350D shutter button/power fault

I finally found the cause of my problems.

On xmas day I prepared the camera with 18-55 kit lens ready to capture the kids opening present. First press and 'nothing'. So it wasn’t the clock battery. I switched to a P&S for the rest of xmas day and later had time to check out the camera.

It’s the kit lens. More specifically, the aperture blades are sticking.

If the lens remains fully open (and @18mm) then I can get a shot. If the blades need to close down at all, then they can stick. Using the preview button on the body, I can close the lens down and it does not return to fully open when I release the button.

I have found that attempting to closing it to f/22 and then adjusting the zoom fully in and then fully out will sometimes unstick the blades. Usually takes 2 or 3 attempts.

With the lens in this state, it probably can’t respond to the camera’s focus command and the camera becomes locked up.

This explains all of my problems a few months ago. And I suspect the problem cleared when I switched lenses. I originally posted that a remote shutter worked – I don’t know if this was with a different lens or with the 18-55 … so much going on at the time that I didn’t have a detailed log of everything I tried.

When I bought the camera in Feb 2006, the cost of the body+kit lens was only £30 more than body alone so the lens only cost me £30 …. It is now beyond economical repair.

Time to look for another 18-xxx lens!

Or maybe attempt to dismantle it and do my own repair ….eeeek!!