HELP! Canon error code 30

[photog1107]

Anyone out there have any experience with an error code 30 on a Canon 7D or similar model? I have one that won't go away--my camera is completely unusable--and I am leaving tomorrow for my day long Grand Canyon tour. Aaaaarrgh!!

Canon website says Error 30 is a shutter error...and one guy at a camera store today told me after about 8000 shutter clicks, this can happen. To which I say: Wha?????? Have I really clicked the life out of my beloved 7D in about 18 months? I just can't quite believe that. These cameras were built for sports shooting (which I do a lot of) and I shoot hundreds of frames for each game.

So... two questions for Canon users here on DPS: First has anyone else had experience with an error code 30, and second, does anyone know what the reasonable lifespan of a Canon 7D shutter should be?

Thanks,

Bummed in Las Vegas

[Deleted]

I've got it as well. Nothing you can do but send it in for repair.

It 'could' last for 150 000 clicks on a 7D but I've had a shutter go on a camera (non 7D) with less then 5000 on it.

[inkista]

When you get this kind of error code, there are always three things to try:

1. Remove the lens (use the body cap)
2. Remove the memory card.
3. Remove the battery.

Wait a minute or so.

Then put these things back, one at a time, in reverse order to test the camera. [i.e., put the battery back in and then see if the camera still gives the error code. If it doesn't, then proceed with the card. If there's still no error code, then add the lens]. With the memory card and lens, testing with a different memory card or lens can also be a good idea to determine if it's the camera that's got an issue or the card/lens that's got an issue.

[Deleted]

I've read that and to put it into manual clean and give the sensor a cleaning to help remove anything there and possibly put the shutter back on track, but I've yet to find anyone that has been able to troubleshoot an error 30 without sending the body to Canon for repair. They may be out there, I just haven't found those threads.

[OsmosisStudios]

Originally Posted by photog1107

Canon website says Error 30 is a shutter error...and one guy at a camera store today told me after about 8000 shutter clicks, this can happen. To which I say: Wha??????

You're right in assuming this is wrong. That guy clearly has NO idea what he's talking about. Dont go back there if you can help it.

[photog1107]

Thanks very much to the quick feedback. Everyone on DPS is so supportive and I really do appreciate the comments on critical issues like this! I will go through the steps you mentioned, Inkista, and see what happens. Have already tried all of the above, but not in the order, or all at one time. In the meantime, I am off to the Grand Canyon tomorrow with my old standby Xti--so thankful I brought it along as a backup, though never dreaming my 7D would quit working the day our big excursion!

[photog1107]

Oh, and one more thing... I forgot to say I'd shot somewhere in the range of 15,000 clicks on my 7D in 2010 (quite a bit of sports). Is that too many?? Seriously...is it normal for a shutter to crap out after that much usage? Just wondering if I can expect this to happen year after year, or if this was "just one of those things."

[inkista]

for your amusement:

Camera Shutter Life Database

[photog1107]

Seriously...where do you find this stuff? haha. And how do I send you the 5 cents?

[inkista]

I've been on the internet since '85. My google-fu, she is mighty.

As for the 5¢ you could donate it to the charity of your choice (right now, btw, oreilly.com is giving away 50% of their proceeds for today to the Japanese Red Cross, so you could buy yourself a book AND feel good). But basically, it's just a reference to a very old Peanuts gag.