Canon Repair Question: Canon EOS Rebel T3i. Love the camera. Does more than I need. Purchased new (a gift) maybe 6 years ago. On occasion pop-up flash sticks and error message on...

Big Yankee Fan

Canon EOS Rebel T3i. Love the camera. Does more than I need. Purchased new (a gift) maybe 6 years ago. On occasion pop-up flash sticks and error message on screen. Turning camera off/on or changing exposure settings usually fixes the problem. Anyone with thoughts on how best to proceed? Tinker myself? Repair? If repair, where? Thanks.

CHG_CANON Loc: the Windy City

A discontinued entry-level camera older than 1-year is a shame to see break or have problems. A bigger shame is to spend any 'real' money for a repair to a camera 5+ years old. If the issue is the flash, you might look at a relatively cheap solution like the Speedlite 270EX II. It's less convenient than the immediate pop-up access of the onboard flash. Coming back to the camera, isn't there a 'pop up' button on the T3i body? If the flash won't open by pressing this button, have you maybe spilled something onto the camera making the hinge sticky?

robertjerl Loc: Corona, California

Big Yankee Fan wrote:

Canon EOS Rebel T3i. Love the camera. Does more than I need. Purchased new (a gift) maybe 6 years ago. On occasion pop-up flash sticks and error message on screen. Turning camera off/on or changing exposure settings usually fixes the problem. Anyone with thoughts on how best to proceed? Tinker myself? Repair? If repair, where? Thanks.

That could be a sign of low battery power. Amazon has third party batteries by Wasabi Power in two packs with a charger for $19.99. I use them in 5 Canons and a Fuji for about 7 years now.

PHRubin Loc: Nashville TN USA

Big Yankee Fan wrote:

...On occasion pop-up flash sticks...

Sticks how? Doesn't pop-up?

Jrhoffman75 Loc: Conway, New Hampshire

Big Yankee Fan wrote:

Canon EOS Rebel T3i. Love the camera. Does more than I need. Purchased new (a gift) maybe 6 years ago. On occasion pop-up flash sticks and error message on screen. Turning camera off/on or changing exposure settings usually fixes the problem. Anyone with thoughts on how best to proceed? Tinker myself? Repair? If repair, where? Thanks.

https://community.usa.canon.com/t5/EOS-Rebel/built-in-flash-doesn-t-pop-up/m-p/102994#M4636

RRiggins Loc: Colorado Springs

Big Yankee Fan wrote:

Canon EOS Rebel T3i. Love the camera. Does more than I need. Purchased new (a gift) maybe 6 years ago. On occasion pop-up flash sticks and error message on screen. Turning camera off/on or changing exposure settings usually fixes the problem. Anyone with thoughts on how best to proceed? Tinker myself? Repair? If repair, where? Thanks.

Hi. My name is Rick. I’m the owner and lead technician at Discount Camera Repair and a member in good standing here at the UHH. I’ve been doing repairs for other members here at greatly discounted rates and would be glad to help.

I'd be more than happy to repair the camera for you and keep the cost as low as possible. If you’re interested, please respond by private message.

Sidwalkastronomy Loc: New Jersey Shore

RRiggins wrote:

Hi. My name is Rick. I’m the owner and lead technician at Discount Camera Repair and a member in good standing here at the UHH. I’ve been doing repairs for other members here at greatly discounted rates and would be glad to help.

I'd be more than happy to repair the camera for you and keep the cost as low as possible. If you’re interested, please respond by private message.

This is what a forum should be. Nice offer. It's a pleasure to see nice people helping others and not like some posters just looking to cause trouble.

badapple Loc: Twin Lake, Michigan

Big Yankee. I have a t3i for backup. Had that problem some years ago. If it will pop up using the button on the side, check the little hook that holds it down. Mine had a little burr I carefully smoothed with very fine sandpaper. It solved the problem.

Cookie223 Loc: New Jersey

Sidwalkastronomy wrote:

This is what a forum should be. Nice offer. It's a pleasure to see nice people helping others and not like some posters just looking to cause trouble.

👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻

dsmeltz Loc: Philadelphia

I think the T3i is still one of the best starter cameras out there. It has a balance of simplicity and range of function that is awesome! If I were asked what camera to give to someone starting out, it would be this camera. It can be purchased for little money, does everything a new photographer (and many experienced photographers) need and it puts them in the Canon world. Canon seems to have positioned themselves to dominate the near-term future (5-10 years) of ILCs.

Picture Taker Loc: Michigan Thumb

You might buy a video light and just keep the light on when you shoot.

Big Yankee Fan

Sidwalkastronomy wrote:

This is what a forum should be. Nice offer. It's a pleasure to see nice people helping others and not like some posters just looking to cause trouble.

Also why UHH is my favorite online discussion group of the many I belong to. Just an amazing resource with a lot of interesting and helpful people. This chat is an example of the latter; markngolfs (hope that's the right tag) jazz posts (among others) is an example of the former.

Thanks all.

Alafoto Loc: Montgomery, AL

Kudos to all who offered solutions for the OP's problem. This is indeed a fine group of people and an excellent resource. Unfortunately, in an earlier post, someone was calling out the OP for misspelling a word. Wrong response guys...

amfoto1 Loc: San Jose, Calif. USA

Big Yankee Fan wrote:

Canon EOS Rebel T3i. Love the camera. Does more than I need. Purchased new (a gift) maybe 6 years ago. On occasion pop-up flash sticks and error message on screen. Turning camera off/on or changing exposure settings usually fixes the problem. Anyone with thoughts on how best to proceed? Tinker myself? Repair? If repair, where? Thanks.

Search online for info about stuck flash on Canon DSLRs. It's a fairly common problem and usually a pretty easy DIY fix (15 seconds with a wooden or plastic toothpick). There are a number of sites illustrating how it's done.

If you don't feel up to doing it yourself, a local camera repair tech should be able to do the fix (assuming it's not something more serious) in a few minutes for a few $.

RRiggins Loc: Colorado Springs

iIf all you need is the pop up flash to quit sticking, clean the hinges with alcohol and a cotton swab. I do these all the time and include this repair with a general camera service. Amazing how a little cleaning will help.