Canon 5d Mark iii LCD won’t work unless I press the Q button

[Reaganfarner]

Forgive me if this is a dumb question but I can’t figure it out. I just got a 5d Mark iii and was playing with it last night and now this morning the LCD is acting up. The screen won’t work unless I press the Q button. Then when I press the shutter button and take a picture it goes off again and will not come back on until I press the Q button again. This is so frustrating. Can anyone tell me how to fix it to where the LCD screen with my settings are on all the time?

Thank you

[kvbarkley]

Have you tried pressing the info button?

[Waddizzle]

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@Reaganfarner wrote:
Forgive me if this is a dumb question but I can’t figure it out. I just got a 5d Mark iii and was playing with it last night and now this morning the LCD is acting up. The screen won’t work unless I press the Q button. Then when I press the shutter button and take a picture it goes off again and will not come back on until I press the Q button again. This is so frustrating. Can anyone tell me how to fix it to where the LCD screen with my settings are on all the time?

Thank you

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Download a copy of the FULL instruction manual from Canon Support, if you have not already.  The display can have different operating behaviors.  Pressing [INFO] can change those behaviors.

Having to press the [Q] sounds very much like the default behavior.  When you take a photo, the settings/info displays are superseded by image preview.  When the preview closes, the screen blanks itself.  This behavior saves power.  Nearly all of the settings that are presented on the Quick Menu display, are also presented in the viewfinder.  [All exposure related settings are displayed in the viewfinder.]

Additional battery power can be saved by disabling the image preview after every shot, or series of shots.  I normally have previews disabled because it really does make a big difference in battery life.  [Other settings can extend battery life, too.]

The EOS 5D Mark III is a pretty sophisticated and complex camera.  It is not a point and shoot camera, although that behavior is available in Automatic Green [A] mode.  You simply need to become familiar and practiced with the camera.  This usually takes some time for those unfamiliar with Canon DSLR camera bodies.  They conduct classes on how to use this camera, [and I do not mean one day seminars.]

For new users, the steep learning curve can take easily take as long as 10,000 photos to climb.  Even after thousands of shots, and months of use, many new users have only figured out how to do what they need.  Only a few users will spend the next couple of years learning all of the nuances in the camera when, and if, they encounter new shooting scenarios.

[MSCinTracy]

There are three ways to use the LCD: 1. View/alter menu items by pressing the Menu button, 2. View what the sensor is seeing in Live View mode (Live View button), and 3. View/alter the parameters you chose for the Quick view Menu (see #1).  Note that the "Q" button is meant togive you quick way to check or change your important settings during shooting without having to go thru the Menues, thus it times out and the LCD goes dark.

Not so sure about why you can only take a shot by first pressing the Q button.  Try changing the mode dial to something else like P which lets the camera make the exposure choices.  Consider resetting the camera to factory defaults via the Menu button. Also might check the firmware (also in one of the menues) - latest is 1.3.5.

Good luck, you have a great camera, just takes a little time to learn.

Mike

[ebiggs1]

You need to reset it to factory defaults.  You set some thing wrong and when ever that happens do a reset. After that read your manual.

[Brucemac]

ignore the high and mighty replies. You should however download a manual for this thing it has more menus than a cell phone

As for your screen  if you keep cycling your info button  ti will bring up the setting screen and keep it there

It will be briefly interrupted but come back on after you view your shot

hope this helps

[AlwinJohnson]

Press info button 3 times