What’s Your Preference?

supermombritt · #1 (**permalink**) 12-22-2009, 07:00 PM

I am new to this forum as well as my camera. My camera worked a few days ago and now it does not. SOmeone referred me to this site so I hope someone can help me. I shoot in automatic and now I am unable to take a picture. I push the button and if it is darker, my flash will blink a few times but the picture won't be taken. If it is lighter, the camera still won't take the picture. Here are is what is happening.

Okay, I think I need to give more details so here they are. My camera is a Rebel Xsi.
1. When I push the button to take a picture, the flash flickers/blinks.

2. When I look through my camera, not on the screen, there are numbers inside that blink.

3. On the screen, after I push the button, in the left hand upper corner it will blink these random numbers. Here is what they are 0"8 then 0"6 then 0"5. Another time it blinked this 1"3 then 1". Sometimes it will blink a fraction 1/15 then 0"6 then 0"5 then 1/4. I have not played with any settings on my camera (at least not that I remember) and I shoot in automatic. I can take a picture in P, Tv and in Av, but in that mode, the shutter stays closed forever. it is on F 5.0 and I can't get it to go any lower. I am able to take a picture in M and A-DEP as well. These are the numbers that I got at night. This is what I am getting in the day. This is what it says (when I look through the view finder) the number on the left said 25 then bumped up to 30. the number to the right of that said 5.0 the ISO is at 800 and the number to the right of that says 9. Sometimes the camera will say busy.

4. I looked in my manual and it does not have anything about this in the trouble shooting guide.

I was hoping someone on here might be able to help me. Many thanks in advance to anyone who might help an extremely frustrated person who wants her camera to work for Christmas.

supermombritt · #2 (**permalink**) 12-23-2009, 01:25 AM

Isn't there anyone out there that might be able to help me?

inkista · #3 (**permalink**) 12-23-2009, 01:50 AM

My guess is that you're shooting in very low light, or are too close to your subject and are within the minimum focus distance for the lens you're using, so the camera cannot focus, and therefore refuses to take the shot.

One way to test if my theory's right would be to switch your lens into manual focus mode, and see if the camera still refuses to take the shot.

When you're in Manual, the camera will let you shoot yourself in the foot all you want, and lets you take the shot anyway. But in Auto mode, if the camera can't focus, it won't take the shot. This is often why the first move most shooters make is to get out of green-box Auto and go into P (programmable Auto). The P mode will take care of all the exposure stuff just like the green box Auto, but you can adjust the iso, white balance, and exposure compensation, turn the flash on and off, and the camera will let you shoot yourself in the foot a little more.

Incisive · #4 (**permalink**) 12-23-2009, 01:54 AM

My Canon did the same thing. The "Busy" would flash on my LCD all the time. When I changed the ram card it went away. Also, I find that if you are shooting many frames in a row, it likes 'class 6' card. My class 2 was not fast enough.

PhotoRebel4 · #5 (**permalink**) 12-23-2009, 03:12 AM

I think inkista is right about either too dark or you're too close to your subject. I'm going to assume you're using the kit lens, (18-55mm), which has a minimum distance of like 0.8ft.

As for those "random" numbers. They aren't quite random. They are your shutter speed. 0"8 refers to 8/10 of a second, 1"3 refers to 1 and 3/10 seconds, 1/4 is 1/4 of a seconds, etc.

I'd lean towards it being too dark for your lens if the shutter stays closed a long time in AV (aperture priority) mode with an aperture of 5.0.

To me, it doesn't sound like you're interested in stepping up to a more advanced shooting mode (even if it is Program mode). Also, it sounds like you've got a whole lot more camera than you need for what you're doing. You may be better of with a P&S rather than an SLR. It would greatly simplify things for you.

Eastree · #6 (**permalink**) 12-23-2009, 03:31 AM

I'm not so sure I'd recommend not having an SLR. If it's something you want to do, just take the time to learn about it. And it will take time.

I asked my fair share of uninformed questions when I had just gotten my 30D, and I also got frustrated and left it mostly unused for over a year. But I never stopped liking the thought of taking good pictures, people on other forums were showing theirs off, and eventually something just clicked. I started doing what so many people don't, and eventually selling off a camera kit or letting it dwell in storage forever out of frustration:

I started reading.

It takes time. The manual may not be the best laid out for the beginner, but it does offer a lot of information. There are also tutorials out there for just about every specific model of SLR camera. But here's the biggest part of reading: Read with your camera at hand. When you read about how to adjust something, do it on your camera. Experiment. Take pot shots in manual mode just to see what changing aperture/exposure/ISO will do.

Again, it takes time. Even after I started understanding things a lot better, I still had bad settings; I still had to take several shots before thinking I may have had one decently enough exposed; i still mess up. We all do.

supermombritt · #7 (**permalink**) 12-23-2009, 04:41 AM

My camera will allow me to take a picture in auto when I put it on manual focus. What I am not understanding is why I have been able to take pictures in auto many times before and now all of a sudden I can't. I was in a bright room right next to a window this morning and I could not take the picture in auto, so I don't know that it is the light. Would it be beneficial to set the settings on my camera back to the original ones? I found in the manual that I can clear the camera settings.

My camera is not more than I can handle. I have taken newborn pictures for people as well as of my baby I just had. The pictures turned out beautiful and I shot them in auto in front of a window last week. This is what frustrates me because my camera was just working and now it is not.

OsmosisStudios · #8 (**permalink**) 12-23-2009, 05:01 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by supermombritt

Okay, I think I need to give more details so here they are. My camera is a Rebel Xsi.
1. When I push the button to take a picture, the flash flickers/blinks.

This is quite possibly the most annoying thing about the Rebel series that dont have AF lamps. I shoot in bars quite often and there are some that allow people to bring their own cameras. Theres nothing worse than setting up a shot only to have some bozo in the front with their AF-assist strobing away. Nothing personal, it just drives me bananas and I know the musicians hate it too.

PhotoRebel4 · #9 (**permalink**) 12-23-2009, 02:19 PM

Ok, since you can take photos in manual focus, it's definately your auto focus. For some reasons, and there can be quite a few of them. your camera can't focus.

I don't have my camera at my desk right now, so I don't know if this will work or not in full auto mode. But try setting the the auto focus to AF Servo instead of one shot. In single shot, the camera has to lock on focus before it will take a picture. In AF Servo, it constantly changes focus as you move the camera to different things.

Also, I didn't say it was more than you could handle, I said it seems like more than you NEED. I thought this because you didn't even know what the shutter speed was. Not only did I research and learn this stuff before I even got my SLR, I read the manual before taking pictures. I normally wouldn't recommend going from an SLR to a P&S either, but in this case I did. From what I read, it doesn't seem like you want to advance past auto mode (because to me, someone who wants to advance, even if they haven't, knows basics like exposure and aperture).

I know a few people like this. They buy an SLR because they want a big fancy camera, and never bother to learn anything about it or ever venture from full auto mode. I just think shooting with a P&S is simpler and a better option for people who don't need use any of the versatility that an SLR offers. Don't get me wrong, I'm not talking about a $50 P&S, there are plenty of high end ones that could probably produce better pictures than a low end SLR.