7D pop-up flash stuck.

Hey all,

I took delivery of my brand new 7D just over a week ago, and just like my 400D before it, the pop-up flash gets stuck and the LCD comes up with 'ERR 05 - SWITCH CAMERA OFF AND ON AGAIN'.

I ordered it from Very.co.uk, it has the latest firmware installed (2.0.3).

I'm not too bothered because I like Street/documentary photography, so I like to remain as incognito as I can, usually. But there are some rare times when I do need flash (like if I want to take a picture of something I'm selling to put on the internet).

With the 400D I could just physically lift the flash up, but the 7D is so well built and tightly sealed, this isn't possible.

I don't really want to send the camera back and there are no Canon dealers where I am.

Any suggestions or work-arounds? Anybody else had this problem?

Thanks, and happy Sunday

P.S, just for future reference, will the wireless flash trigger(s) still work without the flash up?

Thanks again.

Leon.

Does the camera think you have an external flash attached? It could be that a pin is stuck. Take a look at the pictures in this thread and see if that is your problem. If so, it can be solved quickly.

This is a common flaw for Canons, I ran into on both my 40D and 7D. What I found I had to do was quickly pull the flash up manually with one hand after hitting the flash button with the other.

Mine got stuck just after the one-year warranty ran out, but Canon fixed it for free anyway.

If you get Error 05, then it's not the question about that the camera thinks something else is occupying the hot shoe. When it does, it will not even attempt to raise the built-in flash, thus never show any error message either.

When you get Error 05, the camera does indeed try to lift the flash, but the mechanism doesn't work. On a working camera, you can easily try by holding the flash down with your finger, whilst pressing the flash button. You'll hear the mechanism trying to release it, but after a few attempts, it will give you an error message.

It should come up every time, especially when the camera is new. There's some bad adjustment here.

I've had my flash get stuck a few times. Usually but not always after shooting outside when it's been windy. It's very dusty where I live so while I don't worry about shooting outside, I am overly cautions about changing lenses. I usually try and sit in my car or find somewhere sheltered to swap lenses if there's the slightest breeze.

Back to the flash. I've found that even a barely noticeable layer of dust around the inside (cradle) area where the flash nests will cause it to not pop-up. To avoid adding to the problem I use a alcohol moistened cleaning patch or micro-fiber cloth to wipe out the entire nest box with the flash up and then some canned air from a foot away to blow out any excess. I've heard of people blowing it out first but this seems counterproductive to me as any dust sitting in accessible areas could be blown into the latch mechanism. So, clean, blow, clean again and see if that fixes your problem.

As far as getting the flash up to perform a cleaning... While this probably goes against everything Canon will tell you, I apply slight pressure to one side of the flash so that it creates a lip on the opposite side. I then use my fingernail and with VERY light pressure lift on the lip of the pop-up flash while telling the camera to extend the flash. Sometimes it takes several tries. The key is NEVER force anything with your camera.

This has worked for me and my dust situation on several Canon bodies and while it has helped and fixed my situation without sending it off it may not even apply to your problem which may be the result of something completely different. If it works great! Just make sure to clean it real well before you push the flash back down and then activate it several times and blow it out upside down to make sure it's still functioning. If it turns out you have a different problem that I would highly suggest it be sent off to Canon for their repair.




Cheers, good luck!