Help! Canon 500D has stopped taking photos

[cnvmackay]

Hi all,

I am relatively new to photography but post on here in the hope of finding someone with a little more experience.

I have a Canon 500D (I think this is sold as a Canon Rebel T1i in the rest of the world) which has stopped taking photos. I have only had it for 6 months and am heart broken that it won't work any more. I uploaded some photos to my computer using the USB cable then tried to use it a couple of days later and there was nothing. The upload may have nothing to do with it, but that at least did work fine when I did it. I have tried it in all modes and adjusted aperture and so on but still nothing.

When I press the shutter button there is a green dot which flashes in the bottom right hand side of the viewfinder but nothing else happens - the red dots in the viewfinder don't flash, and there is no shutter sound.

Has anyone heard of anything similar happening? Can anyone give me any suggestions?

Do let me know if you need any other info.

I would terribly grateful if I could recover it with your help!

Cate M

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[Schwettylens]

So it turns on but its not taking photo? Try switching the lens to manual, does it work now?

[bogeyguy]

an obvious question, but.............battery fully charged?

[Big Mike]

Welcome to the forum.

Yes, first thing is to charge the battery. Then I'd suggest taking the lens off and putting it back on (just to make sure that it's on correctly).

[gsgary]

Go into menu and reset factory settings see if that helps, i think it is something very simple

[KmH]

Read your camera manual.

I just downloaded the T1i camera manual. The green light blinking inthe lower right corner of the viewfinder is the "Focus Confirmation Light". It is blinking because the camera cannot focus.
When the focus system is set to focus priority (usually the default option when AF-S is the selected focus mode), the shutter will only release when focus has been achieved. The flashing focus confirmation light indicated focus has not been achieved.

If you can see what the camera is pointed at in the viewfinder I would bet you have inadvertantly changed a setting and gsgary's suggestion of restting the camera back to the factory settings is definately in order. that information is also found in your camera user's manual.

If the viewfinder is black, the mirror is stuck in the up position, or the lens still has the lens cap on it. In either of those cases the auto focus system cannot function.

[Derrel]

Maybe it's time to upgrade!

I wish you luck in getting the problem resolved.

[Schwettylens]

I love one hit wonder members LOL. We probably never see him again. I suspected the AF system. Thats why I told him to switch it to manual focus.

[cnvmackay]

Hi all,

Schwettylens, I'm not a one hit wonder member! I was at work and it got busy. And I didn't expect so many replies so quickly. Thank you!

Unfortunately no luck yet - the battery is charged and I have restored the factory settings but the light is still blinking. I thought it might be something to do with the autofocus too as it works when I set it to manual focus - I do want it it all to work though!

I haven't got the lense cap on (duh!) and I can see through the viewfinder so I don't think it is the mirror.

Any other ideas anyone? Thank you in advance!

Cate

[gsgary]

Have you tried another lens ?

[cnvmackay]

The lens I was using is en EF-S lense and the other one I have is and EF lense. The EF lense works, on AF and manual but is really old and I wonder if it is lower-tech than my EF-S one, so not comparable. I wonder if it is that the communication between EF-S lense and the body is not working for some reason.

[O|||||||O]

What mode is the camera on (Av, Tv, M, Auto, etc...)?

Did you try it on M? If you're using one of the auto modes, it's possible that there isn't enough light or something... With the camera on M, and the lens on manual focus - it should work no matter what the settings are, in focus or not.

It should work without even having a lens on the camera in M... Try that.

[Ginu]

Try taking the lens off and then put them back on, I've seen many AF errors due to the contacts in between the lens and body.

Also if the camera is only 6 months old and it was purchased at a camera store, I would suggest taking it back under the Canon one year warranty

[gsgary]

Well if your old lens works there is nothing wrong with the camera lens might be ****ed

[KmH]

The lens I was using is en EF-S lense and the other one I have is and EF lense. The EF lense works, on AF and manual but is really old and I wonder if it is lower-tech than my EF-S one, so not comparable. I wonder if it is that the communication between EF-S lense and the body is not working for some reason.

Based on what you say here, the EF-S lens's focus mechanism is malfunctioning. It could be the AF motor is not working.