EOS R5 Freeze /lock up issues

AlanF

Desperately seeking birds
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Aug 16, 2012
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Never had a freeze or lock up yet using my 70-200 f/2.8 II lens or any other lens. Been shooting 500+ images daily with a 600mm IS II lens and other small lens like the 70-200, RF85mm, 24-70II, 16-35 f/4, 14mm II f/2.8 or my macro lens. Just saying....
Some reports are that a batch of Sandisk CFexpress is causing the problems.
 
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Some reports are that a batch of Sandisk CFexpress is causing the problems.
I've heard the same rumors before but knock on wood haven't experienced it myself. I'm currently using the Sony Tough CFx cards with no issues. I'm also using the Sony SF-G64/T1 hi perf SD cards for my JPGs. I've never tried the Sandisk CFx cards but have had good luck with their SD cards.
 
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Mar 25, 2011
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Some reports are that a batch of Sandisk CFexpress is causing the problems.
I've also seen reports of Sony Card users having lockups. I have not used my camera much and that was with my Lexar SD card. I just received a Prograde Cobalt CFexpress card but have less than 100 shots with it.
 
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I just checked and one Fred Miranda forum member has lockups with Prograde and Lexar V60 SD cards. Its a replacement camera for the original one that locked up.

Something is strange. Not a lot of people with frequent lockups but a significant number. There are many Sandisk users with issues, it is one of the recommended cards so there are many users with Sandisk.
 
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koenkooi

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I've heard the same rumors before but knock on wood haven't experienced it myself. I'm currently using the Sony Tough CFx cards with no issues. I'm also using the Sony SF-G64/T1 hi perf SD cards for my JPGs. I've never tried the Sandisk CFx cards but have had good luck with their SD cards.

Same setup here: 128G Sony CFe + 64G Sony SD, so far no lockups. Amazon had deep discounts for both, otherwise I would've gone for Prograde or Delkin CFe cards.
 
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Same setup here: 128G Sony CFe + 64G Sony SD, so far no lockups. Amazon had deep discounts for both, otherwise I would've gone for Prograde or Delkin CFe cards.
Also keep in mind that B&H will discount your order by the state sales tax if you use their PayBoo credit card. Of course if you don't pay it off in the first month you'll pay some high interest rate. If you are a stills photographer, the 128Gb card will hold about 2,800 RAW shots. I was going to get a 64Gb CFx but the write speed is much less.
 
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What has me a little concerned is that Canon seems to think it is necessary to replace the main PCB or even the entire camera when these lockups are happening. Is this just a stop gap until a new firmware is available to fix the issue or is something physically defective with these cameras?

I haven't had a lockup with mine yet, but it is a little worrying..
 
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koenkooi

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What has me a little concerned is that Canon seems to think it is necessary to replace the main PCB or even the entire camera when these lockups are happening. Is this just a stop gap until a new firmware is available to fix the issue or is something physically defective with these cameras?

I haven't had a lockup with mine yet, but it is a little worrying..
I’ve seen this happen at a previous job, the customer would swap mainboards for their customers, just to be seen doing something, anything. Some of the boards were indeed faulty, but mostly it was user error or software bugs. Replacing them made people happy with the customer service.

For Canon specifically, the shuttershock issue on the new EF600 also went through the ‘we’ll replace the mainboard’ phase till Canon HQ admitted there was a problem and would issue a firmware update.
 
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I had a mainboard replaced on a 5DIII. It is a quick, universal fix that often eliminates the labor costs of troubleshooting.
Yes, Canon ships them to a company that tests and refurbishes them, someone else will get your mainboard at some point assuming it was repairable, or a ebay seller will resell it. Canon uses refurbished parts for repairs unless a new part is needed. Appearance items are new.
 
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I've shot ~4600 shots thus far with my R5 since receiving it in early October, and love it so far. With that said, unfortunately the freezing/lock-up issue absolutely is a thing. In my experience it has only ever happened while combined with the EF 500 MkII + using the electronic shutter + shooting continuously. I have not seen it in the other lens combo I've used it with (EF 100-400 II, RF 24-105 f/4), but I also have not tested those lenses with electronic shutter/fast continuous shooting.
It has happened to me three or four times now, and caused me to miss shots each time (usually in the middle of a burst while tracking birds in flight shots). Each time it hanged for 10-20 seconds or so (turning off the camera does not do anything), and then rebooted by itself.
 
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JPAZ

If only I knew what I was doing.....
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Using ProGrade 128 CFExpress + Lexar Pro 64 UHS-II. In fairness, not a lot of shots but so far, so good. Over the years, I only used Sandisk, so this is a new "adventure" for me.

If I ever get a "lock up," will share here.
once now......reported error reading card 2. Popped battery out and immediately back in and all ok
 
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once now......reported error reading card 2. Popped battery out and immediately back in and all ok
Are you low level formatting your card once its been filled? Writing to a card that has had the cells used and just a ordinary format is much much slower and might cause aa glitch if it can't write fast enough. Do a occasional low level format to keep the card clean. The camera makes use of a function on the card that clears data from all the cells rapidly so its blank like a new card, just check the low level format box. The downside is that you cannot recover any photos from previous uses.
 
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Hi, thanks for the add. Been reading a few forums on the R5 lock up issue. I recently bought an R5 and up until about 2 weeks ago was more than impressed. Then I too had the lock ups, 2 maybe 3 per day session. Also there is a noticeable delay accessing the menu via the menu button on the rear of the body. Couple that with the 'in screen' settings alterations via the control ring, rear wheel and top wheel by around 15/20 seconds and you can imagine my frustration mounting! Anyhow, having read the comments about the CF cards(using Sandisk extreme pro) I took it out and just left SD card, guess what‍♂️, yep, no delays. Will test the lock up caper tomorrow and report back here and to Canon. Cheers, Al.
 
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I just read about the Sandisk CF Express cards being a potential cause of issues. Just thought I’d add my experience. So far I have had the camera since early August and have been using the Sandisk 512gb CF express card exclusively. So far I have had one lockup after about 6 shoots and 6000 shots taken. The lockup happened while I was in single shot mode in Manual. But I was taking shots in quick succession and that seemed to trip it up. Haven’t had a lockup since.

I have heard of people having this issue with other brand memory cards, either SD or CF Express so I’m not sure if Sandisk should be blamed here. It could just be that more people own Sandisk in absolute terms, so obviously there will be more lockup’s reported by Sandisk users?
 
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koenkooi

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I just read about the Sandisk CF Express cards being a potential cause of issues. Just thought I’d add my experience. So far I have had the camera since early August and have been using the Sandisk 512gb CF express card exclusively. So far I have had one lockup after about 6 shoots and 6000 shots taken. The lockup happened while I was in single shot mode in Manual. But I was taking shots in quick succession and that seemed to trip it up. Haven’t had a lockup since.

I have heard of people having this issue with other brand memory cards, either SD or CF Express so I’m not sure if Sandisk should be blamed here. It could just be that more people own Sandisk in absolute terms, so obviously there will be more lockup’s reported by Sandisk users?

The Sandisk 512GB is a different speed grade than the smaller ones, so I'm not surprised that it doesn't seem to have lock up issues. Assuming the lockups are CFe related.

But as you say, I suspect Sandisk is the popular brand, it's certainly the only brand I trust. I went with the Sony 128G because it was the cheapest option that supported 8k RAW, not because I trust Sony over Sandisk.
 
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