R6 quick control dial stopped working (works now)

[Peter]

I was about to take some pictures of the blood moon using the R6 with the EF 2x III and EF 800mm f/5.6.

Everything worked perfectly until I removed the teleconverter. Then, the quick control dial stopped working. During that time, I was able to adjust the exposure compensation by two stops, and then it stopped responding again. The LOCK switch wasn't turned on, and I couldn’t use the dial to navigate the menu. I changed the battery and removed the memory cards.

When I got home, I tried using some isopropyl alcohol, but without success. I spun the dial for a while, and eventually, I was able to change maybe three stops. I removed the battery again and tried a bit more isopropyl alcohol. This time, I could adjust four or five stops. I checked the error codes — the latest one was from August 2025.

I figured that opening the battery door while the camera is still on might act as a hard shutdown, so I tried that a couple of times. Surprisingly, the quick control dial now works again.

No idea what happened. Just glad it works now.

[Cyrilbrd]

Cool pics!
I wouldn’t say electronics are a bad thing, but it does seem like we’ve become more like slaves than commanders when technology starts to take over too much. As you mentioned, it could very well be a safety feature that locks the unit if the battery compartment is accessed while it’s powered on.

[jrhoffman75]

The camera manual alludes to a small current flowing even with power switch in. OFF. Opening the battery door would remove all current, so it could be even “more” than a hard shutdown.