Busy signal flashing on Canon 40D

Hi to all and may I wish everyone a Happy New Year.

I had my 40D, in an Ikelite housing with a DS 160 strobe connected, underwater for the 3rd time yesterday, and about half way through the dive, I finally found a great subject to shoot, and as I did, nothing happened. I looked at the LCD panel on top of the camera and the "BUSY" signal was flashing. The camera was working fine up until this point. I switched the camera off and then switched it back on and the camera would not switch back on.

Thinking the worst (a flood) and fearing for my life, as my wife has threatened to kill me if I flooded the camera, I completed the 20 minute swim back to the exit point in about 5 minutes. On returning home I got the camera out of the housing, and to my great releif, found that there was no water in the housing. The camera would still not switch on. I removed and reinstalled the battery, and thankfully the camera fired up and all seemed to be fine.

I googled the problem, and apparentley, this situation can occur when the auto power off kicks in, and then the camera is turned back on after hitting the shutter button, while an external flash is attatched. The only way to fix the problem as far as I could find out, is to remove and reinstall the battery. This is all good and well if you are on dry land. It poses a rather major problem if you are underwater.

I realize the obvious solution to the problem is to extend the time that the camera auto power off kicks in. I was just wondering if other 40D users had come across the same problem, and if so, is there another solution to it apart from reinsalling the battery?

Cheers

Parso

I have a 30D and 5D2 and haven't experienced that problem - 3rd party flashes or not.

I would just check a few things -

- Do you have the latest firmware installed?

- Can you simply *disable* the auto-power off? I can on my 30D. Not great for battery life, but if you have two batteries, you can swap them out between dives and charge the first during that time. Not ideal, but should completely circumvent the issue.

- Are you able to reliably simulate this issue topside (even if the cam is connected to the housing flash circuit)? Make sure the issue is what you think it is.

Sorry I don't have a definitive solution - good luck.

Thanks for the response bmemike

I will have to look into the firmware issue, and yes, I can turn the "auto power off"function off, which is what I will do in the future. I will try to simulate the issue topside, next time the camera is in the housing.I will let you know the outcome. Believe me, it was very frustrating and concerning at the time.

Cheers

I have been shooting the 40D in a Sea and Sea housing for about 9 months without anything like that happening. I have the power-off setting at 4 minutes so it does turn off periodically during a dive. Maybe I'm lucky it hasn't happened to me or maybe it's the flash circuitry in my housing.

Ben

Thanks for the reply Ben. I just tried to simulate the problem topside and every thing seemed to work fine. Seems like it was just one of those things. If it happens again I will have to investigate further. I would hate for it to happen if I was on a dive holiday and photographing something rare or different etc. Buy the way, I did update the firmware.

I've never had this problem either. I did once have an error msg once I turned my camera on when I jumped in the water, but flicking the camera off then on again, it worked fine.

What's the firmware update for the 40D? Is it fairly new?

Ryan.

Hi there Ryan. The firmware update is version 1.0.8. I have just gotten off the phone with canon and the guy sugested I take it in and have it looked at. The camera is less than 12 months old. Like I said before, I googled the problem and it appears that it has happened to other people. If I get an answer, I will post it to let people know whats going on.

Cheers

Parso

Not had it either when using my Ikeite housing with 40D. Did you try turning off the strobes before powering the camera off and on?

Otara

All cameras can act silly if a couple of buttons get pressed and held 'on'.

Paul C

Hi there Otara. I must say that I can not remember if I turned the strobe off or not. If it happens again, I will try this option. As it happens, I dropped the camera off at Canon yesterday. The tech said they will have a look at it and see if there is a problem. Unfortunetly, he also said it will take between 2 and 4 weeks. Thanks for the suggestion.

Paul, if I remember rightly, all I tried to do was take a test shot before moving in on my intended subject. Maybe I did get a bit exited and held buttons on when I should not have. Anyway, it will be interesting to see what Canon have to say.

Thanks to all for your reply's