Shutter Bummed..
Got back this afternoon and took some shots of the birds in the backyard.
Upon reviewing the last batch I had taken, I noticed a strange ‘black fill’ across the bottom three-quarters of the image. Solid black - then a hint of image peering through above it. Weird.
I opened it up, cleaned the contacts, flicked the mirror to make sure it was all working and if the springs were sticking or something, closed it up again and shot off another burst of images. The first was fine, but the last three showed the same thing.
I clicked the shutter button once more, but suddenly my trusty 300D wasn’t firing anymore. It was scanning for a focus.
And that’s all it would do, just scan for a focus, never actually ‘get’ a focus.
Thankfully I had already done my promised photos for the day, but this didn’t solve my problem.
I opened it up again, checked and cleaned, put it back together - same story. Dammit!
In a stroke of chance, I flicked over to MF (manual focus) and fired.
*CLICK*
Off she went. Perfect photo…….. Huh?
Put it back into AF (auto focus) and again, no go. Just scanning for a focus. Back into MF and fires perfectly.
Swap lenses. Same story. Same for both lenses, so it rules that out.
Scouring the Internet for relevant discussion, it looks like my 300D has developed some sort of mirror pin problem (read: its probably broken) - so I guess my only option is to have it sent away to Canon for some repair work. Just great.
I guess its not too bad a service life, when you consider since purchase, my DSLR has fired off no less than 65,000 frames. All without a single drama.
It just won’t feel the same without having the third arm, the extension of myself around my neck or in the boot of the car in case of one of those ‘must have’ moments..
