R3 locks up and pictures disappear

[CampanellaFoto]

I was wondering if any R3 owners are experiencing or have experienced anything similar to this.

My R3 will occasionally lock up and freeze. Currently it happens about once a month. I will be shooting and the camera will lock up. The viewfinder can go black. The camera comes out of the freeze on its own without me having to remove the battery. When it does and it is operational again the sequence of images I was shooting is gone from the card.

I have been putting off sending it to CPS hoping that a firmware updated would solve the problem, is it did with my R5s, but I don't think I can hold off. The fact that images vanish makes it unreliable.

Last night I was on firmware 1.4.0 and today I have updated to 1.4.1 ... shooting a match in a few hours ... fingers crossed.

 

[Dreysi]

Not happening to me but I'm on 1.3 firmware (or 1.2 can't remember).

 

[koenkooi]

Have you tried different cards?

 

[unfocused]

Have you tried different cards?

There have been extensive discussions here and elsewhere. Cards are not the problem.

 

[neuroanatomist]

There have been extensive discussions here and elsewhere. Cards are not the problem.

I must have missed the extensive discussions about the R3 locking up. Or are you assuming that the problem the OP is having with an R3 has the same root cause as the R5 (whatever that was, though cards were seemingly ruled out there)?

 

[unfocused]

I've had lock ups with the R3, but don't recall ever losing images. (Other than missing action because the camera froze and I had to either turn it off and on or remove the battery.)

It seems to have gotten better with recent firmware upgrades for both the R5 and R3 (I have both). But, I don't know that Canon has figured out anything that is truly a "fix." (In the sense that it will never happen).

One suggestion I have. If it freezes, go ahead and turn it off and on or take out the battery for a second. I would not trust the camera to reset itself without taking that action. I'd also be worried that if it is deleting images, it could corrupt the card. (One reason I shoot RAW to the first card and JPG to the second -- so I have backup images in case the card does get corrupted.)

 

[unfocused]

I must have missed the extensive discussions about the R3 locking up.

Okay. Most of the discussion has been regarding the R5, but yes, there are cases with the R3 as well (I've had experience with both). The point though is that there has been a lot of discussions where people repeat the idea that it is somehow card related, But, there has been no credible evidence that it has anything at all to do with the cards and it occurs with many different brands and types of cards. And, it can happen with one card one day and then not ever happen again with the exact same card. I'm merely trying to avoid sending anyone down that particular rabbit hole.

And yes, if you look back at past discussions on this topic you'll see that I was once a believer in the card theory until experience proved me wrong.

 

[koenkooi]

There have been extensive discussions here and elsewhere. Cards are not the problem.

Images disappearing points to card issues, but anything is possible. But using different cards is the easiest thing to try yourself, before embarking on a CPS adventure.

 

[kaihp]

Images disappearing points to card issues, but anything is possible. But using different cards is the easiest thing to try yourself, before embarking on a CPS adventure.

If the image numbers on the card are consecutive, but images are missing, the culprit would be the camera.

FWIW, I have v1.4.0 on my body, and have not seen this issue.

 

[Zik]

This has happened to me and Canon replaced the main PCB and it has not happened since. You will find that eventually the camera will fail to recognise CF Express cards or that you need to slightly 'eject' the card for it to be seen.

 

[Birdshooter]

No lock ups on my R3 with the latest firmware. Actually I have never had any issues with my R3

 

[unfocused]

No lock ups on my R3 with the latest firmware. Actually I have never had any issues with my R3

That’s no surprise. The issue has always been random and affects a limited number of bodies. So, the absence of the issue in a body is not unusual. That’s one reason why it’s been so hard for Canon to diagnose and fix. Recent firmware updates do seem to have reduced the problem but not eliminated it. If you’ve never had the problem just consider yourself lucky.

 

[Birdshooter]

That’s no surprise. The issue has always been random and affects a limited number of bodies. So, the absence of the issue in a body is not unusual. That’s one reason why it’s been so hard for Canon to diagnose and fix. Recent firmware updates do seem to have reduced the problem but not eliminated it. If you’ve never had the problem just consider yourself lucky.

All I can say is I have a Delkin Black and a Sony tough Card and have switched cards between the R5 and R3 and have not had any issues.
Sorry to hear of your misfortune and I might be pushing Canon to replace the camera or the board inside.

 

[Zik]

I'd wholeheartedly recommend Delkin Black CF Express cards for the R3, they are quicker and run at half the temperature of the earlier Sandisk Extreme Pro CF Express. Have had high temp warnings on the camera with Sandisk and never with Delkin Black for what it's worth...

 

[edaniels6902]

I used to have a lot of R3 lockups. I ended up changing settings so it wouldn't go into sleep mode, and haven't had issues since. I haven't had any battery drain issues either, so I'm pleased.