Canon Rebel XSi won't take pictures anymore

[HeartofDixie19]

Hello all,

I was taking pictures this morning then all of a sudden my camera (Canon Rebel XSi digital) just stopped working, I would push the button down to take pictures and the button would push all the way down, but nothing would happen.  I've had this happen in the past and all i had to do was clean the camera and it would work fine. 

This time I cannot get my camera to work at all.  It will not take pictures with the small 18-55 mm lens and will not take pictures with the 75-300 lens.  I've tried taking the battery out and putting back in, cleaning the camera, tried taking pictures in manual focus, charging the battery even though it was full, tried resetting the features on the camera and nothing will work.  I cleaned it a second time, and still nothing.  I did notice that when I was looking through BOTH camera lenses, I could see little black fibers on the screen, so I'm assuming the camera is dirty and it is not the lenses?  I'm not sure though.  I don't know if these are scratches or fibers somewhere inside the camera.

Please help, I use my camera almost daily and need it for my students.

[HeartofDixie19]

Does anyone have any suggestions??  Should I just send to Canon for repair or is there something I can do to fix? Thanks!

[Stephen]

Hi HeartofDixie19!

Welcome to the Canon Forums and thank you for your inquiry! The Forums aren't intended for immediate assistance, so if your question is of an urgent nature, please feel free to CONTACT US either by phone during business hours or email 24 hours a day!

[TCampbell]

Does it power up when you turn it on?

If you are in "One Shot" focus mode then the camera will not take a photo unless it can confirm that it was able to lock focus on at least one focus point. An easy way to test for this is to switch the lens to manual focus mode and see if it will take an exposure, or switch to "AI Servo" mode (In "AI Servo" the camera will take a photo when the shutter button is fully pressed even if the camera could not focus.)

All Canon auto-focusing EOS lenses have the focus motor in the lens (not in the camera body). This means simply switching lenses may solve the problem -- but would likely indicate that the lens has a problem (but at least the camera body would be fine.)

Lastly... the camera needs enough light to focus. If you are trying to use it in a poorly lit area then it's possible that it will refuse to focus even if everything is working perfectly.

Regards,
Tim

[Toni1229]

Having same problem...tried all the above suggetions....nothing worked...any other suggestions?

[Toni1229]

Mine just started doing this as well.....any help would be appreciated! Please please 🙂

I took battery out and did the one-shot suggestion, to no avail

[Mykolas · Accepted solution]

Hi, Toni1229!

Thanks for adding to the thread.

If the camera is unable to achieve a focus lock for some reason, it may not let the shutter release to take a picture.  It prioritized obtaining a focus lock over releasing the shutter.  Switch the lens to MF (Manual Focus), then try to take a picture.

1. Does the shutter release this time?
2. Have you tried other lenses and achieved the same result?

[Caseysmom9]

This worked for me. Thanks!

[Waddizzle]

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@Caseysmom9wrote:

This worked for me. Thanks!

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If that worked, then your problem could be not enough light, or you could be too close to the subject.

[ebiggs1]

Apparently some of us need to read more closely.

"An easy way to test for this is to switch the lens to manual focus mode and see if it will take an exposure, ..."

"...tried taking pictures in manual focus,..."

The real test is to the reset the camera, even though you may have done it before, do it again.  Charge the battery.  New, good quality SD card.  Set the Rebel to P mode, ISO 100. Set the lens to AF.  Now on a nice sunny day go outside and try a few shots.  If it works there isn't anything wrong with the camera.  If it still doesn't, it needs service or repair.

"I cleaned it a second time, and still nothing."

You might want to stop doing that.  Depending on how vigorous you 'clean' can cause damage to the contacts.

If my little test doesn't prove successful call 1 (800) 652-2666