Canon Rebel XT hates u/w

[Wayfarer2]

How old is it?

My 20d was about 3 years old and it did the same thing, wouldn’t auto focus under water, soon after it wouldn’t auto focus at all. I suspect that the port or underwater environment makes it harder for the camera to auto focus and so the problem showed up underwater first.

Next.
DON’T send it to Cannon for repair! I sent mine in for an estimate. They contacted me and told me it would be $185.00 so I approved the estimate. Turns out Canons “estimate” is based on the model and age of the camera only. No one actually touched my camera to come up with the estimate. When I got my camera back they sent me a nice note in the box saying that they couldn’t reproduce the error and had cleaned and adjusted to camera back to factory specs. I tried it and it worked ok on land in and out of the housing, first shot under water nothing! Called Canon and they pretty much told me tough luck and would not refund me the repair cost. I should add that at this point it still worked on land 90% of the time but soon after it stopped working all together. I know it wasn’t my lenses because I have a 10d that they all work fine on and borrowed a friends Rebel Xti and it worked with all the lenses too. I finally took a chance and bought another used 20d on eBay so that the housing wasn’t a total waste. The new 20d works just fine, so far.

 

[MarkH]

I occasionally have the same problem with mine (XT). Maybe they send the crap ones to Canada. Mine started about 3 months after I bought it. I was thinking of getting it repaired since it was still under warranty, but the Canon center said that there was only one authorised repair center in Canada (Calgary). I called them and they said they had a 3 month backlog before they could even look at the camera. I figured they wouldn't be able to reproduce the problem anyway so why bother. I find that mine has the same problem on the surface in sub-zero temperatures. I don't know if it's the same with yours, but when mine freezes up (everything still works except for the shutter release), I can "reset" it by removing the battery and replacing it. Of course I can't do this underwater. I thought I could bypass the shutter button by rigging up a remote cable release in the housing, but that didn't work either (so it's not just the shutter-release push button). Usually (on the surface and underwater) I have to hold down the shutter release button for a second or two before it will take the picture. I almost have a feeling its a processor problem. I know another local guy with an XT with exactly the same issue. I guess the Rebel series is for new photographers that want a "serious" camera and then get bored with it and put it in a closet after taking 50 or so shots. I'm cheap so I'm still putting up with it.

 

[Dannybot]

I don't know if this is of any help, but what memory card are you using? See the "issues" section: Canon EOS 350D - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 

[Diver Dennis]

Trinity,

One word, pressure.

If your camera will happily take photos in the housing on dry land, I'd bet under pressure something is flexing in the housing and a button somewhere is pressing a control.

This would effectively lock out any function of the camera until that control is not pressed.

dhaas

I had this problem with the Ike housing a couple of times until I figured it out. The lens release button was being pushed by the arm on the housing and it would not take photos past a certain depth.

 

[AUTiger]

I definitely support the idea that a random buttom is being pushed and held by the water pressure or a poor housing design.

Even with my D80 and Ike, I occassionally leave one of the levers/button arms positioned to close to a button. After a while (or maybe due to pressure), the button becomes pressed and the camera gets locked out. I have to go through the knobs one by one to figure out which is in the wrong position.

Another thing to consider is does the camera work at 1 foot deep? 10 feet deep? 50 feet deep? This might help you diagnose the situation.

David

 

[scubadds49]

Hi! I am considering purchasing the Fantasea 350D Housing for my Digital Rebel XT. I am very interested in the resolution to this problem. Have you taken any pictures in warm water with the setup? I am considering upgrading my SeaLife DC500 to a DC800 or purchasing a Sea & Sea DX-1G instead of the housing idea. Any thoughts? Steve

 

[Goldmember]

Hi. Don't know if this helps, but I have had an issue with a canon compact camera and housing that might be interesting for you. At a certain point underwater my camera would no longer focus and would stop functioning. I thought my camera had given up but back above water out of it's housing it worked fine again. It turned out that the shutter button had given up (rust in the spring) and became depressed (!) at a certain depth underwater and would stay locked in that position. Although I don't think there is any rust in your housing, I do agree that it could well be a button / pressure issue of the housing / fit of the housing to the camera. Good luck!