topic Re: Canon EOS 40D in EOS DSLR & Mirrorless Cameras

Canon EOS 40D

SNFStardust — Tue, 31 Mar 2020 23:10:44 GMT

Hello All,

I have a Canon EOS 40D that I purchased when they first came out. I haven't used it in probably 5 years and decided to dust it off. But it will not turn on. I've charged all the batteries and tried them all. nothing. I even replaced the eternal battery. Still nothing. Does anyone have any advice as to what else I could try. I have a bunch of lenses for this body and would like to use it if possible. Any advice on fixes? Or another compatible body I could purchase?

Re: Canon EOS 40D

MikeSowsun — Tue, 31 Mar 2020 23:21:56 GMT

You could check the micro switches in the battery door and memory card doors.

If no luck, you could buy another 40D for about $100 or spend a bit more and get a 50D, 60D, 70D, etc.

Re: Canon EOS 40D

RobertTheFat — Wed, 01 Apr 2020 00:56:14 GMT

@MikeSowsun wrote:
You could check the micro switches in the battery door and memory card doors.

If no luck, you could buy another 40D for about $100 or spend a bit more and get a 50D, 60D, 70D, etc.

The 70D was a lemon prone to a circuit board failure, and the 60D lacked autofocus microadjustment. But the 50D was a very good camera and a significant improvement over the 40D. it's only annoying omission was that it lacked an infrared receiver for a remote trigger. I had a 50D and liked it a lot.

Re: Canon EOS 40D

MikeSowsun — Wed, 01 Apr 2020 01:05:43 GMT

Canon "Prosumer" DSLRs never used infrared remotes until they started adding Video capability with the 5D Mk II, 7D and 60D.

The infrared remote was added so that it was possible to have remote video start/stop.

Re: Canon EOS 40D

RobertTheFat — Wed, 01 Apr 2020 01:36:57 GMT

@MikeSowsun wrote:
Canon "Prosumer" DSLRs never used infrared remotes until they started adding Video capability with the 5D Mk II, 7D and 60D.

The infrared remote was added so that it was possible to have remote video start/stop.

I guess you're right; I couldn't find it mentioned in the 40D manual.

But my XTi, which preceded the 50D by at least a couple of years, DID have it. So when I bought a 50D and it didn't have it, I was disappointed.

Re: Canon EOS 40D

Ray-uk — Wed, 01 Apr 2020 10:30:55 GMT

@SNFStardust wrote:
I even replaced the eternal battery.

Oooh, where do you buy them, I've always wanted a battery that would last forever

Re: Canon EOS 40D

kvbarkley — Wed, 01 Apr 2020 13:17:15 GMT

RTG's come pretty close, but the power output will be very, very low after a few thousand years.

Re: Canon EOS 40D

ebiggs1 — Wed, 01 Apr 2020 14:14:23 GMT

" I haven't used it in probably 5 years and decided to dust it off. But it will not turn on."

I don't have an answer for you but I do have a similar story. The other day I got my old 1D out and decided to play with it. It would not turn on either. It worked perfectly when I put it into its bag several, I guess, years ago. I don't really know, I can't remember the last time I used it. At any rate it decided to retire like me I guess.

Re: Canon EOS 40D

BurnUnit — Wed, 01 Apr 2020 21:01:57 GMT

I know that some older strobe flashes, when left unused for a prolonged period of time, would not respond immediately when new batteries were first reinstalled. The capacitor(s) would fully drain and it would take more than a few minutes for them to "reform". After that, the flash would work as well as it ever did. Would DSLRs also suffer from a similar lag in start-up until some capacitor reformed?

Have you tried connecting the 40D to a computer via USB cable? What kind of response did you get?

Re: Canon EOS 40D

SNFStardust — Wed, 08 Apr 2020 20:46:55 GMT

I have not tried to connect it to a computer. As of right now I get nothing from the camera with fresh batteries. I do Have a multi battery attachment instead of just usung the single battery in the camera. I misplaced to original battery door. It's a real shame, I would really like to have a camera while I have the time to shoot. Thanks you all for your responses!

Re: Canon EOS 40D

Waddizzle — Wed, 08 Apr 2020 20:52:08 GMT

@SNFStardust wrote:
I have not tried to connect it to a computer. As of right now I get nothing from the camera with fresh batteries. I do Have a multi battery attachment instead of just usung the single battery in the camera. I misplaced to original battery door. It's a real shame, I would really like to have a camera while I have the time to shoot. Thanks you all for your responses!

I have a similar story, too. I turned on the coffee pot this morning, and it did not light up. Dead on the counter!

Re: Canon EOS 40D

RobertTheFat — Wed, 08 Apr 2020 21:15:42 GMT

@Waddizzle wrote:
@SNFStardust wrote:
I have not tried to connect it to a computer. As of right now I get nothing from the camera with fresh batteries. I do Have a multi battery attachment instead of just usung the single battery in the camera. I misplaced to original battery door. It's a real shame, I would really like to have a camera while I have the time to shoot. Thanks you all for your responses!
I have a similar story, too. I turned on the coffee pot this morning, and it did not light up. Dead on the counter!

Next time buy a Canon coffee pot!

Actually, if I were talking to anybody but an electrical engineer, I'd suggest checking to make sure the ground fault interrupter isn't sprung (since kitchen counters often have them these days). But I daresay you've already checked for that.

Re: Canon EOS 40D

Waddizzle — Wed, 08 Apr 2020 22:31:42 GMT

@RobertTheFat wrote:
@Waddizzle wrote:
@SNFStardust wrote:
I have not tried to connect it to a computer. As of right now I get nothing from the camera with fresh batteries. I do Have a multi battery attachment instead of just usung the single battery in the camera. I misplaced to original battery door. It's a real shame, I would really like to have a camera while I have the time to shoot. Thanks you all for your responses!
I have a similar story, too. I turned on the coffee pot this morning, and it did not light up. Dead on the counter!
Next time buy a Canon coffee pot!

Actually, if I were talking to anybody but an electrical engineer, I'd suggest checking to make sure the ground fault interrupter isn't sprung (since kitchen counters often have them these days). But I daresay you've already checked for that.

LOL. The GFI has not tripped. My meters and tools are quarantined, out of reach for weeks. Bunn A-10, 25 years old. It made a 10-cup pot in exactly 3 minutes.

All of this coffee, and that's not even half of it. Dead on the counter. No, it did not get wet, either.

Re: Canon EOS 40D

CaliforniaDream — Wed, 08 Apr 2020 22:44:17 GMT

Try swapping around the two batteries in your multi battery attachment. If it is a canon battery grip it only uses one of the battries at a time. Could be it picks a bad one.

BTW I had a 60 D that did the same thing untill I left a battery in it for a day or so and then it started to work. Also if the multi battery is a canon battery grip the door could be in the post that goes into the battery slot. That is where my instructions said to put it.

Re: Canon EOS 40D

CaliforniaDream — Wed, 08 Apr 2020 22:46:49 GMT

"I have a similar story, too. I turned on the coffee pot this morning, and it did not light up. Dead on the counter!"

Then you shouldn't need that image stablization now that the coffee jidders are gone!

Re: Canon EOS 40D

ebiggs1 — Thu, 09 Apr 2020 13:38:31 GMT

"I do Have a multi battery attachment instead of just usung the single battery in the camera."

Big red flag. Remove it. You need to find, get or buy a battery door. 3rd party battery grips are notorious for screwing up a Canon camera. Perhaps it is not at fault but the chance is huge it is.

Re: Canon EOS 40D

SNFStardust — Thu, 09 Apr 2020 16:59:01 GMT

oh! will do. yeah, I just checked and it is a third party battery grip.

Re: Canon EOS 40D

No-Frills — Wed, 27 May 2020 22:14:49 GMT

Two years ago I had a similar problem with a 40D, shutter count abot 4,700. We bought it for peanuts in 2018, after the pre-owners dad passed away the cam was not used for years. After about 30 shots the cam had a total black-out and mirror lock-up.

After some unsuccessful attempts following Canons instructions the camera came easy back to life:

1. I removed the main battery for more than 15 minutes and charged the battery to full.

2. I removed the button cell and replaced it by a new one.

3. I formatted the CF card in camera, as Canon's manual says.

After that the 40 was dead as before.

4. I removed the CF card and formated it in on my PC.

After card insertion the camera got it's new life and worked.

The card was a new one and I presume the cam wrote an error to the card that can't be fixed by in-camera formatting.

Re: Canon EOS 40D

BurnUnit — Thu, 28 May 2020 13:47:36 GMT

It's a great feeling, isn't it, when all your research and experimenting pays off by giving you a working piece of gear.

I've had the occasional card not want to format in-camera and instead formatted it on a desktop PC. It would let the camera boot-up OK, but it also then allowed me to reformat the card in the camera as well. I suspect that maybe the only time it might be critical to format the card in-camera is if you regularly use the USB connection to download your images to a PC. If you're using a card reader to do this it may not that be critical, unless it also somehow affects the camera's operation

Maybe a couple times over the years I've also been able to get a freind's "dead" camera to come back to life by also making sure that the calendar and clock were properly set. But this was with some simpler point & shoot type cameras, not DSLRs.

Re: Canon EOS 40D

ebiggs1 — Thu, 28 May 2020 17:03:13 GMT

"I've had the occasional card not want to format in-camera and instead formatted it on a desktop PC."

The wisdom from the "experts" suggest you never use anything but the camera to format your CF cards. However, I have not seen any difference or problems using a Windows computer to format them. And, sometimes it will fix a problem!

I have no idea whether this is true for a Mac, or not, since they are so screwy to begin with.