit flush with the body.

2) The other switch is on the battery compartment door. If the battery door is open, the camera will not power on even if the battery or AC adapter is in place.

This switch is a little more obvious. If you look at the camera (upside down) there's one obvious tab on the side of the battery door nearest to the rear of the camera. It presses a switch located in a hole also near the rear of the camera (opposite the side where you see the plastic locking tab that holds the battery in place.)

Verify that tab isn't damaged/broken and that the door is able to close and latch flush with the body.

I'm not aware of any other interlock switches that keep the camera from powering up. For example... you do not need to have a lens attached (I have several EOS bodies... all of them power up with no lens attached whether the lens cap is on or not.)

Hopefully it's a trivial thing to resolve, but if you are not able to resolve it, phone Canon support for assistance. As the camera is only 1 day old, I should think you could also exchange it if they can't resolve the issue over the phone.

It is a very nice camera for astro imaging. I bought mine because a member of my astronomy club had just been taking images of a galaxy (I think it was M101 - but this was more than a year ago). Knowing that my old 5D II has better ISO performance than a 60D, I thought I'd take the identical image through the same telescope just to compare how much different it was... boy was I ever surprised. At the identical exposure, I had almost nothing showing in my image. I doubled the time and still had very little showing. I tripled the exposure and then it was finally getting near to what the 60Da could do. The following week I ordered my 60Da.

Re: Canon 60DA Won't Power On

timtrice — Mon, 12 Aug 2013 12:18:52 GMT

An update on the issue as it has happened agian on the replacement (brand new) camera....

The camera was operating fine; I snapped several images of the moon before getting the scope aligned. Towards the end of my moon session I attempted five sequences at different exp/iso settings. Only three images were returned to the program I was using (Backyard EOS).

I did not think anything about it at the time and attempted another run of five shots at different exp/iso settings. Again, only three images were returned. But, not thinkin anything about only getting three out of five, I proceeded to move to a star cluster to have my first attempt at a star field.

The idea was to capture a one-minute exposure. However, as my setting was on M the program instructed me that I needed to change to B (I knew this, just forgot). While the camera was connected to the program, I changed the setting to B. This is when the program stopped responding. I went to check the camera (perhaps battery died). The LCD was on, battery was 3/4 charged. So I went back to the program and told it to connect. It made a long attempt but after several minutes never established a connection.

I then shut down the program and turned the camera off thinking I should reboot. However, when I attempted to turn the camera back on I got no response. Same issue as the last one. The program could not open a connection.

And now I have a second brand new non-working camera.

This is a segment of the program log from when the issues began till I shut down the program. What stands out are the out of memory errors which I would imagine in hindsight is why I never got all five images both occasions. The second is the StateEvent_Shutdown Fired which to my understanding cannot be invoked by the software. Then, after what seems like a potential successful connection at 21:34:13,952, it shows EDS_ERR_MEM_ALLOC_FAILED. I've emphasized (bolded) those points in the log near the end.

Desperately seeking some type of resolution to get my camera back on...

Start of log:

2013-08-11 21:32:03,942 [Main] INFO - Imaging session started.
2013-08-11 21:32:04,404 [Main] INFO - -----------------------------------
2013-08-11 21:32:04,404 [Main] INFO - Application state changed: 'ImageCaptureBusySessionPlan'
2013-08-11 21:32:04,404 [Main] INFO - Camera action fired: 'ValidateCapturePlan'
2013-08-11 21:32:04,420 [Main] INFO - CameraPropertyChangedArgs fired: ImageQuality = 'IMAGE_RLF+'
2013-08-11 21:32:04,867 [20] INFO - Temp folder: C:\Users\timtrice\Dropbox\Pictures\BackyardTEMP
2013-08-11 21:32:04,873 [20] INFO - Download folder: C:\Users\timtrice\Dropbox\Pictures\Astrophotography
2013-08-11 21:32:04,890 [CameraTakePictureOnMessageRecieved] INFO - Running: EDSDK.EdsGetPropertyData(CameraRef, BatteryLevel(8), 0, size(4), intPtr)
2013-08-11 21:32:04,890 [CameraTakePictureOnMessageRecieved] INFO - CameraPropertyChangedArgs fired: MirrorLock = 'On'
2013-08-11 21:32:04,943 [CameraTakePictureOnMessageRecieved] INFO - CameraPropertyChangedArgs fired: AeMode = 'MANUAL'
2013-08-11 21:32:04,950 [CameraTakePictureOnMessageRecieved] INFO - CameraPropertyChangedArgs fired: Tv = '2"'
2013-08-11 21:32:04,960 [CameraTakePictureOnMessageRecieved] INFO - CameraPropertyChangedArgs fired: Av = ''
2013-08-11 21:32:04,972 [CameraTakePictureOnMessageRecieved] ERROR - Make sure camera is set to BULB, turn dial to 'B'
2013-08-11 21:32:04,972 [CameraTakePictureOnMessageRecieved] ERROR - at BinaryRivers.Camera.Canon.CameraModel.SetDialBulb()
at BinaryRivers.Camera.Canon.CameraModel.<>c__DisplayClass3f.<CameraTakePictureOnMessageRecieved>b__3e()
2013-08-11 21:32:04,979 [CameraTakePictureOnMessageRecieved] INFO - Imaging session cancelled
2013-08-11 21:32:04,985 [CameraTakePictureOnMessageRecieved] INFO - Make sure camera is set to BULB, turn dial to 'B'
2013-08-11 21:32:04,985 [CameraTakePictureOnMessageRecieved] ERROR - Make sure camera is set to BULB, turn dial to 'B'
2013-08-11 21:32:04,985 [CameraTakePictureOnMessageRecieved] ERROR - at BinaryRivers.Camera.Canon.CameraModel.SetDialBulb()
at BinaryRivers.Camera.Canon.CameraModel.<>c__DisplayClass3f.<CameraTakePictureOnMessageRecieved>b__3e()
2013-08-11 21:32:06,835 [Main] INFO - -----------------------------------
2013-08-11 21:32:06,835 [Main] INFO - Application state changed: 'ImageCapture'
2013-08-11 21:32:06,870 [Main] INFO - Imaging session cancelled
2013-08-11 21:32:06,882 [Main] INFO - CameraPropertyChangedArgs fired: ImageQuality = 'IMAGE_RLF+'

............................................................. some pieces edited here .......................................................................

2013-08-11 21:33:26,549 [Main] INFO - Running: EDSDK.EdsSetPropertyEventHandler(_cameraRef, EDSDK.PropertyEvent_All, null, IntPtr.Zero)

2013-08-11 21:33:26,549 [Main] INFO - Running: EDSDK.EdsSetCameraStateEventHandler(_cameraRef, EDSDK.PropertyEvent_All, null, IntPtr.Zero)
2013-08-11 21:33:26,549 [Main] INFO - Running: EDSDK.EdsSetObjectEventHandler(_cameraRef, EDSDK.PropertyEvent_All, null, IntPtr.Zero)
2013-08-11 21:33:26,549 [Main] INFO - Running: EDSDK.EdsCloseSession(_cameraRef)
2013-08-11 21:33:26,549 [Main] INFO - WARNING EDS_ERR_COMM_DISCONNECTED : EDSDK.EdsCloseSession(_cameraRef)
2013-08-11 21:33:26,549 [Main] INFO - Running: EDSDK.EdsRelease(_cameraRef)
2013-08-11 21:33:26,549 [Main] INFO - WARNING EDS_ERR_INTERNAL_ERROR : EDSDK.EdsRelease(_cameraRef)
2013-08-11 21:33:26,549 [Main] INFO - CAMERA IS DISCONNECTED!
2013-08-11 21:33:26,549 [Main] INFO - Camera state changed: 60D = 'Disconnected'
2013-08-11 21:33:27,047 [Main] INFO - -----------------------------------
2013-08-11 21:33:27,047 [Main] INFO - Application state changed: 'Disconnected'
2013-08-11 21:33:27,048 [Main] INFO - Camera state changed: 'Disconnected'
2013-08-11 21:33:27,509 [Main] INFO - -----------------------------------
2013-08-11 21:33:27,509 [Main] INFO - Application state changed: 'Disconnected'
2013-08-11 21:33:27,509 [Main] ERROR - ERROR EDS_ERR_INTERNAL_ERROR : EDSDK.EdsOpenSession(_cameraRef)
2013-08-11 21:33:27,510 [Main] ERROR - at BinaryRivers.Camera.Canon.CameraController.RunAndThrow(Func`1 function, String info)
at BinaryRivers.Camera.Canon.CameraController.Connect(String usbport)
at BinaryRivers.Orchestrator.MaestroCameraDslrExtension.CameraConnect(Maestro maestro, String drivername, Boolean postchoose)
2013-08-11 21:34:13,207 [Main] INFO - -----------------------------------
2013-08-11 21:34:13,207 [Main] INFO - Application state changed: 'Connecting'
2013-08-11 21:34:13,250 [Main] INFO - Attempting to connect camera...
2013-08-11 21:34:13,257 [Main] INFO - Camera action fired: 'MaestroChoose'
2013-08-11 21:34:13,261 [Main] INFO - Camera state changed: 'Disconnected'
2013-08-11 21:34:13,753 [Main] INFO - -----------------------------------
2013-08-11 21:34:13,753 [Main] INFO - Application state changed: 'Disconnected'
2013-08-11 21:34:13,753 [Main] INFO - Running: EDSDK.EdsGetCameraList(out cameraListRef)
2013-08-11 21:34:13,753 [Main] INFO - Running: EDSDK.EdsGetChildCount(cameraListRef, out cameraCount)
2013-08-11 21:34:13,753 [Main] INFO - Running: EDSDK.EdsGetChildAtIndex(cameraListRef, 0, out mCameraRef)
2013-08-11 21:34:13,753 [Main] INFO - Running: EDSDK.EdsGetDeviceInfo(mCameraRef, out mDeviceInfo)
2013-08-11 21:34:13,753 [Main] INFO - Canon EOS 60D FOUND!
2013-08-11 21:34:13,758 [Main] INFO - Checking IsEosUtilityRunning()
2013-08-11 21:34:13,951 [Main] INFO - EOS Utility is not running!
2013-08-11 21:34:13,951 [Main] INFO - Running: EDSDK.EdsGetCameraList(out cameraListRef)

2013-08-11 21:34:13,952 [Main] INFO - Running: EDSDK.EdsGetChildCount(cameraListRef, out cameraCount)
2013-08-11 21:34:13,952 [Main] INFO - Running: EDSDK.EdsGetChildAtIndex(cameraListRef, 0, out mCameraRef)
2013-08-11 21:34:13,952 [Main] INFO - Running: EDSDK.EdsGetDeviceInfo(mCameraRef, out mDeviceInfo)
2013-08-11 21:34:13,952 [Main] INFO - Canon EOS 60D FOUND!
2013-08-11 21:34:13,952 [Main] INFO - Registered IsSupport.Bulb
2013-08-11 21:34:13,952 [Main] INFO - Registered IsSupport.Liveview
2013-08-11 21:34:13,952 [Main] INFO - Registered IsSupport.MirrorLockOverUsb
2013-08-11 21:34:13,952 [Main] INFO - Camera 'Canon EOS 60D' is connected; model '287', protocol '2'.
2013-08-11 21:34:13,952 [Main] INFO - Port '\\?\usb#vid_04a9&pid_3215#6&13879db6&0&1#{6ac27878-a6fa-4155-ba85-f98f491d4f33}'
2013-08-11 21:34:13,952 [Main] INFO - Running: EDSDK.EdsOpenSession(_cameraRef)

............................................................. some pieces edited here .......................................................................

2013-08-11 21:34:14,169 [Main] INFO - Running: EDSDK.EdsSetPropertyEventHandler(_cameraRef, EDSDK.PropertyEvent_All, null, IntPtr.Zero)
2013-08-11 21:34:14,169 [Main] INFO - Running: EDSDK.EdsSetCameraStateEventHandler(_cameraRef, EDSDK.PropertyEvent_All, null, IntPtr.Zero)
2013-08-11 21:34:14,169 [Main] INFO - Running: EDSDK.EdsSetObjectEventHandler(_cameraRef, EDSDK.PropertyEvent_All, null, IntPtr.Zero)
2013-08-11 21:34:14,169 [Main] INFO - Running: EDSDK.EdsCloseSession(_cameraRef)
2013-08-11 21:34:14,169 [Main] INFO - WARNING EDS_ERR_COMM_DISCONNECTED : EDSDK.EdsCloseSession(_cameraRef)
2013-08-11 21:34:14,169 [Main] INFO - Running: EDSDK.EdsRelease(_cameraRef)
2013-08-11 21:34:14,170 [Main] INFO - WARNING EDS_ERR_MEM_ALLOC_FAILED : EDSDK.EdsRelease(_cameraRef)
2013-08-11 21:34:14,170 [Main] INFO - CAMERA IS DISCONNECTED!
2013-08-11 21:34:14,170 [Main] INFO - Camera state changed: 60D = 'Disconnected'
2013-08-11 21:34:14,630 [Main] INFO - -----------------------------------
2013-08-11 21:34:14,630 [Main] INFO - Application state changed: 'Disconnected'
2013-08-11 21:34:14,631 [Main] INFO - Camera state changed: 'Disconnected'
2013-08-11 21:34:15,086 [Main] INFO - -----------------------------------
2013-08-11 21:34:15,086 [Main] INFO - Application state changed: 'Disconnected'
2013-08-11 21:34:15,086 [Main] ERROR - ERROR EDS_ERR_INTERNAL_ERROR : EDSDK.EdsOpenSession(_cameraRef)
2013-08-11 21:34:15,086 [Main] ERROR - at BinaryRivers.Camera.Canon.CameraController.RunAndThrow(Func`1 function, String info)
at BinaryRivers.Camera.Canon.CameraController.Connect(String usbport)
at BinaryRivers.Orchestrator.MaestroCameraDslrExtension.CameraConnect(Maestro maestro, String drivername, Boolean postchoose)
2013-08-11 21:34:23,360 [Main] INFO - Camera state changed: 'Disconnected'
2013-08-11 21:34:23,824 [Main] INFO - -----------------------------------
2013-08-11 21:34:23,824 [Main] INFO - Application state changed: 'Disconnected'

Re: Canon 60DA Won't Power On

Whiteflyer — Tue, 13 Aug 2013 21:40:29 GMT

I'm not quite sure what your saying, does the camera not power up at all, or just not with the software your using.

First port of call would be to disconnect the camera from EVERYTHING and see if it will power up, you need to determine if its a faulty camera or incompatible software.

Re: Canon 60DA Won't Power On

TCampbell — Tue, 13 Aug 2013 22:41:14 GMT

I hadn't considered that the only way the OP might be attempting to get the camera to wake up is through the software.

If this is indeed the case, I can vouch for the fact that that wont work. If the camera goes to "sleep", the only way to wake it is to physically go up to the camera and press something to wake it (e.g. half-press the shutter button, etc.)

There is a menu for this...

Yellow Wrench #1 (Press [Menu] then scroll the tab with the first yellow wrench icon).

The top choice on that page is "Auto power off" and I believe the factory default is set to 1 minute.

It can be changed for up to 30 minutes -or- you can disable it entirely so that the camera wont auto-power off.

If you're working on imaging in the observatory and the camera is running off AC power instead of battery then you might want to set it to 30 minutes -or- set it to "Off" (never auto power off) but I'd only pick that choice if you bring the camera in after every session (if you leave this connected to the scope and the scope is in an observatory I probably wouldn't trust myself to remember to power off the camera.)

Re: Canon 60DA Won't Power On

timtrice — Wed, 14 Aug 2013 02:20:55 GMT

Sorry for any confusion but the cameras would not turn on regardless. I attempted several times with the camera by itself either by battery or ac adapter and there was no response whatsoever.

Re: Canon 60DA Won't Power On

timtrice — Wed, 21 Aug 2013 13:20:08 GMT

I did want to post a follow-up as I've taken my rig out a few times but kept it simple. I've not had any issues w/ the 60D though I'm very nervous sometimes such as changing from M to B; I'll disconnect BYE but leave the camera on (it was during this procedure I lost the last camera). I'll also wait until the queue is empty and still give it a bit of time.

However, I have taken hundreds of photos over a few observing sessions and not once had an issue. It has been a tremendous pleasure to be able to enjoy capturing things from comets to nova to nebula and galaxy that even the waxing gibbous moon hasn't kept me inside (though clouds have recently).

Now I'm using the downtime to learn processing. When I get back out, I do plan on connecting the camera back to my laptop and using my GF's computer to slew the scope. Gradually if all goes well I'll do both on my computer again.

I do wish I hadn't had the issues w/ the 60Da because of the infrared issue and I won't mod this one but I do know there are some workarounds; so be it. I'm getting confidence in my equipment which is huge.

Re: Canon 60DA Won't Power On

Ty — Sun, 27 Oct 2013 00:39:49 GMT

I am having the SAME issue. I got my canon 60Da. I took it out the first night right after i got it that day.

I was eager to try it out. I first tried to use the power cord to power it up and it would not turn on. I then trided the battery. It powered up just fine. I connected it to the telescope and then my labtop. Opened up BackyYardeos and got started. I spent about 4 hours working on taking pictures and had some with stars and some with out. I need more work on that. So i was done and i shut down the Backyard software then turned the camra off and went home. I then tried to power the camra back up and it would not. I made sure the battery had a full charge on it and tried again. Still no luck. Then started reading and some one said there was a ticking in theres. I then lessened to my camra and i could hear a fant ticking in mine.

I am now getting ready to call B&H to send it back. I will try one more camera and if it dose the same thing I think i will go after a differant camera. It is a shame because it looks like some people have had good luck with the camera and it looks like it takes good astrophotogorph pictures..

Re: Canon 60DA Won't Power On

troff — Sun, 23 Mar 2014 13:40:45 GMT

Same issue with my camera. Working fine, set up telescope to take pictures, power up, no go. The camera body will not power up. I can hear a 1 second faint clicking sound coming from the camera when the power is placed to on position. No other indications that it's attempting to "boot".

No external software used. Placed fully charged battery in unit, AC power, reseat SD, replace SD. Lens or no lens no power no error codes no indications other than 1 second click sound. Offered lesser camera to the telescope/camera Gods. No luck at all. Will not power up.

Notified B&H customer service department. Purchased Jan 2014

troff

Re: Canon 60DA Won't Power On

TCampbell — Sun, 23 Mar 2014 17:24:52 GMT

I am going to guess that the "ticking" sound is the sound of the piezoelectric charge vibrating the low-pass filter to perform the self-cleaning cycle.

There are two micro-switches that will prevent the camera from powering up (this applies to most EOS digital cameras).

One micro-swtich is on the battery compartment. If you hold the camera so that the words printed on the battery door ("BATT. OPEN") are face-up / right-side up, then open the door, the upper right corner of the door frame has a tiny micro-switch hiding in it. There's a tab on the door itself which has to mate with that switch. If that switch is not pushed in correctly when the door is closed then the camera will refuse to power up. Inspect the switch and tab on the door to make sure that neither is damaged.

The other micro-switch is on the memory card door. If you hold the camera upright (normally) looking at the back, then the door is opened but sliding it slightly to the rear and then allowing the spring to swing it open to the right. There are two tabs on the door itself which hook into two holes on the camera. These engage when you close the door and then slide it forward (the fact that they hook in is what keeps the door from swinging back out). The top hole is empty. But the bottom hole has another micro-switch. If that switch is not engaged then the camera will refuse to power up.

There are two more micro-switches on the camera... one inside the memory card compartment and one on the flash hot-shoe. Neither of these will prevent the camera from powering up. The camera should power up even without a memory card installed, though it may display the "no card" message. The other micro-swtich is on the hot-shoe and it hides beneath one of the leaf springs. It detects that you've slid an external flash onto the hot-shoe and prevents the pop-up flash from opening if another flash is already attached to the camera. But again... that wont stop the camera from powering up.

If neither of those first two micro-switches appear to be the source of your problem (no visible signs of damage, nothing is bent, the tabs on the doors are not broken and you can see that the doors fit correctly when closed) then you'll need to contact Canon for service (and actually if those are the problem, you'll still need to contact Canon. The battery door actually pops in and out (it has to be removed if you attach the optional battery grip) so a broken tab on that door can be remedied with a phone call to the Canon parts department. But anything else will likely require sending the camera in for service.

You might try one thing... upon closing the battery door, hold your thumb firmly to apply just a little pressure to the corner of the door where the tab engages the micro-switch and then power up the camera. I'm wondering if the micro-switch isn't *quite* being pressed in far enough.

Re: Canon 60DA Won't Power On

troff — Sun, 23 Mar 2014 17:58:43 GMT

Tim,

Thanks for the quick response.

I checked the switches and plastic tabs(visual/mechanical). They seem ok. The battery door switch is a bit flimsy looking. I actuated the battery door switch and no power. Closed that battery door and did the ame on the memory cover, no power. Without putting a meter on the switches I can't tell if they are actually working. That is Canons problem. Note: the 1 second "click" is present with the power switch on or off.

I will contact the service department and get the camera fixed.

Again thanks for taking the time to send a detailed response. I really like this camera for astrophotography.

Stan Benoit

Re: Canon 60DA Won't Power On

troff — Sat, 29 Mar 2014 18:36:21 GMT

Update:

Sent camera for repair March 23. Returned repaired March 29.

Replaced PCB Assy, Main No charge warranty

Re: Canon 60DA Won't Power On

TCampbell — Sat, 29 Mar 2014 20:34:09 GMT

Glad to hear it's back working again... and covered by warranty.

Re: Canon 60DA Won't Power On

tsarra — Fri, 01 Jun 2018 05:40:44 GMT

Did anyone ever get to root cause of 'bricked' 60D(a)'s using BackyardEOS or the similar APT (Astro Photography Tool) software? I have a 60Da bought new in late 2012 working fine for 'daytime' standalone use for years. Last week after using APT for first time, worked fine for an hour, then had APT throw USB disconnect messages and at that point 60Da would not power back on - camera totally 'bricked' - Sent to Cannon for service - told needs a new main board at a cost of almost $400 parts and labor. Canon service folks claim no knowledge of cameras getting killed using USB to remotely operate them.

Re: Canon 60DA Won't Power On

RobertTheFat — Fri, 01 Jun 2018 14:17:20 GMT

@tsarra wrote:
Did anyone ever get to root cause of 'bricked' 60D(a)'s using BackyardEOS or the similar APT (Astro Photography Tool) software? I have a 60Da bought new in late 2012 working fine for 'daytime' standalone use for years. Last week after using APT for first time, worked fine for an hour, then had APT throw USB disconnect messages and at that point 60Da would not power back on - camera totally 'bricked' - Sent to Cannon for service - told needs a new main board at a cost of almost $400 parts and labor. Canon service folks claim no knowledge of cameras getting killed using USB to remotely operate them.

Do those programs require the camera to be in live view? The symptom is similar to the oft-reported problem with the 70D, which has recently been officially blamed on overheating during video shooting. Extended use of live view can (I believe) also cause overheating. Maybe there's a connection here?

Re: Canon 60DA Won't Power On

TCampbell — Fri, 01 Jun 2018 14:56:53 GMT

I have a 60Da and use it with Backyard EOS (among the various programs) but not APT.

Live-view is usually used to help refine focus... but once focused, live-view is normally disabled for astrophotography (and if shooting at a star party ... even the LCD is turned off by tapping the “info” button to cycle it to the mode where it just remains dark (it would light up if you pressed the menu or image review buttons).

I’ve shot for hours on end without issue.

I power my camera using the Canon supplied AC adapter (not the rechargeable battery.)

Most of the time, the application I use for camera control & image acquisition is Backyard EOS. But BYE only runs on Windows and I’m a mac user (so it runs in a Windows VM on VMware Fusion). However, I’ve recently picked up AstroDSLR (by Cloudmakers.eu) which does run natively on Mac ... so I may abandon BYE after seeing how well AstroDSLR works out (I’ve only tested it indoors... I have not yet used it at the telescope.)

Re: Canon 60DA Won't Power On

Ted714 — Sat, 05 Dec 2020 21:11:25 GMT

I just had the same experience as timtrice at the beginning of this thread, except it happened while running my 60Da with Canon's EOS Utility application on my Mac, not third-party software. I had just started experimenting with the program indoors to learn what it could do, so no problem with battery life, overheating, or environmental issues. While connected by USB and working with the EOS Utility I changed the mode dial on the camera. I don't recall exactly, but I think it was from M to Tv. There was no other hardware intervention, and the computer didn't go to sleep either. The initial problem was a communication failure. I tried restarting the program and disconnecting and reconnecting the USB to no avail. I thought I noticed the display on top of the camera being frozen (but it doesn't change much anyway) so I power cycled the camera too. It powered off but wouldn't power on after that.

After trying the usual things (rebooting the computer, running the camera with no USB connection, trying a different, fully-charged battery) I consulted the web and was horrified to read this thread. I tried the trick of taking the battery, lens and SD card out, holding the shutter button for 30 seconds and putting it back together by degrees several times, also to no avail. I also checked the microswitches on the battery and SD card doors, which looked good as far as I could see. The little plastic tabs that actuate the switches are good too. The USB connectors on the camera and the (original Canon) cable looked fine. Just to be sure, I charged both of my batteries, but no joy there either. I left the battery out overnight, then did the 30-second trick in the morning without success.

The dead camera acts like it has a hardware problem but the way the problem occurred strongly suggests it's a software issue. The fact that the camera doesn't recover by removing/installing the battery or using the 30 second trick suggests the possibility of corruption of some important NVRAM due to an addressing error or overflow. But I digress.

Let me ask tsarra's question from 2018 again. Is there any new news on this problem or is my only resort to call Canon service? If so, do you have a favorite phone number to use? I'd prefer to talk to a potentially helpful real person in case there's some new trick I haven't tried yet.

Thanks!

Ted Dunham