Issue with 5D mk3 and 70-200 2.8 II

[SalAlexander]

Hello everyone,
Yesterday I was shooting a wedding when suddenly I noticed my 5D3 and 70-200 2.8 IS II stopped focusing.
It wasn't just the focusing though, also the image stabilisation stopped.
I tried turning the camera off and back on, and that solved the problem, but I noticed that when I turned it off it didn't go through the usual sensor cleaning, but just turned off.
I use back button focusing, and had the camera set to AI SERVO, if that makes any difference.
I'm not 100% sure about this, but in the past I think I sometimes got the feeling the lens "fell asleep". The fact that yesterday I had to reboot the camera though, as well as the missing "sensor cleaning" screen, makes me think there might have been a glitch with the software, rather than hardware.

Has this ever happened to anyone else? Is it something I should be concerned about?

 

[Big_Ant_TV_Media]

just used that combo yesterday shooting track
no problems at all
OX7A6820-1 by Big Ant TV Media LLC, on Flickr
OX7A6836-1 by Big Ant TV Media LLC, on Flickr

 

[Maximilian]

Hi SalAlexander!

No issues here with this combo!

Few Questions on making this situation more specific:
- FW version of the 5D3?
- How many upgrades and changes to individual setup did you perform?
- Was camera+lens combo connected to EOS utility lately for potentional (unnoticed) FW update of the lens?
- Did you swap lenses and returned to the 70-200/2.8 II and still the problem was there?
- Did you ever think of reseting the body?
T'was mentioned lately in another thread here that sometimes a full reset of the body solves problems
coming from several updates combined with individual settings (Canon cannot test every possible combination)

Maybe this might help without refering to Canon service.
Otherwise I'd keep a close eye on this and contact Canon service if it's still there.

 

[j-nord]

Hi SalAlexander!

No issues here with this combo!

Few Questions on making this situation more specific:
- FW version of the 5D3?
- How many upgrades and changes to individual setup did you perform?
- Was camera+lens combo connected to EOS utility lately for potentional (unnoticed) FW update of the lens?
- Did you swap lenses and returned to the 70-200/2.8 II and still the problem was there?
- Did you ever think of reseting the body?
T'was mentioned lately in another thread here that sometimes a full reset of the body solves problems
coming from several updates combined with individual settings (Canon cannot test every possible combination)

Maybe this might help without refering to Canon service.
Otherwise I'd keep a close eye on this and contact Canon service if it's still there.

Looks like a good trouble shooting list.
I'd like to add, hows the battery? Is it old/well used? Was the charge low? It's possible (although I haven't specifically heard of it) that the battery isn't putting out stable/reliable power.

 

[SalAlexander]

Thanks everyone for the replies.

- FW version of the 5D3?
- How many upgrades and changes to individual setup did you perform?
- Was camera+lens combo connected to EOS utility lately for potentional (unnoticed) FW update of the lens?
- Did you swap lenses and returned to the 70-200/2.8 II and still the problem was there?
- Did you ever think of reseting the body?
T'was mentioned lately in another thread here that sometimes a full reset of the body solves problems
coming from several updates combined with individual settings (Canon cannot test every possible combination)

FW is updated to the latest version, a few days before the shoot I actually did a full reset of the camera.
I reinstalled the firmware, removed the clock battery, reset all settings and custom functions, formatted all the cards in camera. Everything was like new.
I haven't connected the camera to eos utility in quite a long time actually, definitely not after all that resetting procedure.
When the problem occurred, I'd been using that lens for most part of the day, switched to the 50mm during the groom preparation a few hours before.
As soon as I noticed the lens wasn't responding, I switched the camera off and back on again, and everything worked fine after that.

Looks like a good trouble shooting list.
I'd like to add, hows the battery? Is it old/well used? Was the charge low? It's possible (although I haven't specifically heard of it) that the battery isn't putting out stable/reliable power.

The battery is new, I was using the LP-E6N that I had bought a few months ago in store, and had probably 60-70% charge left.

It's going to be impossible for me to recreate the issue, as I didn't do anything differently to make it happen.
What I think I might do is redo the full reset procedure: reinstall firmware, remove clock battery, reset all settings and custom functions.
Maybe that will prevent this from happening again!

 

[pwp]

I'd be heading straight to CPS with this issue.

-pw

 

[Maximilian]

Thanks everyone for the replies.
[snip]

Thanks, SalAlexander, for your reply.

It looks like you already did everything j-nord and I were thinking of to avoid this issue.

What I didn't get is the point if that issue still appears or if it's gone (for now).

I'd be heading straight to CPS with this issue.

If it's gone, CPS would surely respond "What's your problem?".
Maybe they'd also do some resetting of body and lens and then charge you for that.

OTOH of course you need a tool you can rely on, so maybe it's worth the effort.

I suppose I'd be heading to CPS now, too. But give them a detailed description what and how it happened and when and how it disappeared again.

Good luck!

 

[Valvebounce]

Hi SalAlexander.
I'm guessing you were not using a grip as you don't specify it (your initial information was pretty specific) and your response about the battery indicated only one. I have had this once where the grip (and only the grip) buttons stopped working in this manner, it was a 3rd party grip on my 7D and I don't remember the sensor clean failing too.
I would suggest that you consider this a freak occurrence unless it happens again, you have done everything to restore a stable configuration to the camera and as mentioned it is unlikely to garner any enthusiasm from CPS unless you can show it is repeatable.
In fact I'd say an intermittent fault is likely to garner little enthusiasm from any service centre whether it is a camera or a car or anything in between, they are so difficult to recreate and diagnose.
Good luck and let's hope it was just a freak and that you don't have to resort to a backup camera for your next wedding!

Cheers, Graham.

 

[SalAlexander]

Thanks everyone for the replies.
[snip]

Thanks, SalAlexander, for your reply.

It looks like you already did everything j-nord and I were thinking of to avoid this issue.

What I didn't get is the point if that issue still appears or if it's gone (for now).

I'd be heading straight to CPS with this issue.

If it's gone, CPS would surely respond "What's your problem?".
Maybe they'd also do some resetting of body and lens and then charge you for that.

OTOH of course you need a tool you can rely on, so maybe it's worth the effort.

I suppose I'd be heading to CPS now, too. But give them a detailed description what and how it happened and when and how it disappeared again.

Good luck!

Hi Maximilian, the problem has gone for now, it's something that happened once, and didn't reappear as soon as I rebooted the camera.

Hi SalAlexander.
I'm guessing you were not using a grip as you don't specify it (your initial information was pretty specific) and your response about the battery indicated only one. I have had this once where the grip (and only the grip) buttons stopped working in this manner, it was a 3rd party grip on my 7D and I don't remember the sensor clean failing too.
I would suggest that you consider this a freak occurrence unless it happens again, you have done everything to restore a stable configuration to the camera and as mentioned it is unlikely to garner any enthusiasm from CPS unless you can show it is repeatable.
In fact I'd say an intermittent fault is likely to garner little enthusiasm from any service centre whether it is a camera or a car or anything in between, they are so difficult to recreate and diagnose.
Good luck and let's hope it was just a freak and that you don't have to resort to a backup camera for your next wedding!

Cheers, Graham.

Hi Graham, correct, I wasn't using the grip.
"Unfortunately" I can't replicate the problem, so as you said, I don't think CPS would get too excited.

 

[lay85]

I had this exact same issue, I put the 70-200 2.8mkII on my 5d3 which is usually on my 1DMK4 then spent the day shooting sports and nearly all the shots were out of focus, not even close to focused. I never used that combo again but always use the 24-70 2.8mkII on the 5d3 which is just outstanding, every shot is so sharp.

 

[Maximilian]

I had this exact same issue, ... all the shots were out of focus, not even close to focused.

Hi lay85!

Although your situation sounds also really bad I wouldn't call this "exact same issue".
You didn't mention if AF and IS were "just working bad" in your situation or if they were "dead" like SalAlexander explained.
In your situation I would re-test your combo in your free time and try out, if you really have a technical issue (that should also appear with your 1D Mk4, IMHO) or if any settings in the 5D3 or technique is the problem.

Anyhow, with two such great tools (5D3 + 70-200 IS II) I wouldn't just let it be, but try to make them work.

 

[SalAlexander]

I redid the reset process all over again: reinstalled the firmware, reset settings, remove battery and clock battery, format cards...
Had another wedding yesterday, and everything seemed to work perfectly. Hopefully it as just an isolated issue!