Lens won't communicate with body

Discussion in 'Technical Troubleshooting' started by stu ducklow, Aug 12, 2020.

  1. stu ducklow

    stu ducklow New Member

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    Equipment:
    CANON 70D
    For the ten millionth time my Canon 70d tells me it can't communicate with the lens I've mounted on it. It tells me to clean the contacts. I have cleaned the contacts within an inch of their lives, at least 10 million times. I have also had this camera repaired at great cost and it still give me the same message intermittently.

    This is absolutely unacceptable in a professional level camera.
     

  2. Isac

    Isac Well-Known Member

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    7D / 7D Mark II / SX-50
    Canons-10 - 300mm
    Tamrons-17-400mm
    Sigmas-18-500
    How are you cleaning the contacts and what lens is it?
     
  3. stu ducklow

    stu ducklow New Member

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    I have a non-Canon zoom and a Canon kit wide-tele lens. I clean it with alcohol and a soft rag, or with a knife to scrape the contacts or with a pencil eraser or anything else. Maybe a stick of dynamite would do it.
     
  4. Craig Sherriff

    Craig Sherriff Well-Known Member Site Supporter

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    60D, 10D, 50D 1dmark3, T70, AV1, lenses ranging from 28mm to 600 mm, canonet Junior, Canonet QL 25, Mamiya C3 and 3 lens sets,Mamiya 645 pro TL and 3 lenses. Pentax MG and various lenses, Toyoview 4 * 5 inch large format camera,Calimat C1 8*10 inch ultra large format camera.
    Welcome to the forum Stu.
    What is the make of the lens, sometime cheap Chinese lenses cause similar problems, some times they work and other times it's frustrating.
    Is your lens new or secondhand.
     
  5. Craig Sherriff

    Craig Sherriff Well-Known Member Site Supporter

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    60D, 10D, 50D 1dmark3, T70, AV1, lenses ranging from 28mm to 600 mm, canonet Junior, Canonet QL 25, Mamiya C3 and 3 lens sets,Mamiya 645 pro TL and 3 lenses. Pentax MG and various lenses, Toyoview 4 * 5 inch large format camera,Calimat C1 8*10 inch ultra large format camera.
    Go to your computer comand line and type in
    Canon err 01 fix. 3 ways how to fix faulty lens communication Canon Camera there might be something that helps there or try You Tube, there could be something to help there. all the best with it.
     
  6. Isac

    Isac Well-Known Member

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    Canons-10 - 300mm
    Tamrons-17-400mm
    Sigmas-18-500
    Not a good thing to treat those contacts with such aggression :) You may have damaged them permanently.
     
  7. johnsey

    johnsey Site Moderator Staff Member Site Supporter

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    Hi stu,
    I am sure you already have researched the issue and the ways to troubleshoot the communication error, so I will not bother with that since it seems you have exhausted the primary fixes.

    1. I have to agree that scraping the contact has probably damaged it. Only a cloth or eraser should have been used. ANd most likely the dirt grease combo leads to this if they have been exposed to the air enough. I have actually never had to clean any of the contacts on lenses over the 16 years of owning canon DSLRs so your situation is in the minority here.
    2. The point on the non- canon is very very valid, if this is the lens giving issues that could be part of the problem especially if it is some off bran other than say sigma or tameron, and even those have issues with older lenses on newer cameras.
    3. Take a deep breath, if canon serviced it and you still have issues they should be held liable to re-fix it. Your camera is by no means new being a few generations old it does have mileage and sometimes things do go wrong, also the 70d will being a mid range and solid step up from the rebel is by no means a professional body. I only consider my 5d's semi professional at best.
     
  8. stu ducklow

    stu ducklow New Member

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    Equipment:
    CANON 70D
    Thanks for all the replies. I'm upgrading to more professional cameras but they definitely won't be Canons. When I worked as a news photographer the two Canon F-1s I had were totally reliable. I bought my two 70d cameras because of my good experiences with Canon in the past, but I should have looked more carefully. I'll be looking hard and long before I buy another Canon again.
     
  9. stu ducklow

    stu ducklow New Member

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    Equipment:
    CANON 70D
    So I think I finally solved the problem-- there are a couple of tiny spring-mounted contacts at the bottom of the lens mount. Some of them didn't look like they were fully extended. I took my needle-nosed pliers to them and pulled. Presto! Fixed! Those little contacts are like tiny, spring-mounted poles, reaching out to the contact surface on the lens. Obviously they get stuck halfway in and out of their little tiny holes from time to time so you gotta yank on 'em! Pliers are now in my camera bag!
     

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  10. GDN

    GDN Well-Known Member

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    Well done. Thanks for keeping us posted with the work around. Have you considered getting it fixed properly?

    Gary
     
  11. johnsey

    johnsey Site Moderator Staff Member Site Supporter

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    Yeah if those are not operating properly on the camera, I would ask canon. That is probably something they never expect to happen.
     

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