EOS Rebel T5: why is the red light (lower R corner) continually blinking when I turn camera on?

[LDTeacher]

I have a two year old Canon EOS Rebel T5. It gives great pictures, altho I am not always happy with the focus for long-distance images.  I guess I need to study the manual more.  My question is about the little reddish light at the lower R. hand corner of the non-lens face of the camera.  Every time I turn the camera on, it starts blinking...I have no idea what its function is...can anyone help me?  I'm not very tech literate about my camera - I bought it so I could take rapid-fire images of nature and my husband racing.  Otherwise, I have not learned much about lenses, etc. 

[ebiggs1]

The little red light is the busy light.  The camera is doing something.

The softness with your long distant shots is likely the limit of the lens' ability to resolve.

[LDTeacher]

eBiggs1 wrote:The camera is doing something....I get that - but WHAT is it likely to be doing?  Is it possible it is doing something ALL the time? 

[ebiggs1]

You mean it continues blinking after a few seconds?  If it does, yes, there is a problem.  You need to start the trouble shooting procedure.  Do the easy cheap stuff first.  Clear all settings, recnetly charged battert, format or a new SD card.  Change or at least remove the lens and remount it.  That kinda stuff.

[MooseBreathMint]

Thank you. I experienced the same blinking red light. It was my SD card. I was good to know! Thanks!

[amfoto1]

Yes, the red LED flashing indicates the camera is "busy"... Most often it means it's writing to the memory card and will flicker for a few seconds after you take a shot. It also will flicker for a moment when the camera is first turned on.

If the LED continues to flash, my best guess is that something is wrong with your memory card.

It may be a very slow, low quality memory card that the camera is having trouble writing to... it would be most noticeable if shooting a burst of shots rapidly or possible if shooting a video... but even then, the flashing should stop after a few seconds. .

Did you format the card in the camera before using it? This clears the card and prepares it for use. Be warned that formatting will effectively erase anything you have on the card, so download anything you want to keep to your computer first.

***********

Alan Myers
San Jose, Calif., USA
"Walk softly and carry a big lens."
GEAR: 5DII, 7D(x2), 50D(x3), some other cameras, various lenses & accessories
FLICKR & EXPOSUREMANAGER 

[LDTeacher]

Thanks for the input.  I just wiped the card (after moving all the images to the computer hard drive, so I'll see if that helps.  I will look up how to format the memory card too and carry that out.  Appreciate the ideas!

[ebiggs1]

"I will look up how to format the memory card too and carry that out."

Didin't you format the SD card first when you started using the camera?

[LDTeacher]

I do not think I formatted the memory card when I first got the camera -- I just purchased an SD card with the camera and started using it.  Is there more than that!? (I know by asking this, you are ready to just shake your head and wonder what on earth I'm doing owning such a powerful camera with little know-how!!)....

[amfoto1]

Someone said "there are no dumb questions... only dumb answers". We all had to start out crawling, then walking... a little slowly at first... before we ever started to run!

Format is right there in the camera's menu. If your particular model has the "green star" user selectable menu, I put "format" as my very first item there, because I format every card, every time before starting to shoot with it. By putting "format" in that menu it's very fast to access and use. Some days I'll format cards a dozen or more times.

There is no guarantee formatting the card will solve the problem, though. It might... Or it might not.

It also could be "too slow" a card, that's taking a long time to write. That could be due to the "quality" of the card. Without the exact details of the card, it's hard for us to say.

Or it might be a faulty card. It's rare, but does happen. I had one card, a well known brand, die completerly right after it's first use. We took 500 shots on it, downloaded the JPEGs, then couldn't access it again to get the RAW files. After that, it wouldn't let us write to it or access the files on it with camera or computer. We couldn't format it either. It was just plain dead. That's the only card I've ever had that happen with... out of maybe 50 or 75 over the years.  

At any rate, it wouldn't be too expensive to get another memory card.... just make sure it's a good, fast one from a reputible manufacturer (I mostly use Lexar and Sandisk memory cards).

It also might be a fault in the camera. Did it ever work right? Did this just start happening? If so, has anything changed? Are you using a different card? Did you change some setting in the camera or use some feature and forget to turn it off?

Or, maybe it's not a problem at all.. if the LED only flashes for a few seconds immediately after you turn the camera on... and for a few seconds occasionally while shooting, immediately after taking a bunch of photos... both of those are normal.

But from your description, it sounds like that LED flashes for longer periods of time... continously? That's not normal.. hence the concerns about the memory card.

***********

Alan Myers
San Jose, Calif., USA
"Walk softly and carry a big lens."
GEAR: 5DII, 7D(x2), 50D(x3), some other cameras, various lenses & accessories
FLICKR & EXPOSUREMANAGER