srron Loc: Courtice,On.

My 60D tells me there is an external flash connected when there isn't, resulting in the pop up flash not popping up.Does anyone know how to remedy this?

jerryc41 Loc: Catskill Mts of NY

You are not alone!

http://www.google.com/search?q=My+60D+tells+me+there+is+an+external+flash+connected&rlz=1C1CHWA_enUS625US625&oq=My+60D+tells+me+there+is+an+external+flash+connected&aqs=chrome..69i57j69i64.719j0j9&sourceid=chrome&es_sm=122&ie=UTF-8

rbfanman

Yet another reason to trade the Canon D60 in on something else, and even change brands. The Nikon D5100 is also a Crop Frame camera, but offers better dynamic range, and color depth, and has more lenses available. The D5100 also has: built in HDR, lower noise at high ISO, video auto focus, and is smaller, and lighter weight. The D5100 also has more megapixels.

Jim Bob

Not his question. Seeking a remedy not a brand lecture.

srron Loc: Courtice,On.

Yes i would love to try Nikon but i have too much invested in Canon to make the switch,but i take your advise to heart.
Thank you.

blackest Loc: Ireland

http://community.usa.canon.com/t5/EOS/My-60D-thinks-it-has-an-external-flash-attached-all-the-time/td-p/30345

"If you have mounted an external flash on the hot shoe recently, it is possible that the microswitch is stuck in the depressed position. If you look carefully at the hotshoe there is a thin metal strip on the side nearer to the shutter button. Underneath it is a tiny black mocroswitch. The thin metal strip acts as a spring...when the flash is mounted, the strip depresses the switch telling the camera there's an external flash. When you remove the flash, the strip springs up away from the switch, undepresses it. Well the metal strip is a poor spring, it doesn't always pop back up.

Try running a thin piece of paper between the strip and the switch, or gently try to bend the strip back away from the switch. It might be as simple as that. Try that before you send it back in."

Might be the answer.

srron Loc: Courtice,On.

Thank you,that worked perfectly.I don't use the pop up flash much but i just hate it when something doesn't work right,guess i am a little obsessive that way.

blackest Loc: Ireland

credit to jerry who suggested the initial search, I just took it one step further and read some of the results.

Jim Bob

Yep, he's the original linkmeister. :thumbup:

NormanHarley Loc: Colorado

I follow his links all the time. I would follow a web page if he ever started one, he could call it "Jerry's Links". :thumbup:

jerryc41 Loc: Catskill Mts of NY

You want links? Here are 37 pages, although some may no longer be valid.

http://www.dropbox.com/s/ixt72i3z1wrkl8z/Links%20Table.pdf?dl=0

BHC Loc: Strawberry Valley, JF, USA

AGREED! This is a problem that happens all too often. However, it is not inappropriate to say,

"I think that is a product defect. May I suggest some alternatives?"

Then abide by the OP's decision.

BHC Loc: Strawberry Valley, JF, USA

Good grief, Jerry; what do you do in your spare time. I just bookmarked that link. Thanks!

dpullum Loc: Tampa Florida

I will second that. I bought a pack of hot shoe protectors. Nice little slip-N-slot inert black plastic. Nice huh!? NO, why the H isn't my flash working on my Canon SX50... well no "microswitch switch as we think of micro switches, rather just a springy contact hidden under the hot shoe rail. At first I was looking for a plunger type in the contact area... nope... a simple interupt under the rail.

If the paper does not polish to give contact then to to auto parts store and get "crocus cloth" contact polishing paper.

Driverhank said, "If you have mounted an external flash on the hot shoe recently, it is possible that the microswitch is stuck in the depressed position. If you look carefully at the hotshoe there is a thin metal strip on the side nearer to the shutter button. Underneath it is a tiny black mocroswitch. The thin metal strip acts as a spring...when the flash is mounted, the strip depresses the switch telling the camera there's an external flash. When you remove the flash, the strip springs up away from the switch, undepresses it. Well the metal strip is a poor spring, it doesn't always pop back up.

Try running a thin piece of paper between the strip and the switch, or gently try to bend the strip back away from the switch. It might be as simple as that. Try that before you send it back in."
http://community.usa.canon.com/t5/EOS/My-60D-thinks-it-has-an-external-flash-attached-all-the-time/td-p/30345

Google "images for canon hot shoe"

Ooops, wrong dpullum, there is a classic micro swithch under the leaf spring. The plunger sticks at times... no WD-40 solution for this... see:
http://www.conraderb.com/flashrepair/

amfoto1 Loc: San Jose, Calif. USA

Utterly ridiculous! Yeah right... Dump a bunch of expensive, quality gear and spend lots of money to replace it, just to correct a minor problem that costs virtually nothing and takes about 5 seconds to fix yourself! :roll:

First of all, it's a Canon 60D... not a D60, which is an older Nikon model.

And, if you are talking about modern AF lenses, there actually there are more Canon lenses to choose among. Plus ALL 100 million Canon lenses made over the past 25 years will fully work on a 60D. On the other hand, if you want to be able to autofocus the lenses on the D5300 you'll need to buy AF-S or AF-I lenses, further limiting your selection.

Many of Nikon's SLR lenses now have VR. Canon started implementing IS in their SLR lenses about 5 or 6 years earlier and, from user comments and reports, seems to have fewer "problems" than VR does. For example, many Nikon shooters advise turning off VR to get faster autofocus. After using Canon IS lenses for 15 years, IMO it's just the opposite with them. IS seems to help both AF speed and it's ability to maintain focus on moving subjects.

Note: To be fair, Nikon actually introduced a VR lens in a compact, non-interchangeable-lens film camera in 1994... About a year before Canon's first IS lens for their DSLRs was offered in 1995. But it wasn't until 2001 until the first VR Nikkors were offered for Nikon SLRs and DSLRs.

If on the other hand you are talking about vintage F-mount lenses that are usable manually on D5300, you might be interested to know that they are equally usable on the Canon 60D via simple adapters (which also can be used to accommodate vintage Olympus OM, Pentax M39, Pentax P/K, Leica R, Contax RTS and Contarex, Yashica FR and FX, and others).

Regarding dynamic range...Yes, compared to Canon's, the CMOS image sensors that Nikon buys from Sony have a little bit more dynamic range at native ISO of 100. But, by the time you bump up ISO to 800 or 1600 there is virtually no difference between them and Canon... And at even higher ISOs the CMOS image sensors that Canon makes themselves actually have slightly wider DR. Further, Canon has been using superior CMOS image sensors in all their DSLRs since 2000. Nikon (and other) CCD sensor DSLRs really struggled to compete. In 2007 (with D3 and D300) they finally made the switch to CMOS to get what Ken Rockwell calls "significantly better real image quality" than their earlier cameras.

None of this is terribly surprising, since Canon Inc. has so much "deeper pockets" for R&D and to build facilities to produce their own parts. It's almost 4X as large as Nikon Corp. (from their respective 2014 annual Freports: Canon total assets US $36.9 billion, Nikon total assets US $9.225 billion.)

Yes, the Canon 60D (2010) is "only" 18MP and the Nikon D5300 introduced in 2013 is a 24MP, 5 frame-per-second camera. Actually it might make more sense to compare with the 20MP, 7 frame-per-second Canon 70D from 2013. As for color, all three are capable of 14 bit depth. Granted, the 70D is more expensive, but it has some more advanced features.

In the hands of a skilled photography lots of luck telling the difference between any of them in 13x19 or smaller prints. And especially don't expect to see any difference at Internet image-sharing resolutions.

Don't get me wrong... The Nikon D5300 is a very nice, capable camera. But so are the Canon 60D and 70D. In fact, both systems are excellent and just keep getting better, as do systems from other manufacturers. And I really like that there is lots of good competition and technological "leap-frogging" among them, as in the end it means better and less expensive cameras for all of us photographers to choose among.

However, you really should check your facts before you go on a fanboy rant!

OP,

This is a super easy fix... all you need is a wooden toothpick.

There's a micro-switch under one of the flat metal springs in the camera's hot shoe. Look closely with a flashlight. This switch "tells" the camera if something is mounted in the hot shoe, and in turn prevent the pop-up built-in flash from opening when it would be obstructed.

If the spring in the hot shoe gets bent slightly flatter from using accessory flashes or other accessory in the hot shoe, it can prevent that micro-switch from fully returning to it's open position.

To fix it, just insert the tip of a wooden toothpick under the metal "leaf" spring and use it to gently bend that back upwards slightly. That can be done by sliding the toothpick toward the front of the camera, where the spring gap is narrower. Just be careful not to damage anything, including the protruding portion of the micro-switch. Usually this is all that's needed to fix the problem.

But, really, a much better solution (IMHO) is simply to not use the built-in flash. On virtually all cameras those are weak, in the worst possible location for ugly shadows and redeye, plus will much more rapidly drain the camera's battery. Even the smallest and cheapest accessory flash is an improvement in power and has it's own, independent batteries. If put on a flash bracket and connected to the camera with an off-camera shoe cord, moving the flash higher and off to one side, it also will make for better shadow effects and reduce the chance of redeye a lot.

One of my five year old 7D's has the same problem as your 60D. It's flash won't pop up, probably for the same reason. I don't know for certain simply because I've never tried to fix it.... Because I never use the built-in flashes on any of my cameras.