a mates 450d is not cooperating.. need advice please

[rowdy23]

this is what his sms said
" dude you are awesome "


oh and this...
" my camera has just stopped taking pics.... the flash pops up like its going to take a shot but doesnt make shutter noise and doesnt take a pic... "

i have asked him the following...
is it trying to focus in bad light ?
try putting in manual focus,..

are you trying to focus to close ?

ive walked him through manual / tv and av modes...

some advice would br great as he wants to gets some shots of his little baby

cheers

[Tannin]

Good advice. Switch to manual focus first, yep, that's often the cause.

[Scotty72]

put the lens in manual focus and try to take a pic...

if nothing happens, it sounds grim

[rowdy23]

thanks guys.....

manual focus isnt helping either.....

[JM Tran]

first thing before u do anything, is to remove the battery and re-insert it to reset the camera - if it still doesnt fire then you have a serious problem

I had a very similar problem on my ancient Pentax DL where upon being switched on the flash would pop up, but I cannot fire or access the menu or do anything. Turns out the circuit boards inside had died. The camera had been dropped in a creek though.

[rowdy23]

great advice grand poobah.

thanks for your help...
im heading to my mates now...

[kiwi]

Dumb question. There's a card ? It's ok ?

[triptych]

Is he getting the Err99 message? If it only happens when the flash pops up then he has more than likely blown his flash! The reason I know this is that the exact same thing happened to my 450D

[rowdy23]

thanks again fellas..
kiwi - yep a card is there... and works fine in my old 450d
triptych - didnt see any error codes etc..

i personally think the camera is posessed .....
it now takes a random shot once the camera is turned on..... it takes a random shot everytime you switch modes........ it went on a 30+ constant photo "phrenzy "

im thinking my 450d just got a whole lot more valuable..... to him lol

[ricktas]

thanks again fellas..
kiwi - yep a card is there... and works fine in my old 450d
triptych - didnt see any error codes etc..

i personally think the camera is posessed .....
it now takes a random shot once the camera is turned on..... it takes a random shot everytime you switch modes........ it went on a 30+ constant photo "phrenzy "

im thinking my 450d just got a whole lot more valuable..... to him lol

AHA. this can be a dying shutter mechanism. The 450D is getting old now and how many photos has it taken? From memory the shutter in the 450D was designed for around 100,000 actuations. He may need to get a new shutter mechanism put into the camera..or just buy a newer one like the 600D/1100D etc

[Scotty72]

AHA. this can be a dying shutter mechanism. The 450D is getting old now and how many photos has it taken? From memory the shutter in the 450D was designed for around 100,000 actuations. He may need to get a new shutter mechanism put into the camera..or just buy a newer one like the 600D/1100D etc

If it is the shutter going / gone, I suspect the cost to replace it might not be worth it - sure, a new shutter but in an ancient camera

[rowdy23]

thanks rik and scotty
the camera hasnt been used hardly at all.... maybe 3000 shutter releases....
i did mention to weigh up getting a new one or repair..... id go 600d... as it has hd vid etc