Rebel T7i will not focus or shoot in high humidity, shoots fine when dry

[BonnieM]

Rebel T7i

[Ray-uk]

I have never heard of this problem before and I think we need more information, what lens are you using and are you using live view or the viewfinder. Firstly you need to make sure that it is the humidity causing a mechanical problem with your equipment and not just the humid air preventing you from obtaining focus.

If it is the humidity affecting equipment then I would suggest you try another lens because that is more likely to be affected than the camera body.

[BonnieM]

I have tried three different lenses - 60 mm Macro, 18-135, and 70-300. As the humidity increases, the problem becomes more pronounced. I tried shooting with it again last evening - outdoors - first 7 or 8 shots were perfect - it worked as it is supposed to. Then it started becoming intermittent - press shutter release and nothing would happen, no autofocus, nothing. I kept pressing the shutter release and suddenly intermittently it would focus and shoot. This is all while looking through the viewfinder. However, if I switch to live view, it works perfectly, every time. The camera was shipped to Canon three weeks ago and they found no problem. The first day I got to try it after it came back to me, it worked great - it was a nice dry day. Yesterday it had rained and the humidity was up and I started having problems with it again.

[wq9nsc]

How soon is this happening after you take the camera outdoors?  If your camera is coming from a cool indoor environment into a hot humid outdoor environment the moisture is going to form on every exposed part until it comes up to temperature.  I keep my cars and pickup AC set on cold but when shooting summer sports I don't set the temp as cold or I will be dealing with lens fogging.

I suspect you are getting enough fogging on the mirror to throw off AF as the humidity precipitates out on this surface which has a fair amount of thermal lag.  I shoot with 1 series bodies and my sports lens are weather sealed so I have never run into this issue but the front element will quickly fog on the 300 and 400 2.8 primes when it comes out of cold AC into the humidity.

As a test, try keeping your camera in a warmer part of the house before bringing it outside or put it in a sealed plastic bag and let it sit outside for 30 to 60 minutes prior to photography.

Rodger

[BonnieM]

My AC is not on - temperature inside house was 73 and outdoors was 68. It is not immediate upon going outdoors - the problem becomes worse the longer I am out. I had considered lens fogging as an issue but the conditions don’t support that.

[Waddizzle]

You mentioned that you tried it in the evening.  How dark was it?  Does the camera have enough light?

Try setting the camera in P mode, set the lens switch to MF, and press the shutter.  If it does not fire the shutter, then something is wrong.  I expect it to fire.  I cannot imagine how going from inside to outside could have such crippling effect.

[ebiggs1]

Bonnie M,

There is cause and effect.  A lot of the time people associate a certain cause for whatever effect they see.  A lot of the time the two are unrelated. I believe that is your case. I would tend to agree with Canon.

First reset your camera. Menus, tools, clear all settings and all custom settings. Now set the T7i to P mode. ISO 200 and average WB.  Make sure your lens has the AF switch on.  On a nice day go outside and take a dozen or more random shots of varying subjects. If it works, it works and there isn't anything wrong with the gear.

Personally I have never "babied" my gear.  It goes where I go and it does what I want.  Whether the weather is hot, cold, stormy or nice, yes, even high humidity and none of my gear has ever failed because of that.  I do have the best Canon has to offer and it got regular maintenance but it always worked. I did a lot of work in Alabama where the humidity is quite high all year round.  It is especially high in the summer. I would tend to suggest you check else where for the problem.

What part of the country are you in?  What are the subjects you shoot?  You know the lack of contrast will keep the T7i from shooting? Too close or too dark will also keep it from shooting.

[RobertTheFat]

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@BonnieM wrote:
My AC is not on - temperature inside house was 73 and outdoors was 68. It is not immediate upon going outdoors - the problem becomes worse the longer I am out. I had considered lens fogging as an issue but the conditions don’t support that 

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From what you've told us so far, what stands out is that you have high humidity at only 68 degrees. If the outside air itself is foggy, that could make it harder to focus, and it might get worse as the foggy air made its way into the camera. That's not "lens fogging" in its purest sense, but the effect could conceivably be similar.

[BonnieM]

All of what you suggested was tried when I spoke with Canon the first time and we could not resolve the issue. I have shot on an ice day with great conditions and no issues. In the past I have shot on days with high humidity with no issues. For some reason this problem has only existed in the past month. Also, how would you explain that I can get one or two shots then press the shutter button and nothing happens - in good light - and no settings on the camera have been changed? It seems to me that if this is “operator error” then I would never be able to get a shot, but as long as humidity is low, I can shoot. I have taken many photos of the moon, some Milky Way photos, low light, long exposure of waterfalls - so it’s not like I don’t know how to use the camera.

[Waddizzle]

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@BonnieM wrote:
All of what you suggested was tried when I spoke with Canon the first time and we could not resolve the issue. I have shot on an ice day with great conditions and no issues. In the past I have shot on days with high humidity with no issues. For some reason this problem has only existed in the past month. Also, how would you explain that I can get one or two shots then press the shutter button and nothing happens - in good light - and no settings on the camera have been changed? It seems to me that if this is “operator error” then I would never be able to get a shot, but as long as humidity is low, I can shoot. I have taken many photos of the moon, some Milky Way photos, low light, long exposure of waterfalls - so it’s not like I don’t know how to use the camera.

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Use your cell phone to capture video of your issue, and upload it somewhere.  Email the link Canon, and provide a detailed description about your ongoing issue, and be sure to reference the service ticket number that was used the first time.

If the video captures "now it works, and now it doesn't" that would be perfect.