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SIMPLE camera problem

G

Gretch Flo

Joined
Jun 9, 2004
Messages
1,223
Likes
49
Location
Haslett, Michigan
Hey guys who are way over my head with computer/camera issues. I had a problem yesterday. Instead of working anymore in 92 degree heat cutting firewood I decided to woodwork. I wanted to photo the 2 things I made from a Burl someone gave me in Mass. I previously photoed the branch with a "mace" (weapon) jagged projections. Cut in half longitudinally and made a branch with a "nest" and the other side a small bowl. Photoed it on the floor and then added a flash-set on P setting (and raw-which I hate but my neighbor makes me do it-and so do you geniuses out there) (Canon Rebel Xti EOS digital.) All of a sudden it showed camera busy and recording an image and the "access lite was on constantly-not blinking.o) Read the manual and said if blinking (mine not blinking), DON;T REMOVER THE CF CARD, BATTERY, OR SHAKE THE CAMERA as it may destroy the image, cf card or camera-I think it was going to take my first born daughter too from their tone embolded).Manual didn't cover static red light nor what to dO. I am shaking now 😀
I couldn;t turn the camera off. I waited a half hour-same, I ran to a neighbor who is photo savvy and helped me get the camera and she was gone. Waited another half hour. It let me do finally another step but then reverted back to camera busy recording an image. After another half hour, I said, " bag it" and took out the battery and put in a new one. Problem fixed and my images appear to be there that were on the chip. Heaved a sigh of relief knowing the camera cops weren't going to take me away and that I had lost nothing nor broken the camera.
Question. What is an access lamp?? What does it tell you? To my knowledge my face and nose may have touched the back of the camera to steady it. Was my batt low in the first place, (was later but it had been on for over an hour). Did I hit some sort of button (for which I am unfamiliar what the buttons really do.) Camera illiterate-I'd rather be turning, Gretch
 
jschnell1203 said:
Maybe the camera went into Video/CamCorder Mode, try to set it back to photo mode? Also your card might be full or filling up if the video mode was on.

good luck
Click to expand...

No, no video capability on my camera, and there is none on the chip. All pics seem to be there, as I had emptied the chip about a month ago. Gretch
 
Not sure why it does that occasionally. could be the card. I had an earlier version of the Canon. It would do that often when I took too many photos too fast. It usually went away after a minute or so. I was a Nikon shooter before that and Now I have Nikons again. I haven't had that problem with them. I have had cards that said they were full even thought they weren't. I've never lost an image due to that.
 
The access light is telling you that the camera is writing to the card (usually).
You will see it most after a long exposure where it takes a while to render the image.

Most likely in your case, there was some kind of card error and the camera could not write to the card properly. I would recommend replacing the card, or at least reformatting it.
 
What lens were you using? Did you remember to remove the lens cap?

What was the lighting (besides flash) that you were using? full sunlight or dark as a dungeon? Did the flash actually fire? On-board or external flash?

How about battery charge level -- fully charged or nearly dead?

If there was insufficient light, the camera might have been taking a very long exposure. After that, if you have auto noise reduction turned on, the camera makes a second exposure with the shutter closed to map background noise which is then subtracted from image noise to produce an image with reduced noise. The second exposure is the same time duration as the first exposure when the shutter is open. After that, the image is processed and written to the CF card. I have done night exposures with shutter times of several minutes. Next, the noise reduction exposure will be the same length of time. If you try to turn the camera off or mess with any settings during this time, it is likely that things will be goobered up. During all of this time, the busy light will be on (no blinking). If the battery is nearly dead, the camera will simply halt processing because the voltage is too low. It is likely that the light will stay on since there is nothing to tell it to turn off. Doesn't matter whether it is Canon, Nikon, Sony, Minolta, Pentax or whatever, but the camera gets the blame in any case.
 
Bill Boehme said:
What lens were you using? Did you remember to remove the lens cap?

I was using the regular lens (18-55). The lens cap was off and I had successfully shot 4-5 shots . Was about 4 pm and on the floor with lite coming thru the west window. Photos were ok, but decided to use the flash-successfully for 1-2 shots when it went ballistic. I think the light was adequate without flash. The camera did flash at least the first 1-2 shots-didn't notice after.(on board flash)

What was the lighting (besides flash) that you were using? full sunlight or dark as a dungeon? Did the flash actually fire? On-board or external flash?

How about battery charge level -- fully charged or nearly dead?

WHEN I checked the battery level it was half full after an hour of the camera going around in circles telling me it was recording the image (or some such verbiage) I imagine the batt level went down during the "convulsion". I have difficulty reading batt levels with this and my.2 cell phones I rarely use (One for work, other personal) I imagine the batt level being half was too low. I see this all the time in batt for my gadgets. Doesn't work right and "test it"-Still measures in the lower forth of the good green band . Put in new ones and the needle goes to 3/4 good, and the gadget works. Someone told me to let the battery camera battery get real low and not to charge it all the time. I think the cell phone I am to charge all the time. I get so confused!!!!!

If there was insufficient light, the camera might have been taking a very long exposure. After that, if you have auto noise reduction turned on, the camera makes a second exposure with the shutter closed to map background noise which is then subtracted from image noise to produce an image with reduced noise. The second exposure is the same time duration as the first exposure when the shutter is open. After that, the image is processed and written to the CF card. I have done night exposures with shutter times of several minutes. Next, the noise reduction exposure will be the same length of time. If you try to turn the camera off or mess with any settings during this time, it is likely that things will be goobered up. During all of this time, the busy light will be on (no blinking). If the battery is nearly dead, the camera will simply halt processing because the voltage is too low. It is likely that the light will stay on since there is nothing to tell it to turn off. Doesn't matter whether it is Canon, Nikon, Sony, Minolta, Pentax or whatever, but the camera gets the blame in any case.
Click to expand...

Bill-don't know about noise reduction, Thanks, Gretch
 
Gretch Flo said:
Bill-don't know about noise reduction, Thanks, Gretch
Click to expand...

On the XTi, automatic noise reduction is turned on by default unless you change the setting in the menu to turn it off.

I don't particularly like P mode because there is no telling what settings the camera will come up with for Av, Tv, and ISO. I will admit that when I first got my XTi many years ago, I used P for a while. Now, I typically use Av or manual.

One other thing that occasionally gets my mind wrapped around the spindle is when I accidentally change the shutter mode to delay firing for several seconds (normally used for tripod shooting) -- it take me a while to figure out what the heck is going on. I hate it when machines get a mind of their own and don't pay any attention to me.
 
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