# Canon Digital Rebel XTi freezing



## yeti (Jan 12, 2008)

Hi again,

I have a brand new Canon Digital Rebel XTi, which appears to be occasionally freezing in mid-shot without any warning. I am a bit worried that I might have a defective something. I would very much like to know if anyone out there has the same or similar camera and has seen the following symptoms as well.

The camera appears to freeze in mid-shot: I press the trigger and the camera appears to take the picture, but then it doesn't come back: the viewfinder goes dark (status information disappears) and the LCD stays off even when I take the camera away from my face after the shot. The ON light stays on, even if I flip the power switch to OFF. The picture I am taking sometimes ends up corrupted on the memory card and it has to be reformatted. The problem only happens after extensive use of the camera and is reproducible: once it starts happening, every time I try to take a picture after that, the camera freezes and the only way to turn it off or power it back on is to take out the battery.

I did some troubleshooting and I discovered that the problem appears to be strongly connected with the battery, or rather how long it was since it was last charged and the drain on it: it happens sooner if I use my flash a lot. Once it starts happening it keeps happening every time until, in a moment of inspiration, I recharge my battery. Needless to say the battery keeps charging for hours after such an incident. With a freshly charged battery, it works just fine, until several hundred pictures later. When the camera starts freezing, the battery indicator says the battery is full or almost full. I suspect the battery indicator is wrong because the battery often stays "full" even just before the camera dies.

Thanks a lot!


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## Mav (Jan 12, 2008)

I'd just return or exchange it since it's brand new.


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## RTXPIX (Jan 12, 2008)

Mav said:


> I'd just return or exchange it since it's brand new.


 
I agree with MAV, if it's brand new don't risk it, take it back and get another one.  

RTX


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## yeti (Jan 12, 2008)

Yes, and they will give me another one. That's fine, but if that turns out to be a problem with Digital Rebel XTis in general, I would rather ask for something else.


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## Emerana (Jan 12, 2008)

are you by any chance shooting with a veeeeeery long shutter speed?  It does just that and if you switch it off mid photo, you can mess up your memory card and the computer.

otherwise, takei t back!  it is not supose to do that.  I have never had a freeze and I use it alot.


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## Sideburns (Jan 12, 2008)

it's not a problem with them in general...just yours


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## yeti (Jan 12, 2008)

Emerana: No, I am not shooting with a very slow shutter. I would know if I did  Anyway, it doesn't come back after 30 seconds and the camera doesn't support slower shutter speed than that.

I see. I believe I got my question answered. Thanks to all of you!


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## yeti (Jan 13, 2008)

Emerana, quick question: are any of your lens image-stabilized by any chance?

Another forum suggests that image-stabilized lens might be overloading the battery. This sounds really weird, but is worth checking out. My camera started doing that only after I attached an image-stabilized lens to it.


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## Emerana (Jan 13, 2008)

Yes my kit lens is IS actually...I dont use it a ton though.  But it still hasnt frozen up on me


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## jamesino (Jan 13, 2008)

I had that same problem. But it was just because my battery was low.


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## yeti (Jan 14, 2008)

Hi jamesino,

Yes, the camera freezes because its battery is low. That's to be expected, any modern computer would corrupt its memory when its power source is disturbed, digital cameras make no exception.

The problem is not why the camera is doing what it is doing, it is why it lets its battery run that low and still give no indication whatsoever of it! My camera would say the battery is full (3 bars!) even after 400 picutres without a charge! I guess you have the same problem.


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## alaidioteque (Aug 4, 2009)

I have this EXACT same problem, and it only started happening today after owning the camera for just over a year and a half. I lost some pretty cool moon shots .  I have an extended warranty- do you think I should try to exchange it? I've never had this problem before.


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## UUilliam (Aug 4, 2009)

1. It is nothing to do with a lens, the lens requires no power therefor it isnt the lens...
2. Have you ever let your battery drain? try let your batter drain right out, you should let your battery drain every 2weeks or so 
3. Image stabilisation is basically a loose piece of glass that moves when the lens moves (so to keep the camera steady by adjusting itself so the focus stays the same(for small shake ofcourse)


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## yeti (Aug 4, 2009)

alaidioteque said:


> I have this EXACT same problem, and it only started happening today after owning the camera for just over a year and a half. I lost some pretty cool moon shots .  I have an extended warranty- do you think I should try to exchange it? I've never had this problem before.



I exchanged mine with the next model up. I recommend you do the same. What's there to say that the next camera they give you won't have the same problem? In my researching this problem the first time, I found many people complaining from this, some of them bought the camera this way, others had theirs for a while before it started doing that.  My advise: exchange and let the retailer upsell you.


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## KmH (Aug 4, 2009)

yeti said:


> Hi again,
> 
> I have a brand new Canon Digital Rebel XTi, which appears to be occasionally freezing in mid-shot without any warning. I am a bit worried that I might have a defective something. I would very much like to know if anyone out there has the same or similar camera and has seen the following symptoms as well.
> 
> ...


Everything you mention sounds like you have a low battery. Does your battery level indicator work?


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## Samanax (Aug 4, 2009)

UUilliam said:


> 1. It is nothing to do with a lens, the lens requires no power therefor it isnt the lens...


You better do more research before posting misinformation like this. All Canon autofocus lenses use power (Canon puts the autofocus *motor* in the lens) and IS lenses use even more power (if you're using an IS lens and you press the shutter button halfway to lock focus you hear a faint whiring sound, that sound is the IS gyros working).





UUilliam said:


> 2. Have you ever let your battery drain? try let your batter drain right out, you should let your battery drain every 2weeks or so


If you mean use the battery until it's totally dead, then that's fine. But if you mean just let the battery sit around until it's dead, that's not so good. You really should never store a fully charged battery for too long or you'll reduce it's performance. It's okay to store fully drained batteries but if you a fully charged battery it's better to use it.





UUilliam said:


> 3. Image stabilisation is basically a loose piece of glass that moves when the lens moves (so to keep the camera steady by adjusting itself so the focus stays the same(for small shake ofcourse)


How do you think the lens adjusts itself? By magic? There are gyros in the lens body that help to reduce the impact of movement on the lens...these gyros use power.

*Canon EF Lens Technology: Image Stabilization*


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## Samanax (Aug 4, 2009)

KmH said:


> Everything you mention sounds like you have a low battery. Does your battery level indicator work?


KmH - Problem resolved. And original post was posted a year and a half ago. See quote below.





yeti said:


> I exchanged mine with the next model up. I recommend you do the same. What's there to say that the next camera they give you won't have the same problem? In my researching this problem the first time, I found many people complaining from this, some of them bought the camera this way, others had theirs for a while before it started doing that.  My advise: exchange and let the retailer upsell you.





alaidioteque said:


> I have this EXACT same problem, and it only started happening today after owning the camera for just over a year and a half. I lost some pretty cool moon shots .  I have an extended warranty- do you think I should try to exchange it? I've never had this problem before.


I've had my XTi for 20 months now and haven't had problems like the ones mentioned in this thread...but I use a battery grip and have four batteries so that might have something to do with it.

You may want to clean the contacts on the battery and in the battery chamber. I found that helps to fix some issues with my XTi.

Of course your battery may simply be coming to the end of it's useful lifespan...they don't last forever.


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## yeti (Aug 4, 2009)

KmH said:


> Everything you mention sounds like you have a low battery. Does your battery level indicator work?



 That was the problem: the battery level indicator WASN'T working. It would show "battery full" all the way until the battery runs dry. And then it would just drop dead without any warning, all the while showing Battery Full.  This was a year ago. A lot of people were complaining about this particular problem with this model at the time, and Canon wasn't doing much to fix it. At least not that I could see. I was lucky, my camera was brand new, so it didn't matter if the battery is defective, or the entire camera, I just returned both and got the next model up. And almost went bankrupt paying for it.


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## yeti (Aug 4, 2009)

Samanax said:


> I've had my XTi for 20 months now and haven't had problems like the ones mentioned in this thread...but I use a battery grip and have four batteries so that might have something to do with it.


Even them some people were saying "You are out of your mind, this camera works fine."  But then a lot of people were saying there is a problem. It must have been a bad batch or something. 


Samanax said:


> You may want to clean the contacts on the battery and in the battery chamber. I found that helps to fix some issues with my XTi.
> 
> Of course your battery may simply be coming to the end of it's useful lifespan...they don't last forever.



You are right, I didn't try that. Maybe it would have fixed it. Maybe not. I guess it doesn't matter anymore. It's been a year and a half, and I like my new camera better anyway. The new one was a keeper.  The XTi is much more compact, though. I miss that sometimes.


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## Samanax (Aug 4, 2009)

yeti said:


> It's been a year and a half, and I like my new camera better anyway. The new one was a keeper.


Which camera are you using now?


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