Canon 5D mark iii "busy" each time after switch on and missing shots...

[brightwolg]

Hi all, I am new on the forums but not new to photography and not new to Canon: shooting Canon for 30 years now, from back in the film times. Last year I sold my 5D mark ii and acquired a second-hand 5D mark iii. I acquired it from a photo store, it was in good condition, cleaned and checked.  Ever since I bought it, it shows "busy" to me after about 2 or 3 seconds after switch on. When showing "busy", it refuses to shoot anything - I simply have to wait. The "busy" time is usually some seconds but can sometimes last up to 10 seconds, or at least it feels like that: an eternity when I want to shoot that shot and my camera is refusing to do it for me. I am missing shots because of this.

Does anyone know how to fix it or what I can do?

Please note that I did search this forum for this problem, and came across this post. It seems related and there are some similarities, however there are also some differences. What is similar is that I am using an SD card (Sandisk Extreme Pro 170 MB/s 64 GB (UHS class 3, speed class 10). What is different is that I am not using burst mode.

Also note that my issue does not seem related to the speed of the card. I am an amateur with a good camera; almost never using the burst modes. And the problem occurs regardless of the fact if I have taken a photo (or not) before the "busy" message shows up. 

I have reformatted the card and resetted the camera: to no avail. Some other info: mostly shooting JPG (second best quality), enabled lens abberation correction, did not enable (white balance) auto bracketing. Lens used: any of my lenses (which are: EF 28-105 F/3.5-4.5 II USM, EF 16-35 F2.8 L USM mark ii, EF 70-200 F/4, EF 50 F/1.8, EF 100 F/2.0 USM) 

Any help or hints appreciated! 

-Hans

[Waddizzle]

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@brightwolg wrote:

Hi all, thanks for all the valuable feedback so far. Last weekend I ordered a new card (SanDisk SDXC Extreme Pro - 64GB 200/90 mb/s - V30) and it arrived today. I low level formatted it in-camera and tested it. Guess what? Same problem. So definitely camera related? Should I ditch it?

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Assuming that you did not receive counterfeit cards, then you may have a camera issue.

[Waddizzle]

I just re-read your initial post.  You bought a used camera from a camera store.  The camera has not worked properly from day one.  Get a refund.

[brightwolg]

True, the problem was there from day 1. Due to time, will look at it later, must be the old card, must be a glitch, let's see if there's a firmware update, etc etc I never came to returning it to the store. I bought it almost a year ago... Will go back anyway and see if they are willing to do anything about it. At least it is a well-known big photography specialised store here in The Netherlands... 

[brightwolg · Accepted solution]

So finally made up my mind: traded the 5D mark iii for a 6D mark ii. Problem is absent in the new camera, and I am using the same cards. Thanks everyone for helping me on this problem, unfortunately it was a camera fault. 

[homer498]

Fantastic solution:  This isn't a card issue.  My 5D/m3 does this w/o any cards in it?  It's a minor inconvenience if you're not a combat photographer.   

[brightwolg]

For me it was not a minor issue, as I was missing critical shots all the time, especially during the sports of my daughter, which is fast, indoor sport, with bad light and lots of good action, and I did not want to miss the action in that 10 seconds anymore. Those seconds felt like an eternity whenever it happened to me. Still very happy with my 6D, not having two card slots is meh but since I am not a professional anyway, I can live with that. Having wireless connectivity with my iPhone is a yeah!