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Used a remote release on my XTi - now the camera doesn't work

dllavaneras

dllavaneras

macrumors 68000
Original poster
Feb 12, 2005
1,948
2
Caracas, Venezuela
I tried a remote release for my XTi in a recent photography course. We were using trail cameras, and one of the cameras (film) had a remote release that fit in the remote jack in my XTi. We tried it out and the camera wouldn't fire when the sensor was triggered. I removed the jack, and now the camera is unresponsive. The only button that works is the display button (turns the screen on/off). The camera won't let me change ISO, WB, AF points, access the menu, review the pictures or anything else.

As soon as you turn it on, it starts to AF and hunt to take a picture. I've tried removing the batteries from the battery grip and removing the memory card, but with no luck.

Any tips or suggestions? The camera has very limited use as is.
 
jbernie

jbernie

macrumors 6502a
Nov 25, 2005
927
12
Denver, CO
How long did you remove the battery grip for? Maybe disconnect it for 30 minutes or even overnight.

I am trying to remember if there is a 2nd battery (like cmos on pc) that you can remove to reset the camera.

I would be surprised that a remote could do something like that though...
 
dllavaneras

dllavaneras

macrumors 68000
Original poster
Feb 12, 2005
1,948
2
Caracas, Venezuela
mattyb240 said:
Did this remote have batteries or carry any charge?
Click to expand...

The remote was for a trail cam. Here's a picture of the remote. The cable is the black one, upper right corner.



jbernie said:
How long did you remove the battery grip for? Maybe disconnect it for 30 minutes or even overnight.
Click to expand...

I didn't remove the battery grip per se, I merely removed the battery tray. I removed it for a few minutes. The camera worked for a few minutes later that night, but now it's stuck again.

marioman38 said:
Change the drive mode to continuous or single shot. If thats not possible, there may be a way to load firmware on the CF card.
Click to expand...

I can't access those functions. I press the buttons and nothing happens. And to upload the firmware I'd need to be able to access the menu, which I can't. I can't even review the pictures.
 
A

anubis

macrumors 6502a
Feb 7, 2003
937
50
Oh yeah, you definitely hosed your XTi. The remote trigger port for the XT, XTi, etc is triggered by shorting the two terminals. I built my own remote trigger cable by soldering a push button and 3/32nd jack to some CAT5 ethernet cable. The button just shorts the two terminals of the jack and that triggers the shutter. I'm assuming that this remote shutter trigger supplies some kind of charge through the cable to the camera, which would fry your XTi.

There is probably nothing you can do except count your losses and upgrade to full frame ;)
 
dllavaneras

dllavaneras

macrumors 68000
Original poster
Feb 12, 2005
1,948
2
Caracas, Venezuela
mattyb240 said:
I'm guessing it sent a charge to the camera then? If so perhaps it's fried?
Click to expand...

I don't think all is lost. The camera still auto-focuses, takes pictures, exposes correctly and writes to the memory card. It's just that I can't access most of the functions.

anubis said:
Oh yeah, you definitely hosed your XTi. (...) I'm assuming that this remote shutter trigger supplies some kind of charge through the cable to the camera, which would fry your XTi.

There is probably nothing you can do except count your losses and upgrade to full frame ;)
Click to expand...

Haha, I certainly hope not! :p Like I said the camera works, albeit in a limited way. It also randomly works perfectly, so I'm guessing not all is lost. If all is lost, then I probably wouldn't upgrade to full frame yet. Maybe a 50D or a 7D... (wishful thinking).

I'm looking for info on that internal battery someone mentioned. Maybe by resetting the camera things would go back to normal.
 
jbernie

jbernie

macrumors 6502a
Nov 25, 2005
927
12
Denver, CO
I downloaded the manual... looks like the XTi has a date/time battery but no indication of it doing anything to maintain power, see pg 155 of the manual if in English.

I would suggest removing the battery grip altogether and then inserting a full charged battery into the battery compartment just in case it is an issue with the battery grip providing power and not the camera body itself.

Maybe contact Canon, given you attached a non OEM part to the Camera I doubt your warranty will help cover any repairs, but maybe they can suggest ways to "reset" something.

Otherwise, you might be on the lookout for a new body.
 
FX120

FX120

macrumors 65816
May 18, 2007
1,173
235
Sounds like it is stuck in AF-On as if the shutter was half-pressed.

Did the cable from the trail trigger have a connector with two sections, or three?
 
dllavaneras

dllavaneras

macrumors 68000
Original poster
Feb 12, 2005
1,948
2
Caracas, Venezuela
FX120 said:
Sounds like it is stuck in AF-On as if the shutter was half-pressed.

Did the cable from the trail trigger have a connector with two sections, or three?
Click to expand...

That's exactly what it acts like. As soon as I turn on the camera, it starts auto-focusing and won't let me do anything else.

The connector had three sections, if I recall correctly.
 
FX120

FX120

macrumors 65816
May 18, 2007
1,173
235
dllavaneras said:
That's exactly what it acts like. As soon as I turn on the camera, it starts auto-focusing and won't let me do anything else.

The connector had three sections, if I recall correctly.
Click to expand...

Hmmm.... Sounds to me like this could be a mechanical problem with the jack on your camera.

It might be worth your while just to make the trip down to a Radio Shack and buy the $4.00 in parts you need to build up your own release cable, and test function with that. Simply inserting and removing the correct size connector may fix the problem.
 
dllavaneras

dllavaneras

macrumors 68000
Original poster
Feb 12, 2005
1,948
2
Caracas, Venezuela
FX120 said:
Hmmm.... Sounds to me like this could be a mechanical problem with the jack on your camera.

It might be worth your while just to make the trip down to a Radio Shack and buy the $4.00 in parts you need to build up your own release cable, and test function with that. Simply inserting and removing the correct size connector may fix the problem.
Click to expand...

I really hope the solution is that simple. Would you happen to have a link to a site explaining the process of making my own release cable? All the ones I've seen are DIY mods for existing releases. Thanks in advance!
 
jbernie

jbernie

macrumors 6502a
Nov 25, 2005
927
12
Denver, CO
This might be too logical.. but could you take your camera to a local store and try a proper remote connected to it to see if it resets the camera? You could probably do it all for the cost of gas
 
dllavaneras

dllavaneras

macrumors 68000
Original poster
Feb 12, 2005
1,948
2
Caracas, Venezuela
jbernie said:
This might be too logical.. but could you take your camera to a local store and try a proper remote connected to it to see if it resets the camera? You could probably do it all for the cost of gas
Click to expand...

I have searched high and low for a store that has a proper remote, but living where I do, it's hard to come by. I'll try to find a remote, though.
 
dllavaneras

dllavaneras

macrumors 68000
Original poster
Feb 12, 2005
1,948
2
Caracas, Venezuela
jbernie said:
I am trying to remember if there is a 2nd battery (like cmos on pc) that you can remove to reset the camera.
Click to expand...

Apparently, that was the problem.

I sent the camera for repairs last week. They claimed the motherboard was fried, and that it would have to be replaced. Price for repairs? 1300 dollars. Delivery? Mid-January. I politely told them "No, thanks" and picked up my camera today. As soon as I turned it on, it asked me to set the date and time, just like the first time I turned it on. After that, the camera worked fine. I still have to give it a very thorough test this weekend, but so far, that reset (I don't know how to do it) fixed the problem. I'll update when I get back on Sunday.

Thanks to all that helped out! =)
 
jbernie

jbernie

macrumors 6502a
Nov 25, 2005
927
12
Denver, CO
Well that is the best non $1300 repair I know off. Well done on getting it fixed in a really round about way. Hopefully it works %100 or close to it and you can get a lot more use out of it.
 
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