"Error CF Card" message on my 5D classic

heatherfeather

Hi all...
My 5D classic (read, backup camera) is having an issue... it focuses perfectly, seems to work and then when you press the shutter all the way an error message pops up "CF card error" or "CF card needs formatted"... (and when you go to format, it says "can not format card"....no matter what card I put in it. The same cards work just fine in my 5DMKII.... I am at my whits end trying to trouble shoot this. Any ideas?

What I have tried:
I disconnected the battery for a while...
I looked to see if any pins seemed bent or anything... looked fine, but what do I know about that... (nothing, really)
I gave it a goood cleaning
I changed lenses
I checked settings

I have no clue where to go from here other than send it into Canon for a checkup and fixup... but my issue is I would like to have it on hand for backup for all the shoots I have this week. So, if you guys have any ideas of things I could do, I would appreciate it.

ziggy53

Specifically which cards are not working on the 5D? (Be as complete as you can including any numbers on the side/edge of the card.)

Also, what firmware version is on the 5D?

aj986s

Sounds like a camera problem. Probably needs to be serviced at a shop. But on a longshot, try peering into the cardslot with a flash light to confirm if there's anything in there that shouldn't be, or if a pin might bent. For temporary backup purposes, is it possible to tether the camera to a laptop and record images directly to the laptop?

heatherfeather

Ziggy, I tried a number of different card brands...

Sandisc Ultra CF 8GB -B1090812902B
ATP highspeed CF 4GB -2L61M25 ACF0805001 E0820D (this is not a brand name card)
Kingstone...

and all the cards work on my MKII...

And
Aj, no such luck... it all looks great. The thing is that is hard is when it started, I wasn't the one using the camera... and she just told me there was a problem. She had just filled a 4 gig card when it said it was full. Those photos were recorded fine. When she changed it started giving the error messages.

WinsomeWorks

heatherfeather wrote: »

Hi all...
My 5D classic (read, backup camera) is having an issue... it focuses perfectly, seems to work and then when you press the shutter all the way an error message pops up "CF card error" or "CF card needs formatted"... (and when you go to format, it says "can not format card"....no matter what card I put in it. The same cards work just fine in my 5DMKII.... I am at my whits end trying to trouble shoot this. Any ideas?

What I have tried:
I disconnected the battery for a while...
I looked to see if any pins seemed bent or anything... looked fine, but what do I know about that... (nothing, really)
I gave it a goood cleaning
I changed lenses
I checked settings

I have no clue where to go from here other than send it into Canon for a checkup and fixup... but my issue is I would like to have it on hand for backup for all the shoots I have this week. So, if you guys have any ideas of things I could do, I would appreciate it.

All of this is precisely what happened to me when my Nikon needed shutter repair. The fact that NO cards work is sorta the clincher, and also the fact that it focuses & then won't do anything. When this happened to mine, I'd just shot a thousand or more shots in the 12 hours preceding it, and had just returned from a 7,000-shot trip. This is an old 2001 Nikon though-- D1x, which had taken hundreds of thousands of shots. In fact, it just returned to the shop from the repair. After looking up the symptoms online, I was pretty sure the shutter needed replacement. Obviously I don't know this is your problem for sure (and I don't know Canons or how old that model is. But I can't think of what else it may be.

heatherfeather

Well, I heard back from the Canon Factory Service... and they want me to send it in. Any idea how much they charge to do fixups? Is it worth fixing?
It probably has 130,000+ shutter actuations... Since I have had it since 2008... (and this has even been my backup since 2009)

ChatKat

CPS will send you an estimate before repair. Are you a member of the CPS Program?

Matthew Saville

heatherfeather wrote: »

Well, I heard back from the Canon Factory Service... and they want me to send it in. Any idea how much they charge to do fixups? Is it worth fixing?
It probably has 130,000+ shutter actuations... Since I have had it since 2008... (and this has even been my backup since 2009)

These types of repairs will run from $100 to $200 or $300.

=Matt=

Digic

I had exactly the same problem with my old 20D. I got various messages such as "CF Error" and "No CF". It turned out that the pins in the cameras CF card slot which locate into the card had somehow collapsed into their carrier.
The camera is old so I stripped it down until I got the CF carrier exposed and indeed could see the pins pushed out thru the bottom of the carrier. I poked them all back into position but they were pushed straight back out again as soon as I pushed a CF card into the carrier. So, I put a nice big 8gb CF card in (well... big for an 8mp camera anyway!) and carefully poked all the pins into the base of the card while it was in the camera and put it all back together. It still works 3 years later but I have to remember I MUST not take the card out!
A replacement card slot/carrier is about £30, so I will replace it one day!

Si.

Digic

.....btw, if you look into the CF card slot at the pins in the bottom, you should be able to see if this is the same issue with your camera.

Si

WinsomeWorks

heatherfeather wrote: »

Well, I heard back from the Canon Factory Service... and they want me to send it in. Any idea how much they charge to do fixups? Is it worth fixing?
It probably has 130,000+ shutter actuations... Since I have had it since 2008... (and this has even been my backup since 2009)

I believe mine (the Nikon) is costing $360. I sent it through Dan's Camera City, an excellent shop in Allentown PA. But they send it out for that type of repair (shutter replacement) anyway. I'd found online prices quotes of about $400, so what I'm paying doesn't sound out of the ordinary. Oh-- - they also replaced some rubber grips, etc. that were missing & that may have cost some extra. They told me the thorough cleaning (incl. sensor) is part of any repair; i.e. you can't really separate that part out. In my case, it was badly needed anyway, so I was glad for that.

rmhesketh

Hi Heather
Having the same problem with my 5d.... sending it off to Canon; i'll keep you posted. Good luck