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My 40D has begun to develop an intermittent shutter delay. Sometimes when the shutter is depressed the camera will wait, up to a few seconds, before it takes the shot. It's not auto/man focus, nor the lens, mode, CF card, focus points or anything else like that, been through all of those and more. I also use a 30D and never have the problem, so it's not technique either. And I'm on 1.0.8 in the 40D as well.

It is in fact a known issue with 40Ds as I discovered by searching the web. Not everyone has it, or would necessarily notice it.

Anyway, apart from alerting people to the possible problem -- and if you don't have it, don't get paranoid about it -- I was wondering if anyone else has noticed this, and what they have done to fix it.

12500 shutter actuations and not a single hiccup? grey market 40D bought from DigitalRev eBay in January with a Mack 5 year warranty.

hmmm. my bro got his 40d around the time it was released and he has expressed no issues. I've been meaning to borrow it from him and maybe might look for that pause. how long was the delay?

The delay could be anything from less than a second to a couple. If you were used to a P&S you wouldn't notice it, but if you're used to a DSLR you would. I don't know how many shots I've taken with my 40D but it would be many, many thousands, I don't count them. If you haven't got it don't worry and it won't be there all the time.

How about posting a link to this "known issue" I could only find a two individuals talking about it on flickr?

rmp wrote:Not everyone has it, or would necessarily notice it.

I reckon I'd notice that. Had my 40D since the day after it was released and the only time I've had a delay is if my AF and MFD is out. I read a post on the net somewhere of a user who had a similar problem - but it turned out to be battery related.

Could it perhaps be the AF assist sticking its nose into things and causing a delay?

I have seen this on other cameras, and I have seen enough instances of users saying "no that's not it" but being wrong to be just a tad cynical on something like this.

IOW, sounds like user error, and probably "user error ten-ID-tee".

I have a 40D, and have only experienced comparable delays in low contrast or low light AF situations.

Intermittent problems are the worst, I sympathise deeply. I have a TV with sound that is 'unreliable' at low volumes.. though for all warranty related testing, it has had 100% audio output. A shutter delay would be terrible, maybe start taking landscapes for a living?

Sorry to hear about this pesky problem. I hope you can resolve it in some way.

I think it would be reasonable to advise being careful about buying a 40D as second hand as this may be the reason that the owner may be selling it!

I think it would be reasonable to advise being careful about buying a 40D as second hand as this may be the reason that the owner may be selling it!

Its awful that people would sell something knowing there was a fault with the item and not disclose that to their buyers. But I guess thats reality, really that goes for anything 2nd hand. Its just the luck of the draw unfortunately and the risk that you take. I've got a 40d and the only 'problem' that I've had was that once on startup it took a good 5 seconds from the time of startup to the time i was able to press the shutter. Thats only happened the once tho, and suspect that it may have been due to the camera trying to read my CF card after i hit the preview wheel to view some images and it lagged a little.

Other than a firmware upgrade (If i remember rightly) I haven't heard of any 40d specific 'known issues and faults'.

I have a similar problem with my new 40d.I bought it last week and decided to take it to the football today,but i couldnt figure out why the auto-focus was very slow on some occasions....and sometimes it just wouldnt focus at all.
It was a gloomy day,so i put the f-stop a bit lower,but this had no effect on the focus problem.I thought it may be a problem with my 200mm lens,so i put on a 24-85mm,but again,the same focus problem.
This never used to happen with my 350d,but ill still persist with the 40d,and see id i can figure something out.

gstark wrote:Could it perhaps be the AF assist sticking its nose into things and causing a delay?

I have seen this on other cameras, and I have seen enough instances of users saying "no that's not it" but being wrong to be just a tad cynical on something like this.

IOW, sounds like user error, and probably "user error ten-ID-tee".

No, it's not the AF. As I said in the original post, I've tried manual focus. And again, if it was user error, then the same problem would be apparent on my 30D which I also use, often during the same shoot, and in the same way. Both cameras use the same lenses, CF cards, etc etc etc etc. I think I've tried everything, but one can never be sure.

By the way I'm not selling my 40D, that would be someone else.

I searched dpreview.com and Google for the threads about it. I'll put some links here if others can't find them. I don't read dpreview.com much as the s/n ration is unbearable, but if anything like this comes up the measurabators will certainly know about it. What I didn't find is any form of definitive fix, so I thought I'd try here, thinking it was above the standards of the other boards but with an insult from the chief mod based on, well, a big assumption, maybe not.

If I find an answer I'll let you all know. BTW it's ID-ten-T, unless I've missed a new way of being snide.

http://forums.dpreview.com/forums/read.asp?forum=1019&message=27715218
http://forums.dpreview.com/forums/read.asp?forum=1019&message=25387811
http://forums.dpreview.com/forums/read.asp?forum=1019&message=26628525

probably more, but there's three threads with people describing exactly the same problem.

oh and the flickr one:

http://www.flickr.com/groups/twip/discuss/72157604118272363/

I am having the same problem with my 40D. Is there any easy fix? or is it a trip back to canon?

No fix that I've found. My 40D is on its way back to the shop for a warranty repair, the problem is getting worse and using it today with a 30D is such a difference, the 30D is instant on the shutter, the 40D has the occasional delay. If you find a fix please post it here.

I got mine fixed by sending to Canon in North Ryde. Charged me a little over $200 to change the shutter release mech. Reason I had to pay was due to the fact I bought it overseas.

I think it's pretty poor of them to charge when it's odviously a design fault.

Seandudding wrote:I think it's pretty poor of them to charge when it's odviously a design fault.

A dozen or so confirmed cases out of tens of thousands of 40D's sold does not make a design fault! I bought mine from ebay and also purchased a 5 year mack warranty, because I know shit happens.

Bugeyes wrote:

Seandudding wrote:I think it's pretty poor of them to charge when it's odviously a design fault.

A dozen or so confirmed cases out of tens of thousands of 40D's sold does not make a design fault! I bought mine from ebay and also purchased a 5 year mack warranty, because I know shit happens.

I guess your right. Anyway I am just happy it's fixed. Plus I think digitalrev are going to reimburse me the cost.

DigitalRev have an Aussie agent you could have sent it to them for the repair.

Bugeyes wrote:DigitalRev have an Aussie agent you could have sent it to them for the repair.

Digital Rev Hong Kong told me to take it to Canon Australia. Canon Aus fixed it in less than a day.

The ending to my story http://www.dslrusers.com/viewtopic.php?f=21&t=33234. Not quite a 2 hour turnaound, but a nil cost one.