Err message in Canon 5D, some suggestions please

[leon]

Hi guys, I have a Canon 5D which has been fine until last night.

I have had it from new and it has served me well until the message Err came up on the screen and from there on it played up even shooting when it was turned off, or shooting in off and no card in the camera.

The error message has no number with it and is just ERR.

I played around with it a bit and it seems to have come good, but i want it for lightning shots tonight and sure as hell when i go out it will stop again.

So what may have caused this and do you think it will behave in the future or is there something lurking in the background.

Your suggestions would be much appreciated, thank you.

Leon

[bojan]

Leon,

Have you tried this blog? Ask them, maybe someone knows,
https://canonrepair.wordpress.com/readers/


It is not on the list...
https://canonrepair.wordpress.com/2014/01/14/error-codes-in-eos-dslr/
https://www.stellarinfo.com/article/canon-error-codes-and-fixes.php

[leon]

Many Thanks bojan, much appreciated.

Leon

[Nikolas]

when a err message comes up like that it could be dirty contacts on the lens you are using, also when you clean the contacts remove the battery let it go for a few minutes then replace back in.

[leon]

Will do Nik, thank you.

Just out of interest for any further inquires, could my power source cause any issues. :shrug:

I have always used batteries and things seemed fine, however when this issue occurred i had used a Canon ACK-E2 Adapter, a unit that gives continuous power, no need for batteries.

I have used this before on other occasions and it all seemed fine.

However on this occasion i had it plugged into a very long extension that i fabricated myself with twin flex cable etc, it was 25 meters long.

Could the length of the cable have an effect on the power supply needed to operate this adapter, was there to much of a power drop, maybe.

So if that was the case could this low power cause a malfunction to the Camera, something has happened as the Camera still has the issue, i think something is damaged. :shrug:

Leon :thumbsup:

[bojan]

Leon,

Hmm.. Did you have 25 metres of cable between camera and PS, or are you talking about 25 metres of 240VAC cable?

25 metres of cable between camera and power source is not a good idea.. this means there is a substantial inductance inserted in power rail that could damage the camera (in principle).

Did you notice error like flat battery?

[LewisM]

I used to get the ERR code on a 4D I had. Clean the lens contacts ON THE LENS (not the camera body) with a pencil eraser and try again. Worked with mine and those cheap stock lenses (never had the issue with the non-kit lenses)

[bojan]

Yep.. BTW, do you have problem w/o lens attached?

[leon]

Thanks guys, yes lens or no lens it made no difference, it even fired when it was turned off.
And when it was shooting in this error mode nothing would come up on the screen, and nothing was available for review.

Bojan, i had 25 meters from wall socket to adapter.

Leon

[bojan]

OK, so 25 metres of 240VAC?
Not 25m of cable with 8V?

If you had 25 metres of low voltage cable, that could have been the issue, because cameras are not designed to work with significant inductance in series with battery or power supply source.
I am not suggesting this was the cause of problem, but I wouldn't do it... as I mentioned, too much inductance in power rail.

The problem is, current surges (natural thing with digital circuitry) could generate high over-voltage spikes in series inductance.. Now, those should be smoothed by onboard capacitors, but.. cameras are not designed to be operated like this, with inductance in series with battery, so there was some possibility of damage. Then again it could be just curious coincidence....

[leon]

Thanks Bojan, I do have to say you are probably right, as the camera has never failed since i bought it some 13 years ago.

Plug it in once with an adapter and it is history, a coincidence maybe,:shrug:

Leon:thumbsup: