EOS Rebel T3 Shutter Speed Not Working Even On Auto

[elrond140]

Hello Canon Community!

I wasn't really sure how to title this problem, but I'm absolutely stumped. So, recently my EOS Rebel T3 has been really acting up. No matter what mode I am on (Creative Auto, No Flash, etc...), except for manual mode, the camera will take either all black or all white photos. This is due to the camera only taking photos on either 1/4000 or 30" shutter speed (even on auto mode!) I don't know why it is only choosing these extremes for shooting, no matter what light I am shooting in. Any thoughts??

Elrond140 

[Mykolas]

Hi elrond140!

Welcome to the Canon Forum.

In the Auto mode, the camera chooses the appropriate exposure and there should not be any settings you have changed that would cause the exposure to be to these extremes.  Perhaps something external is causing the camera to choose those exposure settings.  

How would you describe the subject you are photographing and the lighting conditions?

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[ebiggs1 · Accepted solution]

Very first thing is to reset the camera back to factory defaults.  Clear all settings, remove the battery overnight.

Second you need to make sure the battery and the charger are working properly.  This is basic but needs to be done.

And last get a NEW high quality SD card that is fromatted by the camera, nothing else.

Try again, with the camera on the green square and go outside with good daylight.

[elrond140]

Resetting the camera to factory defaults seems to fix the problem temporarily. We'll see how this plays out. Otherwise, I have to agree with TCampbell that the light meter is defective. Thanks for the help everyone!

[TCampbell]

If it were always shooting at a 30 second exposure then I'd say that something is blocking the light meter.  It would be like trying to meter with the lens cap still on the camera -- it would always insist on the longest possible exposure time.

But confusingly, you said that it'll also want to take shots at 1/4000 -- the shortest possible exposure.  

This suggests to me that the light meter is defective... that it either believes you have maximum light... or no light at all... and there is no "in between".

With that in mind, I don't think you can resolve this yourself.  I suspect you're going to need to send the camera in for service.