Camera will not take pictures

[EmilyLane]

I have a Rebel T1i. It has always been very reliable, no problems whatsoever since it was given to me as a gift.

Recently, I pulled it out on a trip to take a picture, and it would not work!

The battery is fully juiced, but I still took it out and reinserted it, nothing!

I took out the SD card and reinserted it, nothing! There are only 60 pictures on it, so it's not full.

I attempted using my other lens, and still, nothing.

The only error message that sometimes shows up is #50, and I have consulted my instruction manual only to find nothing to help me with my problem.

Any help would be much appreciated, as I am beginning college in the gorgeous state of Maine and would love to be able to capture my experiences in my first year.

[Skirball]

Not sure if this is it, but this page suggests that it might be the card.

http://www.zimbio.com/Data+Recovery/articles/_9JotbLJ2zb/Resolving+Error+30+50+Canon+EOS+500D+Rebel

I'm assuming that the camera turns on and operates normally, but won't take pics?  HAve you saved the photos that are on the card?   If so, I'd try formatting it (in camera), or using another card.

Edit:  More Here:

http://www.justanswer.com/digital-cameras/6gnlh-eos-rebel-t1i-model-ef-s18-55-3-5-5-6.html

[EmilyLane]

If it were a memory card/slot problem, would that possibly affect the autofocus too? Because that's another thing i forgot to mention, it does not focus at all.

[Skirball]

No, shouldn't affect AF.  Is the af selector (on the lens) switched to manual?

[EmilyLane]

No, it is switched to Auto

[TCampbell]

Error 50 is somewhat generic and means that the camera is experiencing an internal electronic communication problem.

See Canon's page here:  http://www.learn.usa.canon.com/resources/articles/2012/eos_error_msgs.shtml

This likely means you'll probably need to contact Canon service as this issue is unlikely a simple mis-configuration of settings.

Ejecting the battery for several seconds, then re-inserting causes the camera to "reboot".  If you haven't already tried this, it's a generic way to clear issues.  The on/off switch on the camera is not really a "power" switch... it's just a soft-switch that tells the camera you'd like to power down the camera.  In reality the camera is really in more of an extended sleep state when the power switch is off.  Removing the battery actually causes it to reboot from the beginning.

The camera has specific errors for memory card problems, lens problems, etc.  and I would think you'd be getting a more specific error if it were one of those things.