# My 5D Mark III most likely have cancer



## DovydasMiliauskas (Jul 24, 2013)

So, I bought my 5D Mark III in June 2012, and was really satisfied with the image quality and how it handled ISO compared to my previous 60D. 
Well, months passed by, and in december, right before I was going to Africa for a documentary shoot, me and the crew decided to try out what camera system we should use. That's when I noticed the first issue I got. 
After offloading the media to the computer, the CF card, that I've been using since I bought the camera, made the camera stop operating. The top screen said that a CF card was inside, but the picture count was blank. None of the buttons worked for a while, but when they finally did, I tried to format the card, but the camera just told me to format the card inside another unit. Tried with no success. Within a week, I invested in over 200GB of SD cards. Because it worked flawlessly. 

I've tried several other CF cards, and some of them worked, but after a month of use, they would also stop working with my camera unit. 

Now a couple weeks ago, my camera started to freeze up while recording. It wouldn't let me stop the recording, wouldn't let me scrub through the menus, etc. At some points the camera didn't even turn on with a fully charged battery, and a CF card inside. Seems like some sort of software glich to me, but it gets really annoying after a while. The CF problem was just a little annoying. All I needed to do was buy a buttload of SD cards. But I really don't want my camera to freeze while on a shoot. 

Any of you guys know what might possibly be the problem? I do want to send my camera in for a check, but I have quite alot of upcomming projects, and really need my dying 5D. At the time, I do not have enough income that it would get profitable to rent a unit.


----------



## Jim Saunders (Jul 24, 2013)

Have you tried Canontumors.com?

Jim


----------



## Click (Jul 24, 2013)

Canontumors.com


LOL ;D That's a good one!


----------



## Jim Saunders (Jul 24, 2013)

To give you a halfway useful answer the best recommendation I can give you is to get it replaced under warranty; Once nearly anything electronic starts getting screwy it usually doesn't heal itself.

That said if you can reload the firmware without shipping it back, then I'd say you have little to lose for trying it.

Jim


----------



## CharlieB (Jul 24, 2013)

My 7D that I got last year had a similar problem - and several others. Turns out it was the CF slot - which canon replaced (or the contact block at its end... not sure how its constructed). 

They also replaced the shutter release switch and at least part of the AF mechanism which was really malfunctioning badly.

End result - AF works perfectly, CF works perfectly, and the shutter release is working perfectly. 

I'm saying this in order to encourage you - my camera would not AF past about 7 meters or under about 2 meters, the CF card would show up "missing" even when in the slot... with four different cards of different types tried, and the shutter would go full auto on single shot - and I don't mean an occasional double shot, I mean twenty frames or more shot ... even when no finger was on the release. I still get the occasional double... gotta be my fat finger.

Canon came through 100 percent.... and the 7D is my go-to for AF performance (beats the 5Dii in that regard, hands down!)


----------



## GDub (Jul 24, 2013)

DovydasMiliauskas said:


> So, I bought my 5D Mark III in June 2012...
> Well, *moths* passed by, and in december, right before I was going to Africa for a documentary shoot, me and the crew decided to try out what camera system we should use....



It was moths! Feckin' hell, I never would have thunk it.


----------



## scottkinfw (Jul 24, 2013)

I wouldn't trust it on an important shoot until it gets fixed!

You can rent in mean time, or, a second body is always handy.

sek



GDub said:


> DovydasMiliauskas said:
> 
> 
> > So, I bought my 5D Mark III in June 2012...
> ...


----------



## jdramirez (Jul 24, 2013)

Canon professional services will loan you a camera while your's is getting fixed... but you have to pay a membership... not sure if the 100 dollar level will suffice, but it might be worth calling.


----------



## sanfranchristo (Jul 24, 2013)

Analogies of "dying" equipment to cancer are always fun! Ha ha...ha...yeah, not so much. Poor choice of words dude - not a joking matter for many.


----------



## jdramirez (Jul 24, 2013)

sanfranchristo said:


> Analogies of "dying" equipment to cancer are always fun! Ha ha...ha...yeah, not so much. Poor choice of words dude - not a joking matter for many.



come on. why it's everyone so touchy. it isn't this guy's fault that someone smoked a pack of cigarettes a day for forty years or another never invested in sun block. 

but if you must, maybe he should changed the title to smallpox, or is that still too recent for you?


----------



## Mt Spokane Photography (Jul 25, 2013)

Rent a replacement while you are waiting for a repair. 


The first thing that comes to mind is a bad CF slot, that was a issue in early production. It wasn't a huge issue, but there were more failures of the CF slot than expected. Since it works with SD, that seems to make the CF slot highly suspect.


There are many other possibilities, and you need to have it repaired.


----------



## luciolepri (Jul 26, 2013)

DovydasMiliauskas said:


> Any of you guys know what might possibly be the problem? I do want to send my camera in for a check, but I have quite alot of upcomming projects, and really need my dying 5D. At the time, I do not have enough income that it would get profitable to rent a unit.



My 5D MKIII, after a couple of months, continuously stopped recording. I started formatting my cards twice: a first deep formatting with the computer and a second in-camera formatting. Everything is working just fine, since then. Anyway, your problem looks more serious and the CF slot may be involved. I wouldn't trust the camera until you have it fixed and if you can't invest in a rent, I think you should consider to skip a couple of projects, if a freezing, in your kind of work, is a big deal...


----------



## Viggo (Jul 26, 2013)

Jim Saunders said:


> Have you tried Canontumors.com?
> 
> Jim



I almost squirted coffee out my nose over my keyboard on that one. Very funny ;D


----------



## rpt (Jul 26, 2013)

Viggo said:


> Jim Saunders said:
> 
> 
> > Have you tried Canontumors.com?
> ...


 ;D
Luckily no coffee, tea or spiritual liquid in my mouth at the time I read that!


----------



## J.R. (Jul 28, 2013)

Mt Spokane Photography said:


> Rent a replacement while you are waiting for a repair.
> 
> 
> The first thing that comes to mind is a bad CF slot, that was a issue in early production. It wasn't a huge issue, but there were more failures of the CF slot than expected. Since it works with SD, that seems to make the CF slot highly suspect.
> ...



+1 

The pins in the CF card slot can sometimes bend - usually after the CF card has been used in a el-cheapo card reader and put back in. Bad card readers can cause damage to the CF card which can in turn cause problems with the camera. Thumb rule is, never be aggressive while trying to put the CF in the slot or the old faithful - always use the USB cable to d/l photos to your computer.


----------

