5d mk2 will not turn on

swintonphoto · November 11, 2011

So, I showed up to a wedding today with my 5dmk2 in hand and it would not turn on. I changed batteries, memory card, lenses, etc. no luck. I was lucky my wedding was only a few miles from my local camera dealer (pictureline), and they loaned me their floor model for the day so I could shoot my wedding. I have been photographing weddings for 15 years and have always had a backup. This one time I didn't have one and this happens... Anyone else had any problems getting their 5dmk2 to power on? Should I just send it straight to Canon for evaluation and repair? I bought the camera just over a year ago so it is out of warranty. How expensive are their repairs typically?

Andy · November 11, 2011

try removing the other battery too - see the manual for instructions. sometimes this helps to reset things. Failing that, off to canon with it

Matthew Saville · November 12, 2011

I hate this time of year, when I have to send one or both of my cameras in for regular service, and I get stuck with shooting with a single camera or an unknown loaner. Eesh.

Sounds like a common problem, I think the camera will probably come back to life after a little while, and the internal clock battery trick might work but after just a year that shouldn't be a problem. You never know! Either way, I'd say that if you're a wedding photographer, your main camera should go in for service once a year or at least every 1.5-2 years. It's just safe practice. Get that kinda stuff checked out.

Chances are, it's a $100-200 repair. Very few repairs on a $3000 DSLR can cost more than $300, unless you dunk it or smash it.

Good luck!
=Matt=

swintonphoto · November 16, 2011

Thanks for your ideas Andy and Matt. I tried the internal clock battery but no dice. Sent it in to Canon for service.

Overfocused · November 17, 2011

I had my internal power supply fail, might be the same problem as you. It was $210 total including shipping for the repair

swintonphoto · November 18, 2011

I think that is what the problem likely is. I have found many other photographers posting on forums with the same problem. Seems that Canon needs to do something to make sure this doesn't happen.

jhefti · November 20, 2011

Quite coincidentally my 5D2 did something similar at a game last friday. First it stopped shooting with a busy signal on the LCD display, then it died. It restarted once or twice, but finally fully died. Unfortunately the stadium lighting was horrible at this game, so I was really counting on using this as my main camera.

When I got home I discovered that attached vertical grip was loose. Once tightened, it worked fine. Damn!! Should have figured this out at the game!

Probably *not* what's going on for the OP, but thought I'd at least suggest looking at this.

5d mk2 will not turn on

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