IMPORTANT; First frame black issue

So sorry to hear that.

If you have a working 5D/7D they are still a lovely camera but I think we have to face the fact that fully functional ones will get rarer and rarer due to this and other design/quality issues along with age.

AFAIK, at least in Europe, only Runtime in Bremen still have the parts to fix the problem and that supply is not limitless.

Welcome to Dyxum duelly, glad you found a 'fix'.

nigelbrooks wrote: Feel for you Elwyn.

Thank you Nigel

Well. I managed to visit Winchester Cathedral yesterday with some friends and about 3/4 through the visit my trusty KM 5D misbehaved.

It would take an image but would not display it on the screen, just showing a black screen that was clearly powered. It then locked up and the only way to get it back was to switch off and then on again.

Tried various resets but nothing seems to sort it, and then I read this thread last night...

It has stored the photo that was taken but the camera is now unusable, effectively.

As such I won't be shooting with an KM products for a while.

I recently bought a Nikon D100 from a friend as a backup. Not sure how I'd cope with it but for the cost at the time and the availability it seemed silly to turn it down; it was certainly cheaper than places online I would get it for.

My 'walkaround' camera, which I carry in my work bag, is a Canon G9. It too has provided good service, so I will today download and sort out my KM gear, clean it and place it all into storage...

Sony 56 Flash, Tamrom 18-200, Minolta 75-300, Sony 18-70, Minolta 50mm plus all the little gadgets, cables, chargers, at least 3 batteries, Angle eye-peice (invaluable imho) and vertical grip.

The Nikon with it's one lens, a Sigma 18-50 will be my only hardcore camera until I can drag the pennies together to move up to the Sony range....

Gutted

... and for all of you FFB and Euro crises effected EU- D7D owners, there still is a company in Germany that fixes your problem. If the "shaking half a dozen times: upside down, left and right, back and forth, twisting, every possible combination" doesn´t work, just give Runtime Bremen a call. No chance to get the Euro crises fixed there though, if that´s possible anyway. ;-)

Thanks for the reply :)

My first 7D went back for the fix in 2011, hasn't been used heavily since, but so far so good.
I bought another 7D last year off an elderly gentleman, that still had the original firmware and hardly any use at all.
Hopefully that one will last a while too.

The latest 7D was bought for me to have a go at diy infrared conversation, but now of course it's useless with no shutter :(

I'm both glad and concerned that FBF can appear suddenly.
On the one hand the seller may not have been pulling a fast one, but the timing does seem a little difficult, plus he's not replying to email! lol
On the other, it's vexing that the model can indeed suffer sudden failure.

I've always thought at least I might get a few more years once it started again. Hopefully having 2 working cameras will offer some security, but I suppose it's time I started saving for a Sony! lol

I debated posting a new thread on the following question, but since this FBF posting is already here, perhaps this is the place for it.

My personal experience and opinions I have read over the years, suggest that 7D FBF occurs progressively, usually beginning with a single occasional black frame followed by normal operation after restart, then worsening over time.

I recently bought another 7D with a control dial issue, it was claimed to be working fine in manual mode, but on delivery it had total FBF failure, ie all frames are black frames.

My question is: has anyone experienced a sudden complete FBF failure occurring without any preceding warning?

I don't want to assume I was sold an intentional lemon, based on only my own experience of FBF.

Can anyone comment on total sudden failure?