Canon SX20 freezes

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Tom

Tom

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My point-and-shoot style means that I literally grab (the camera), point, zoom, focus and shoot. I expect the camera to 'respond' immediately, but occasionally I see my Canon SX20 fail to respond; Moving the zoom lever does nothing &/or depressing the shutter button half way doesn't trigger the auto focus. It's done this virtually since new, but not often enough to be a big issue. When I realize it's happening, I just turn the camera off and back on again, and all is well again, and I forget about it until it happens some time down the road.

Anyone experience this issue &/or know what causes it?
 
I have no clue what the problem is. It sounds like it is taking a while to boot up. You might want to try it will a memory card that is completely empty and then try it with a memory card that has a lot of images on it to see if the number of images on the card has anything to do with the problem.
 
It happens infrequently, and the camera might have already taken shots after booting up and before locking/freezing up.I'll try to pay more attention next time it happens.
 
Could it be happening when the batteries are not at full power?

You could also try getting a faster or just a different SD card.

Or maybe just spray the entire camera down with WD-40 ;D ;D ;D ;D
 
Last time it happened I know I'd recharged the batteries that morning, and I took less than a dozen shots all day. I could try a different SD card, but I won't know for some time if the problem went away or if I just haven't experienced the issue (yet).

Haven't tried WD-40; Would that help?
 
Tom said:
Haven't tried WD-40; Would that help?
Click to expand...
That was a joke Tom. Intermittent electrical problems are the toughest problems of all to solve. My guess is that it is not something to do with the camera itself, but either the batteries or the SD card. Are you using rechargeable batteries? If so try Alkaline instead.
 
That was a joke Tom.
Click to expand...

Now you tell me! My camera is covered in this oily mess  :(

The batteries are rechargeable NiMH. I don't understand why alkaline batteries would be better  ???
 
I don't know that alkaline would be better, but it would be different.

Your camera can't be covered in an oily mess, WD-40 is not a lubricant. 8)
 
You might check with Canon. My S100 had an intermittent bad focus issue, which Canon Service solved (for free) in about ten days, door to door, by replacing the optical system. I'd go online to see if there's a firmware or other update, and then email Canon Service about your issue. Hope you get it fixed; it's not a good design feature.

PS - Any chance there's a bad battery contact? Have you tried a different battery?
 
Thanks, I'll try Canon, although I'm long out of warranty. I ruled out a battery connection because all I do is switch the camera off and on, and the problem goes away. It usually doesn't reocur for weeks or even months, and happens so infrequently that it's not a big issue. But, when it happens, I miss that Kodak moment  :(  Wish I could correlate it with some condition or event; Maybe I need to take notes.
 
Hi Tom,  a caveot.. I am no camera expert, even though I have pictures from a small box camera from 60 years ago in my personal album.

My little POS Sony Cybershot has a little reset button to reset the the built-in software. Might be worth a try to punch it and see if that might fix your problem.  Don't sue me if your camera blows up..

 
Thanks Carson. I don't see a reset button  ???
 
Ok Tom, help is on the way.  That's what you get for buying a cheap camera.  ;)

  My camera has a little flap which covers the A/V output and USB  and a DC IN socket. Just above that is the Reset hole.

I haven't used it yet so I don't know how loud the bang will be.

 
Aye Carson, I'd already checked behind every flap and all over the camera. The only two small holes I see have screws in them. Maybe I should remove the screws and see if that improves things  ???
 
Your camera won't have a reset button but it probably has a menu item that allows you to return it to the default settings. I doubt that would help. I have searched the Internet for you and there is no firmware updates available for your camera and there are no other updates. I have also searched for sx20 freezing and found nothing. My best suggestion would be to use alky batteries for a while and see if the problem still exists. Rechargeables are weird sometimes. Also try formatting your SD in the camera the next time the card is empty. You might have something weird going on there.
 
Thanks Tom. I researched quite a bit also, and came up empty. I will try Canon though to see if they have a suggestion.
 
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