450d Problem - Help.

[africanrefugee]

Hi. I have picked up a used 450d. The camera records images in the Basic zone (ie full auto, portrait, macro, landscape, sports, night scene, flash off) but when moved to the Creative zone (P, Tv, Av, M, A Dep) the shutter opens for about 30+ seconds before closing and then does not record an image on the card. If I change from 1 shot to a 2 second time delay the shutter appears to work normally and the camera records an image on the card. What's up, is the camera's software faulty or is it a setting problem? I had initially thought memory card/lens incompatibility but then narrowed it down to the above symptoms. The Firmware is Ver.1.0.4.

[dlambert]

What's the shutter speed set at on the camera? It almost sounds like it's set to 'bulb', though I don't know why it would be working differently in 2-sec self-timer mode. It might also be worth taking a quick tour through the menu to see if there are any goofy settings in there. I don't know if something like CF III-10 would make any difference, for instance. There's a "clear" menu item in Setup 3 -- this might not be a bad thing to hit on a used camera to get you back to factory settings.

[africanrefugee]

Hi David.
Thanks for the assistance. I also thought that it may be set (stuck?) to 'Bulb' but it should not operate any different if set to a 2 sec delay. One of the first things I did was to clear the menu in setup 3 but it has made no difference.All 13 items in C.Fn IV are set to 0 which I assume is 'defult' as I have not really delved into the custom functions settings before now.

[africanrefugee]

Hi again.
Guess what? I went back to the camera, fitted a lens and memory card, reset the custom functions menu in setup 3, and It now appears to be working fine (I hope). Not sure if there is a gremilin hiding in the camera somewhere, or it was not reset correctly the first time, but it seems OK now. The question now is, if it was a custom function that caused this ('Bulb' setting or whatever), why did the camera not record an image when the shutter closed before. Regardless of the exposure/focus/ISO whatever it should have recorded an image. By not recording an image it would suggest a malfunction I would think. Am I right?

Again all educated advice is appreciated.

[Woody]

I had a similar problem, but with er messages. The fix was to reset the camera to default settings, remove the lens and the SD card and battery, then after 30 seconds, put in battery, SD card and attach lens. Hey Presto, It works fine.

The lesson being is that the camera needs to be powered down to reset its settings completely.

Cheers,
John W

[inkista]

Sounds like you had mirror lock up (C.Fn 09) set. When you have MLU set, you hit the shutter button, and the mirror box swings out of the way, but the shutter remains closed until you push the shutter button a second time. If you have the 2-sec. timer set, it automagically takes the shot two seconds later, and you don't need to hit the shutter button a second time. But if you don't have it set, it can sit there and just wait and no picture is taken.

MLU is to help you wait until some form of vibration (either on a tripod or through the mirror slap) has dissipated before you take the shot.

The sound is similar to when you take a shot regular, but instead of the mirror box going "ka-clunk", you just hear the "ka...." as it waits before flipping back into place after the pic is take.

[africanrefugee]

Inkista. I also thought this at first (but must admit to not being sure how to set MLU on the 450d) but in this case the shutter/mirror LU went of by itself 30+ seconds after the shutter button was pressed or if the mode switch was moved to another mode (creative or basic).. If it was actually MLU it should not have moved/gone off after 30 seconds, or until the shutter button was pressed a second time. I am just foxed as to what the setting could have been. It may have been MLU (but why did it go off after 30 secs) and why did it not clear when the the settings were reset in setup 3 initially. Also why did it not record an image when the mirror/shutter went off. I do however think it must have something to do with the MLU setting, I just dont know what? But then I am thick!