Jimmy T Loc: Virginia

This is my first post, so please be gentle. <Grin> I have a Canon 7D and a couple of Canon lenses & a 430EXII flash. When the camera was just out of warranty I started having problems with the camera locking up and displaying the dreaded Canon "Error Code-30". The dreaded "Error Code-30" appeared on the rear screen of my camera with ever increasing frequency. In fact, I have had several different error codes appear in less than desirable times and increasing frequency, usually when a fleeting "perfect shot" would present itself in my view finder. I have also done many Google searches and general research on this phenomenon rather than just give up and send my only DSLR body, and my hard earned $$$ to Canon for an alleged "shutter malfunction". The following is just my experience and should not be construed as an absolute fix for all Canon "Error-30" warnings. In some cases, "Error-30", may be a justified shutter issue. In my case it was not. I too, have tried all of the "rebooting fixes", including, but not limited to the following:
1. "Removing the battery for at least 30 seconds and reinstalling". I can only assume that this is Canon's equivalent recommendation of Ctrl-Alt-Delete for a computer.
2. Removing the battery, lens, and Compact Flash (CF) card.
3. After removing the battery, lens and CF card, clean the battery, lens, CF card and body contacts. If you insist on cleaning these contacts; I recommend sparingly using a micro fiber cloth lightly dampened with alcohol (Isopropyl) or any film free electronic cleaning agent. Never use an abrasive, e.g., a pencil eraser, to clean these items. The battery, camera body, lens and CF card contacts are usually very thinly plated. Abrasive cleaning of these devices will cause problems for you down the road.
4. Purchased a brand new, verified, OEM, Canon Battery, purchased from a frequently and lovingly mentioned retailer on this "The Ugly Hedge Hog" forum.
5. Changed out the CR1616 button battery.
6. Replaced the CF memory card with a top of the line San Disk Extreme Pro CF memory card.

The placebo effect of performing these six acts of protocol above, only served to give me false hope. Afterwards, with a new battery, thorough cleaning of all the contacts mentioned above, and a new CF card, the 7D would display the dreaded "Error-30" signal again.

My observations/discoveries leading to the root cause for my 7D's "Error-30" indication and subsequent lock-up:
1. The "Error-30" problem usually occurred between 400-500* pop-up flash free, single shot mode shots as indicated by the 7D's "Battery Info" menu, which reports Remaining capacity, Shutter Count and Recharge Performance.
2. The "Error-30" problem also occurred closer to the 300-400* pop-up flash free shots when using the high battery demand mode of 7-ish frames/second.
3. I also found that when the "Error-30" problem occurred, the Battery Level charge icon rarely indicated less than three bars of remaining charge before the 7D would lockup. This is also true for the brand new, verified, OEM, Canon Battery and a new CR1616 battery. The CR1616 button battery has also be reported elsewhere as the "smoking gun" cause of the Canon 7D "Error-30" problem. This was not true for my 7D.
4. This led me to closer observe the shutter count provided by the "Battery Info" menu vs. the Battery Level Icon in the view finder. These observations led me to document the actual shutter actuations to "Error-30" events, and develop a new course of action (COA).

My new COA is to change out the battery as soon as practical after taking more than 300-400 shots, regardless of the indication given by the Battery Level icon in the view finder. Anytime I happen to head out with my camera, I will always take a fresh battery along, if according to the "Battery Info" menu, if I have more than 100-200 shutter actuations according to the "Battery Info" menu vs. the Battery Level Icon in the view finder. I find that I do a lot of "chimping", and deleting of less than stellar shots. <Grin>

While adhering the above COA my Canon 7D has not experienced a single "Error-30" indication in over a year. I take from 500 to 1000 shots a week, on average. My fellow Hogs, I hope that this info helps a few folks. Many thanks to all of my fellow "Ugly Hedge Hogs". You have GREATLY contributed to my growth in photography. I truly appreciate all of the photographic knowledge and wisdom so freely shared. Also, all of the above made sense to me when I wrote it. <Grin>

* Per, Canon 7D Menu Item, third icon from the right, labeled "Battery Info." Once there press the "Enter" button to obtain the "Battery Info" menu, which reports Remaining capacity, Recharge Performance, and Shutter Count since the last recharge. This is not a lifetime cumulative shutter count.

Last minute notes:
I have recently purchased a Canon 6D body and I have noticed that when the self contained battery meter indicates less than two or less bars and I turn the camera off, the battery is in reality exhausted. The next time I try to turn the camera on the camera will refuse to turn on or perform any function.

MT Shooter Loc: Montana

This is a long-standing problem with the 7D body and is usually associated with using Live View which holds the shutter completely open and can cause the shutter to lock open, giving an Error 30 Code. This is not the only reason for the Error 30, but its a big one.
The last customer I had with the same repeated problem sent their 7D to Canon and it has never repeated itself, but the repair cost $185.

RichardSM Loc: Back in Texas

Hi jimmy

I think you might want to send to Canon you may have a loose screw inside the camera, the 7D is notorious for this it is possible it is resting on the PCB. Or get a hold of this person Rick Riggings he repairs cameras for the folks on this site. See below
http://www.discountcamerarepair.com/

Jimmy T Loc: Virginia

Note: "While adhering the above COA my Canon 7D has not experienced a single "Error-30" indication in over a year." I take from 500 to 1000 shots a week, on average." (Please see my original/only post as I am not a man of few words)

I was just hoping that my research would point out that my Canon 7D battery charge level indicator (four bars within a outline of a battery) is VERY inaccurate and that the actual low battery charge level was the culprit for my "Error Code-30" woes.

Note: My Canon 6D just refuses to turn on with a borderline or exhausted battery and does not display "Error Code-30".

I might add in closing that I too have used Rick Riggins, and I too can say that Rick is very reasonable. He has successfully repaired a Canon lens that I had given up on.

Thanks for the feed back Richard and MTShooter, however I do not hear any "loose screws" mucking about. <Grin>
V/R,
Jim Turner

RichardSM Loc: Back in Texas

Thank you jim as it was a thought that it might be a possibility if you check on some of the problems on the Internet it has caused lots of issues! I my self have had no problems with my Canon 7D so far, I purchased mine one year after they came out it is serving very very well in fact Canon cameras for year's have served me! I still have a few of film cameras F1n, A1, EF, FTB. And they all still work along with their lenses well made products last if taken care of and that goes for Nikon, as well I have fellow photographers that shoot both film & digital, again good products last!

jeep_daddy Loc: Prescott AZ

Jim,

You shouldn't have to change the battery out when you've only got 300 frames per fully charged battery. I've got a 7D that goes for about 1000-1200 images per charge and will take pictures all the way until it just shuts down. I will also see a blinking battery indicator in the view finder before this happens. You are simply bandaiding the problem to avoid Canon repair. But on behalf of Canon, they are very good at repairs and not very expensive. Also, they are lenient about their warranty period. If your camera is less than 15 months old, it is likely that they will do warranty repairs free. I brought my 7D in for a checkup when it was 14 months old, and I didn't have the receipt with me and they fixed the problem "error 99" that I had. You'd probably have to "go" to Canon and talk with them to get this kind of favoritism.

If you do pay the $185 for the repair and they don't replace any parts and find nothing wrong, then you get a 6 month warranty on the repair. So if they take it apart, can't find any worn out parts and reassemble it and ship it back but you have the same problem, you can send it back, they will replace parts at no charge until the problem is fixed. I had a similar problem with my 5DIII where they simply couldn't find a bad part and sent it back to me. It locked up again and I sent it back a few times. Each time they replaced something and sent it back. Finally they found a part in the viewfinder electronic assembly that had a tiny bit of corrosion so they replaced that whole assembly and the problem ceased. It was well worth the $185. Since I'm a Canon CPS member, they also shipped it back to me via overnight Fedex delivery. When I needed to send it back I used the same box and call tag that they provided for free overnight back to them. I couldn't be happier with their service.

What I suspect is happening with your camera is that there's an electronic component that is breaking down and when the battery voltage drops slightly that it stops working. It's probably a cold solder joint or bad capacitor. In any case, I believe it will only get worse, not better.

davidrb Loc: Half way there on the 45th Parallel

At no place in the tome you wrote do I see the words "I called Canon". Nuff said...