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HELP something's gone wrong with my dslr canon eos 300D

Somethings happened to my canon eos
was at my youngest nursery play using the 18-55mm lens, taking photos great using the subpressed flash mode, photos were turning out great no problems
the camera was strapped round my neck so there was no bumps or anything
about half way through the camera just all of a sudden started producing nothing but black complete black photos, the lense cap was off and the lighting had not changed, afterwards i thought maybe i'd accidentally adjusted the settings or something so i went through every camera mode taking photos each mode with no luck, the shutter is still clicking away and the camera is still going through the process of taking photos, it sounds fine sounds like its doing everything it should, so i came home and changed the lense to rule that out, and its doing the same thing with the telescopic lense, i've tried with and without flash and every possible setting, it was taking photos great one min then pure black the next, i hadnt done anything from one click of the shutter it was fine to the next it wasn't
losts some really cracking shots at the end
I've checked on the pc and as suspected exactly as the camera is showing, first half perfect the last half all 100% black no matter what setting the shot was taken on
can you help??? i know something always goes wrong but not my dslr right before christmas i'm gutted, is it sortable or fixable
help???
thanx for your time, really hope you can help
kind regards Emma

was at my youngest nursery play using the 18-55mm lens, taking photos great using the subpressed flash mode, photos were turning out great no problems
the camera was strapped round my neck so there was no bumps or anything
about half way through the camera just all of a sudden started producing nothing but black complete black photos, the lense cap was off and the lighting had not changed, afterwards i thought maybe i'd accidentally adjusted the settings or something so i went through every camera mode taking photos each mode with no luck, the shutter is still clicking away and the camera is still going through the process of taking photos, it sounds fine sounds like its doing everything it should, so i came home and changed the lense to rule that out, and its doing the same thing with the telescopic lense, i've tried with and without flash and every possible setting, it was taking photos great one min then pure black the next, i hadnt done anything from one click of the shutter it was fine to the next it wasn't


can you help??? i know something always goes wrong but not my dslr right before christmas i'm gutted, is it sortable or fixable
help???
thanx for your time, really hope you can help
kind regards Emma

You haven't mentioned trying a different memory card. I'd doubt it's that if the first set of photos are still showing, but worth slotting in another card just in case.
There's also the "hard resets". I think you need to remove the main battery and possibly the CR2032 battery hidden in the battery compartment. Leave them for at least 5 minutes.
I don't really know what's happening, but it sounds like it's possibly more mechanical than software. i.e. mirror sticking up or something going astray during the exposure.
Can you release the shutter without a lens on at all?? Not sure if that's possible, maybe in M mode...?
Can you see through the viewfinder as normal?
There's also the "hard resets". I think you need to remove the main battery and possibly the CR2032 battery hidden in the battery compartment. Leave them for at least 5 minutes.
I don't really know what's happening, but it sounds like it's possibly more mechanical than software. i.e. mirror sticking up or something going astray during the exposure.
Can you release the shutter without a lens on at all?? Not sure if that's possible, maybe in M mode...?
Can you see through the viewfinder as normal?

Just found this which may help decide if it's a "sticky shutter" issue:
A stuck shutter is another common failure mode for digital cameras. The symptoms of a stuck or "sticky" shutter are very similar to CCD image sensor failure. The camera may take black pictures (for shutter stuck closed), or the pictures may be very bright and overexposed, especially when taken outdoors (for shutter stuck open).
To confirm a stuck shutter, put the camera in any mode other than "Auto", and turn the flash OFF (you don't want to blind yourself for the next step). Next look down the lens and take a picture. You should see a tiny flicker in the center of the lens as the shutter opens and closes. If no movement is seen, then you likely have a stuck shutter. If so, please see the following for further info and a simple fix that may help:
http://camerarepair.blogspot.com/2009/05/simple-fix-for-stuck-shutter.html
Above link
There's some interesting info in that above link. Click on the Canon advisory thing from that website and there's another method mentioned of how to possibly release a stuck shutter.
Hope all this is helping...
A stuck shutter is another common failure mode for digital cameras. The symptoms of a stuck or "sticky" shutter are very similar to CCD image sensor failure. The camera may take black pictures (for shutter stuck closed), or the pictures may be very bright and overexposed, especially when taken outdoors (for shutter stuck open).
To confirm a stuck shutter, put the camera in any mode other than "Auto", and turn the flash OFF (you don't want to blind yourself for the next step). Next look down the lens and take a picture. You should see a tiny flicker in the center of the lens as the shutter opens and closes. If no movement is seen, then you likely have a stuck shutter. If so, please see the following for further info and a simple fix that may help:
http://camerarepair.blogspot.com/2009/05/simple-fix-for-stuck-shutter.html
Above link
There's some interesting info in that above link. Click on the Canon advisory thing from that website and there's another method mentioned of how to possibly release a stuck shutter.
Hope all this is helping...

Can't tell you how to diagnose the mirror problem but there was this topic a few weeks ago about a similar problem with a 300D.
The link has all the info and pictures to attempt the repair yourself if it's the hinge problem, but it looks very fiddly.
At the bottom of the EPZ page, someone has had theirs fixed for £90 in Edinburgh - not a million miles away from you! Might be worth finding that company and giving them a call?
The link has all the info and pictures to attempt the repair yourself if it's the hinge problem, but it looks very fiddly.
At the bottom of the EPZ page, someone has had theirs fixed for £90 in Edinburgh - not a million miles away from you! Might be worth finding that company and giving them a call?

Sorry to be persistant with the mirror issues but there's another EPZ topic here from some time ago about the pins holding the mirror(s) in and together...
I know you said it's working fine, but do either of us know exactly how the mirror moves or operates when a shot is taken? I still think it could be part of the issue.
Failing that, the only other thing I found while Googling was failure of the CMOS chip - the "eye" of the camera itself. No idea how to test that...
Did you try taking a photo with no lens attached at all?? I'm sure that should show up as something on the memory card, if the shutter will actually release at all. I'm not with my camera at the moment so I can't try it myself. But I think I've taken shots with a lens reversed on the camera body and the shutter still fired though there's no lens to make contact with.
If you get an all white image, i.e. overexposed, with no lens on at all, maybe the CMOS chip is fine and it could confirm if it's a mirror issue or not.
I know you said it's working fine, but do either of us know exactly how the mirror moves or operates when a shot is taken? I still think it could be part of the issue.
Failing that, the only other thing I found while Googling was failure of the CMOS chip - the "eye" of the camera itself. No idea how to test that...
Did you try taking a photo with no lens attached at all?? I'm sure that should show up as something on the memory card, if the shutter will actually release at all. I'm not with my camera at the moment so I can't try it myself. But I think I've taken shots with a lens reversed on the camera body and the shutter still fired though there's no lens to make contact with.
If you get an all white image, i.e. overexposed, with no lens on at all, maybe the CMOS chip is fine and it could confirm if it's a mirror issue or not.

the camera does fire without lense, taking a photo whilst no lense still produces a black photo
I understand what your saying about the mirrors and yeah we dont know
it was pointed out to me that something dont sound too good with the shutter nose, changing the shutter speed you aparently should notice a difference in timing of the nose but apparently there isnt a difference (i was in glasgow in a slr shop i was in a while ago they dont repair digital) but the woman over the counter checked a different memory card for me and double checked my settings just to be helpful.....)
Any ideas?
or anyone know anyone that can take a look at it in my local area North Lanarkshire scotland?
once again thankyou very much

I understand what your saying about the mirrors and yeah we dont know

it was pointed out to me that something dont sound too good with the shutter nose, changing the shutter speed you aparently should notice a difference in timing of the nose but apparently there isnt a difference (i was in glasgow in a slr shop i was in a while ago they dont repair digital) but the woman over the counter checked a different memory card for me and double checked my settings just to be helpful.....)
Any ideas?
or anyone know anyone that can take a look at it in my local area North Lanarkshire scotland?
once again thankyou very much