# Canon 450d issues



## GJM (Jul 19, 2009)

Ok being a camera novice, have had the above camera for a while and have always thought it was poor in low light...but seems to have got worse, to the point it wont shoot in AF mode.

Came across a firmware update on the Canon Japanese site...but it can be linked to from the UK site in a roundabout fashion...that might change soon after made them aware of this today.

So the latest FW mentions fixing a low light issue in AF...however I'm now upto date but still useless.

Would this be a case of something worm prematurely due to the fact been running with the other firmware?

No point in going to local Canon authorised centre and they are not helpful and didn't have a clue about the firmware either.

Any DSLR buffs got an idea?


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## EddieB (May 13, 2006)

Is the issue just in low light?

Are you on selective AF point mode?

Which mode you shooting in?


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## EddieB (May 13, 2006)

What lens you got on the front?


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## GJM (Jul 19, 2009)

Hi,

Yes just in low light, select the AF near where the lense goes in, if select MF then it shoots away.

This is just using the standard lense, do have another in the cupboard somewhere but not used it much at all


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## EddieB (May 13, 2006)

Sorry for the late reply - been sooo busy.

It's because the camera can't focus in low light - for instance I have a 50mm F1.8 which has really issues focusing - it continually hunts in low light. 

When I say AF do you select your focus point or is it on auto? Where are you located?

Trying putting it on Av with F4.5 or as big an aperture as possible and try it.


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## Buck (Jan 16, 2008)

EddieB said:


> Sorry for the late reply - been sooo busy.
> 
> It's because the camera can't focus in low light - for instance I have a 50mm F1.8 which has really issues focusing - it continually hunts in low light.
> 
> ...


Eddie is on the money there!

When you look through the viewfinder there is a green dot that goes constant when the camera has locked focus - if it is flashing then it means that the camera cannot focus either due to low light; the object is too near or occassionally because the subject is an awkward shape / angle for the camera to focus on.


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## lobotomy (Jun 23, 2006)

Does the 450d only have cross type focus on centre focus? If you're using any of the other AF sensor points then they'll just single line sensor points which are less accurate and will mean more "hunting"/slower AF.

When shooting in low light try to focus on something of high contrast, say a collar line (depending on aperture*) and recompose.


*Obviously if you're shooting wide open focussing on this point might put you OOF anyway! and again recomposing might cause slight OOF depending on aperture as well.


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## GJM (Jul 19, 2009)

EddieB said:


> Sorry for the late reply - been sooo busy.
> 
> It's because the camera can't focus in low light - for instance I have a 50mm F1.8 which has really issues focusing - it continually hunts in low light.
> 
> ...


No probs, know the feeling, appreciate the reply.

Bare with me I'm not a DSLR wizz, more a point and shoot but like a bit of quality 

When I say AF I mean on the lense where you can select, on AF now it wont even lift the flash to shoot.

Anyway I bought a big lense and tried that out and it's fine, so does this point to a lense fault...or a bit of user error.

It's just that used it plenty time before with AF and although not great at times, it did work...tried it yesterday with plenty light and did not want to play...switch to manual and it's fine


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## Multipla Mick (Feb 5, 2006)

The auto focusing mechanism (I assume) packed up on my 18-55 kit lens the other day as it happens. If it won't auto focus in any light then I imagine that is what has happened to yours too. If it can't focus, it won't take a photo, unless you focus it manually. If you want to replace the lens, there are loads of kit lenses around used for about £70, but that's because few people hang onto them, preferring better lenses instead.

www.mpbphotographic.co.uk always have a load of used kit lenses for sale if you do want a straight replacement. But probably best just to manually focus it and put the money towards a different lens (I'm after a 'nifty fifty' for example, Canon 50mm F1.8. Said to be a very good lens indeed, and cheap too.)


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## DW58 (Nov 27, 2010)

Just as a matter of interest (tell me to STFU if wrong) - is the lens set to "AF" and not "M"?

Which autofocus method is selected on the camera?


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## Multipla Mick (Feb 5, 2006)

DW58 said:


> Just as a matter of interest (tell me to STFU if wrong) - is the lens set to "AF" and not "M"?
> 
> Which autofocus method is selected on the camera?


Mine (also on a 450D) is set to one shot AF at the moment, and when AF is selected on the lens it's dead. No auto focus hunt with the lens cap on, or with it off. Switch it to manual and focus it by hand, it's fine and allows a photo to be taken.


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## EddieB (May 13, 2006)

Mick - i've got my old kit lens which i'll be prepared to sell if you want it? I'll be down Newquay region next week...


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## Multipla Mick (Feb 5, 2006)

EddieB said:


> Mick - i've got my old kit lens which i'll be prepared to sell if you want it? I'll be down Newquay region next week...


That's a kind offer so thank you, but if it's ok I'll leave it, I rarely use the kit lens at all, and certainly don't mind focussing by hand. Thanks again though.


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## GJM (Jul 19, 2009)

Multipla Mick said:


> The auto focusing mechanism (I assume) packed up on my 18-55 kit lens the other day as it happens. If it won't auto focus in any light then I imagine that is what has happened to yours too. If it can't focus, it won't take a photo, unless you focus it manually. If you want to replace the lens, there are loads of kit lenses around used for about £70, but that's because few people hang onto them, preferring better lenses instead.
> 
> www.mpbphotographic.co.uk always have a load of used kit lenses for sale if you do want a straight replacement. But probably best just to manually focus it and put the money towards a different lens (I'm after a 'nifty fifty' for example, Canon 50mm F1.8. Said to be a very good lens indeed, and cheap too.)


Thanks for that I wonder if they screw up due to running the old firmware for so long....the new firmware clearly mentions fix to issues with low light shots in AF.

To be honest I've always found it pretty poor in that respect even out the box.

Will keep an eye out for a lense...what makes the nifty fifty so good, is it fine for just normal shots as such


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## DW58 (Nov 27, 2010)

Having just read through this entire thread again, I'm not 100% sure what you're trying to achieve.

The Canon EOS 450D was an entry level DSLR which was very highly specified for the time. Like many DSLRs - especially those at the consumer end of the scale - it doesn't focus particularly well in poor light. The 450D has an AF assist facility, i.e. the flash lights up to provide suffient light for AF to work, but to achieve this you have to lift the flash.

I suggest familiarising yourself with the manual and how the camera works might not be a bad idea.

*Canon EOS 450D manual (PDF)*

BTW the last firmware update for the EOS 450D was issued on 1/4/08 and can be found here. This is presumably the last update Canon felt necessary.


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## Multipla Mick (Feb 5, 2006)

The 50mm 1.8 is a lens I fancy getting at some point in the not too distant future. It gives a fixed focal length of 80mm on a 450D, so good for portraits and the like, but being a 1.8 it works very well in poor light. It is also pretty good for shallow depth of field, bokeh as it seems to be called these days. The main drawback seems to be build quality, very cheap plastic, noisy AF etc, but on the upside, the optical quality is said to be very good indeed. For about £85 it seems a bargain, but it may well not suit your type or style of photography. But I'd rather get one of those than another 18-55, I'll just focus my kit lens by hand instead if I use it.

Being a fixed lens means sometimes having to change composition/position and so on too, which can be a good thing, making me think more before taking the photo and so on. So that's why I fancy one.

DW58 is right about using the on board flash for focusing, flip it up in poor light and it strobes to help the camera focus. Think the 430EXII flash gun I've got does it as well, but not used that in low light yet


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## DW58 (Nov 27, 2010)

The 50mm f/1.8 is a lens I wouldn't be without. I don't use it a lot, but I'm always secure knowing it's in the bag because I can get an image with it when nothing else will work. They're cheap as chips, but optically good, have wide aperture and you won't notice one as an addition to your bag as they are so light.


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## GJM (Jul 19, 2009)

DW58 said:


> Having just read through this entire thread again, I'm not 100% sure what you're trying to achieve.
> 
> The 450D has an AF assist facility, i.e. the flash lights up to provide suffient light for AF to work, but to achieve this you have to lift the flash.
> 
> ...


Guess aimed at me...just want the camera to pretty much point and shoot when I want it to.

Even in lots of light when set to AF it will not fire...or whatever you want to call it.

When set to AUTO on the button....it normally 'lifts' the flash for you when working properly

Suggest you pay attention and you would know.....unlike Canon and their so called 'service centres'

That this is the latest firmware....

http://web.canon.jp/imaging/eosd/firm-e/eosdigital4/firmware.html

Which is marked 09/04/23...which I'm guessing is 2009 but could well be the same version as the Yank one as Brits are always behind...

Cannon after pointed out to them did not have the firmware on the UK site...however they may have it now after told them about it...but they did have it tucked away somewhere else but links to the .jp site which they finally agreed was the correct one and ok to use it


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## DW58 (Nov 27, 2010)

GJM said:


> Guess aimed at me...just want the camera to pretty much point and shoot when I want it to.


Yes, of course it was aimed at you. Suggest you get yourself a "point and shoot" camera then.

The EOS 450D was - and still is - a very capable camera body in most hands. I can only guess that you can't/won't learn to work it properly or otherwise your trying to do things it just isn't capable of doing.

BTW, I've been using Canon (note only one "n") SLR cameras since 1978, EOS autofocus SLRs since 1993 and EOS DSLRs since 2001 so I do know to an extent what I'm talking about..

You seem desperate to slag off both Canon and their authorised service centres - how do you think those camera engineering companies become authorised by a company such as Canon if they "don't know"?

I suspect that it isn't the Canon EOS 450D or whichever version of firmware which is to blame, I suspect the issue lies with _Humanware GJM v1.0_.


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## GJM (Jul 19, 2009)

DW58 said:


> Yes, of course it was aimed at you. Suggest you get yourself a "point and shoot" camera then.
> 
> The EOS 450D was - and still is - a very capable camera body in most hands. I can only guess that you can't/won't learn to work it properly or otherwise your trying to do things it just isn't capable of doing.
> 
> ...


Well Mr Expert, it;'s my decison to by a camara above me needs and if I want to use it just for simple point and shoot then so be it,,,,surely the Canonnnnn is cabable of tyhis and if my spellsing is bad then that's another issue.

But for an expert maybe you should read......the lense has AF/MF, the camera is meant to work on AF and it did for long enough but I noticed it was not that good.....now if you read their firmware blurb it's clearly an issue.

Also you do not need to LIFT the flash, maybe you did in your 1922 camera but it's 2012 hello 

So I am thinking that perhaps the fact this firmware was hiding away and I have continued to use, then this has had a negative effect, ie if the firmware was updated sooner it might have helped....now it's too far as it appears the fault is with the lense but again that might have been prevented with an early update or the camera being put through rigourous testing...as it's becoming clear that problem exists as it's happening with plenty other 450ds

I am NOT trying to do things it's not capable of and never have as I havent even had the time nor inclination to mess around with it to that levels

I am NOT desperate to slag off Canon and their authorised service centres, I am slagging them off as both calls to the service centre (twice) and Canon UK (twice) resulted in nothing but frustration and clearly talking with idiots, in the last call to Canon after had found out a bit more (myself) I ended up just hanging up as had better things to do that talk to a brick wall!

God knows how they get authorised but the one that I spoke to didn't seem capable of dealing with my daughters v-tech camera, on the firmware...'we would just use whats on Canons site'

No knowledge of what the actually upto date firmware was but then neither did Canon until I pointed it out so it is sorted now, linking to the Japan site...which initially they said...dont use it as they 450d is known as something else in other countries!

Nothing to do with humanware...


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