Canon 700D often shows as "busy" and I can't take a picture

[Veronica]

This has been an ongoing and random problem.  I contacted Canon last year and they suggested I reset to default settings which I did however the problem persists. I have tried different SD cards & different settings and there doesn't seem any one thing which causes the problem.  After "Googling"  it does seem that it is reasonably common amongst Canon cameras which is very frustrating. I did take the camera to my local Camera House and they advised that if they sent the camera away it could possibly cost several hundred dollars!

[Waddizzle]

What capacity and type of memory card are you using?  Did you format the memory card in the camera?

[Veronica]

I have tried several different types of cards and no, I haven't formatted the card in the camera.

[Waddizzle]

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@Veronica wrote:

I have tried several different types of cards and no, I haven't formatted the card in the camera.

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Okay.  That's a potential problem.

Rule #1, never use micro-SD cards with those adapters.  The adapters are terribly unreliable.  Only use micro-SD cards in devices that use them directly, without any adapter.

Rule #2, always format any new memory card in the camera.  As a general rule, new cards are NOT pre-formatted.  Any formatting that may seem to be on the card is residue from production testing, and needs to be completely erased.

[Veronica]

Thanks for your suggestion.  I will reformat the cards on the weekend and let you know how it goes.

[Veronica]

I have reformatted the card in the camera and so far so good.  Unfortunately the problem was always random so I am not completely sure that the problem has been rectified yet but I'm hopeful.

[Veronica]

I formatted the SD card and only really got to use my camera consistently last weekend.  Unfortunately I still have an ongoing problem!

[Waddizzle]

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@Veronica wrote:

I formatted the SD card and only really got to use my camera consistently last weekend.  Unfortunately I still have an ongoing problem!

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There are some "noise reduction" settings that can cause symptoms of your issue.  The "High ISO" and "Long Exposure" noise reduction settings can slow the camera down.  Also, taking a long series of shots in continuous shooting mode can fill the camera buffer, requiring it to take a timeout and write to disk.

You can disable the noise reduction settings in Creative shooting modes, but you cannot in Basic shooting modes.

You may try resetting the camera back to factory defaults.  You might try a new memory card.  I recommend the full size, Lexar or Sandisk SD cards, that are 32GB, or smaller.  Having a spare card can never hurt.

[Stephen]

I'd like to hop in and offer a suggestion, if I may?

Could it be lack of ability to auto focus? If your lens is in AF mode, or if you're in full auto (Green Box/A+) and the camera doesn't have sufficient light, your flash will pop up, and the lens will search, the flash will fire multiple times, and you'll see a green indicator light in the viewfinder that will blink multiple times. That is the camera letting you know "Hey, I tried, but I can't find anything to focus on, so I'm not going to let you take a bad picture on purpose." 

You might try to put the camera in "P" mode on the top dial, ensure you've got plenty of light, and you're taking photos of "normal" things (not plain white walls, or objects that are super close, or overly dark rooms, or trying to use your pop-up flash in an auditorium). 

If you try this, and that solves the problem, then you know it's not an issue of the camera malfunctioning, it's an issue of lack of lighting and focus. 

If that doesn't work, you might try a different lens. If you don't have another one, see if you can borrow a friend's - they're all interchangeable! If that works, it's an issue with your lens, and it'll need to be worked on. 

[Veronica]

I have tried several cards however the current one is SanDisk 16GB and yes, I did format the card in the camera.