Problem with EF lenses on 20D

I have a 1Ds which uses EF lenses. I also have a 20D which normally uses EF-S lenses but can also use EF lenses. Page 23 of the 20D manual clearly says when mounting an EF-S lens to use the white index marker and when mounting other than EF-S lenses to use the red EF index marker.

I have just purchased a Canon EF 75-300mm lens and when I mount it on the 20D the camera locks up and needs to have the batteries removed to restart. The same happens when I mount the Canon EF 28-80mm lens which is the kit lens for the 1Ds.

Could somebody who also has a 20D tell me if their camera works with EF lenses. Many thanks.

 

Not much help from me but I did have a very used 20D (bought off of Ebay) that operated with Canon EF 28-80, 28-90, 35-70 and 28-105 lenses. The camera had a problem with overexposure, getting worse the faster the shutter speed used so maybe it was suffering a shutter problem due to age and excessive use.
These lenses also operate fine on my 350D which is of the same era.
Unfortunately an old Sigma 70-210 does not work, probably due to Sigma did not have the software to enable use on digital, just film.

 

Thank you for the information about your experiences. What you are relating is exactly how EF lenses are supposed to work on the APS-C bodies and that is supported by the camera manual. I am beginning to think that there must be a particular problem with my 20D and I guess that is not out of the question.
Today I will be visiting a neighbour who has some other Canon lenses I can try on the 20D to see if I can figure out where the problem lies. So, stay tuned.

 

Thanks, Johnsey, for your input. What you are experiencing is precisely how it should be.
As I indicated above, I visited a neighbour and tested both EF and EF-S lenses. The results proved that my 20D is totally opposite to yours. If will only work with EF-S lenses and will not work with any EF lens. I don't know why but, at least, I know that anything but an EF-S lens will lock it up. I will just use it with the Canon EF-S 18-55mm kit lens I bought for it. I can't complain as I received the body as a gift.
I was also gifted a 1Ds full-frame body and bought a Canon 28-80mm lens for it. I have just purchased a Canon EF 75-300mm lens and an M42 to EOS adapter so I can use all my Takumar screw-mount lenses on it. All of that is working just fine and that is where I will be devoting most of my attention.
Thanks everybody for you help.

 

News Flash: PROBLEM SOLVED. And the solution might surprise you as much as it surprised me.
I noticed that the batteries were not at full charge so I replaced them with a set of freshly charged batteries and now everything is WAD (Working As Designed). Because one lens was working properly it did not look like a power problem but now every Canon lens I have works on the 20D. It has a battery grip with two batteries in it and it now has the two genuine Canon batteries in situ. The other pair are generics that came with the charger and I am now suspicious of them as they take very little time to charge compared to the genuines.
I am fairly new to the Canon world but do EF lenses require more power to operate compared to EF-S?

 

Good news on being able to use your EF lenses.
Shame the generic batteries gave you the problem but the reputation of cheap batteries is often marred by problems. Having them swell when in the camera or charger is one problem I have seen noted that probably makes using original Canon batteries the best practice.
I wonder if the older motors in lenses do need to draw more power to operate? Quite possible, someone may know.

 

Well, it was not all good news. The fully charged batteries did help but the problem kept coming back. Changing lenses sometimes worked but most times the camera stopped working when a lens was changed and the batteries needed to be removed. Very frustrating.

So, I asked Mr. Google and found that I was not the only one with the problem and the most common advice was to update the firmware.
I checked my camera and found that it was at least two versions behind the latest version. I have now performed a firmware update to the latest version and I am happy to report that I can now change lenses with no problems. All is well with the world.
I don't give up easily when I am faced with a problem.

 

It's great that problems can be resolved and now you have the latest version of software.

 

Thanks, Robert. It was a great relief when I found that it was fixed and it was cause for jubilation...and a couple of drinks!

 

I also have a Canon75-300 EF lens and use it on my 10D and find it needs a lot of light and it did the same so I had a look at the shutter speed it was selecting in AV and it was 30 seconds, could this be happening in your cases as welll

 

Thank you for your interest, Craig. No, that was not what was happening to me. Up until I got the 75-300 I had not been changing lenses on the 20D but I found that almost all lens changes resulted in the camera "freezing" and the only option to get it operative again was to remove the batteries for a while. Research revealed that a firmware update would most likely fix it and it did.
I know that the EF 75-300 is the base model with no IS but for the price it will be OK for me. I just tested it in bright sunshine hand held at ISO 100, f8 and 1/400 shutter speed and I am impressed with the results. With careful handling and appropriate settings it performed well.

 

I haven't had any problems with my 10D but now that you mention it I might have a look if there is one available and see what it improves.

 

Yes, it is wise to check if a firmware update does anything for you. Sometimes they don't. In my case, it was required and it fixed the problem. I have another camera which does not have the latest version because I don't need it.

 

I intend to check as all my lenses are from the same time period or old film lenses. still it has peaked my interest.