Dear Forum members,

a Canon EOS50e which I'd been using for approx. 10 weeks is dead: the camera had functioned flawlessly 30 minutes before, with the battery symbol indicating 'full'; I switched it off, turned it on, and realised the LCD on top was completely blank. (It should show at least a film symbol and a frame number.) I changed the battery and the camera remained as dead as a fried chicken. Playing with all the controls changed nothing.

I bought the camera used around Pentecost this year. Serial number is 275xxxx. (Code in film chamber indicates production in March 1996.) The camera had been checked by a reputable dealer (and that's my experience from several years dealing with that store) and functioned perfectly. I haven't exposed it to mechanical stress (dropping etc.), rain or even salt water, and have never used it with a 3rd party lens or a flash unit with high trigger voltage. I cleaned the battery contacts, to no avail. The dealer checked the voltage of both batteries: the new one was 6.2V. He had no idea what might be wrong; all he could do was to remove the film for me.

Can anyone of you suggest a remedy? Has the same happened to you? Have I ignored something obvious?

¡TIA!

-- Oliver Schrinner (piraya@hispavista.com), August 14, 2001

Answers

Looks like a serious technical/electronical fault. You may try to leave the camera without a battery overnight, perhaps that resets the electronics but I'm afraid you will have to take the camera to a repair centre.

-- Jos van Eekelen (jos@compuserve.com), August 14, 2001.

Hi Oliver -- the IIe has a reputation for the battery slipping down and away from the contact at the top of the battery well. I have never had this happen (owned mine since about March, '96) but the remedy I have seen is to tear a business card into pieces and place one in the bottom of the well between the bottom of the battery and the battery door so that the battery door pushes the battery up a little further when closed. Don't go too thick so that the door has trouble closing. You don't want to force it. You want the contacts to mate and nothing more. Also, clean the contacts on both the battery and in the battery well. That can have the same effect. I use a BP-50 becasue I have such big hands and clean the contacts every time I change the battery or prior to an important engagement. Good luck, I hope it is merely the battery needing to be pushed up a bit. I hope this helps Oliver. Victor

-- Victor (Catmanman@aol.com), August 14, 2001.