7D MkII slow to wake up

[pwp]

A couple of weeks ago I picked up a gripped 7DII and overall can report that I'm liking it more than I expected. Probably done half a dozen jobs with it so far as second body to the 5DIII.

Last night at a job it was being slow to "wake up", it felt like 3-5 seconds, an eternity when there is a great shot vanishing in front of you...the moment missed. Weird thing is that this is intermittent, but hugely annoying and distracting from the smooth flow of a job.

I'll be taking the body straight to CPS, but just wondering if this is a known syndrome with 7DII bodies. FWIW the lens used was 70-200 f/2.8isII, 600EX-RT. GPS was switched off.

-pw

 

[zim]

Stab in the dark - third party batteries ?
To eliminate the possibility does it do the same thing without the grip?

 

[pwp]

Yes, third party batteries. But they've been on-board since day-one without this issue. They were fully charged when the slow "wake-up" was happening. Like a lot of these bugs it's almost impossible to repeat when you're testing. :-\

I have been using the clone LP-E6 batteries as they're a matched pair for the grip. Work fine as spares/extras for the 5DIII. I'll just go straight down and get another LP-E6N, if for no other reason than the fact that the (quite new) clone LP-E6 batteries run out of steam dangerously fast in the 7DII, though not in the 5DIII. Weird. I'll just keep the clones as spares to drop in towards the end of a long day's shooting.

-pw

 

[Mt Spokane Photography]

Take the grip off and try new batteries. Either the grip or the batteries or both are a high probability for your issue.

 

[pwp]

Who would have thought? This is a salient experience in the folly of third party batteries. My gripped 7DII now runs a pair of genuine LP-E6n batteries and the slow "wake-up" issue is now just a memory (and a CR post).

FWIW the after-market LP-E6 clones were quite new Indra brand. I bought these on an out of town job when suddenly my 5DIII batteries started abruptly discharging in double quick time. The 5DIII had just come back from CPS being fitted with its third shutter, and it wasn't until later I picked up that while at CPS they had set the auto power-off setting to "never", instead of my normal minute or so. No wonder the batteries were running flat!

If you are wondering why my 5DIII was in for it's third shutter, CPS explained that my experience was somewhat typical with the shutter lasting between 130,000 and 150,000. Of course it's likely YMMV. Yours may last a million.

Moral of the story...if third party batteries make your camera work perfectly most of the time, and genuine batteries make your camera work properly all of the time, the isn't it worth the extra dollars? For me, yes it is.

Zim and Mt Spokane, thank you for the diagnosis.

-pw

 

[Don Haines]

I can easily see this happening on power-up....

I don't know the real sequence, but it could be something like:
<power switch turned on>
Query battery status.....
.....no or incorrect response......
wait for a second or two
Query battery status again
.....no or incorrect response......
wait for a second or two
Query battery status again
.....no or incorrect response......
proceed with next step of power up sequence

 

[pwp]

I can easily see this happening on power-up....

I don't know the real sequence, but it could be something like:
<power switch turned on>
Query battery status.....
.....no or incorrect response......
wait for a second or two
Query battery status again
.....no or incorrect response......
wait for a second or two
Query battery status again
.....no or incorrect response......
proceed with next step of power up sequence

Not sure I follow Don...

-pw

 

[Loswr]

Moral of the story...if third party batteries make your camera work perfectly most of the time, and genuine batteries make your camera work properly all of the time, the isn't it worth the extra dollars? For me, yes it is.

For me, too...which is why I've only bought OEM batteries from authorized dealers.

 

[zim]

thanks for the update and info
OEM batteries especially if your camera's are paying the mortgage!

 

[Don Haines]

I can easily see this happening on power-up....

I don't know the real sequence, but it could be something like:
<power switch turned on>
Query battery status.....
.....no or incorrect response......
wait for a second or two
Query battery status again
.....no or incorrect response......
wait for a second or two
Query battery status again
.....no or incorrect response......
proceed with next step of power up sequence

Not sure I follow Don...

-pw

Most electronics devices do a system check on power-up. A DSLR like the 7D2 will query the memory card(s) to determine the status of the cards and to determine how much space is left, it will query the lens to see what it is, it will check the status of all the switches, it will check the setting in Nvram (your menu settings) and it will query the battery (presumably to find out how much power it has left). When the programmer(s) were writing the code that checks the battery status, they are obviously expecting the proper response back. If they do not get the proper response they are left with four basic choices: 1) they can abort the power-up sequence and your camera will not turn on at all 2) they can sit there forever asking over and over again for the battery status and your camera never powers up, yet never turns off. 3) they can immediately ignore the lack of response and proceed to the next power-up step, or 4) they can try again a few times, hoping for a correct response, and after a few failures proceed to the next step. Option 4 is the most likely scenario

 

[[email protected]]

Big user of 7D2. I see this happen occasionally. I generally leave my camera "on" but asleep. When I do so, it wakes very, very quickly. When I power on, however, I find that it sometimes takes a couple seconds, and it may or may not recognize my first control press, as I'm pressing it before it is truly on.

I have not noticed an appreciable battery drain for leaving it "on," so that's what I do.

I do sense that this startup delay is not consistent. I use original Canon batteries, sometimes with grip, most often not.

I expect that sending it to CPS would not be productive unless they tell you before-hand that this is unexpected behavior. If you do ask, please let us all know what they say.

 

[pwp]

I expect that sending it to CPS would not be productive unless they tell you before-hand that this is unexpected behavior. If you do ask, please let us all know what they say.

Right, I was thinking in terms of an immediate CPS visit when I was in knee jerk get-this-fixed instantly mode. Setting up with a pair of LP-E6N's from an authorised dealer and running tests seems to point the finger squarely at the INCA LP-E6 clones. Nevertheless I will phone my CPS contact for a viewpoint and post the answer back here.

-pw