"Busy" message

aunderwood

I was taking pictures at my nieces 16th birthday party Saturday night and while shooting, I would get a "busy" message on my screen and I couldn't take any photo's for about 6 - 10 seconds. There was indoor fluorescent lighting and the camera was set to Auto and Portrait mode. I was using the 18-55 mm lens. Oh, and the battery was fully charged.

I took pictures of my niece and her friends in front of a backdrop (set up like prom pictures). I would take 2 to 3 pictures of each person so they could pick the pose they like best but between snaps, I would get the "busy" message on my screen and have to wait several seconds before I could take another picture. Very frustrating. I'm just learning to use my T2i and still don't know a lot about the camera. I was just hoping it was something I had done and not my T2i. It's less than a month old. =/ Thanks for your help!

Moose

Howdy @aunderwood - That message usually appears when the built-in flash is trying to "recycle" for the next shot. A fully charged battery will increase your shot to shot speed with flash enabled, but you'll still need to wait a few seconds before trying to take the next shot. Try disabling the flash and see if you're still getting the "busy" message. Let me know how it all shakes out.

memoram20

I have been trying to figure out why my camera is doing the same thing. I'm so bummed. Well at least I know now its not just me with this problem. Hopefully there will be a solution out there for us.

aunderwood

I think my Canon is getting worse. I still get the "busy" message, but now I'm also having a delay when snapping in normal lighting. I will hold the button half way down to focus then go to snap and it won't snap until after the fact. I don't know what's going on.

I'm really getting upset about it. I bought the 2 year warranty (I've had it a year), but I'd hate to take it back and have them say it's an operator error, but it sure is getting to be a pain in the butt! I'm going to shoot my first wedding in July and I'm torn on what to do.

amigo

To eliminate the possibility that it could be the battery, try another one to see if the problem goes away.

aunderwood

Thanks for the input guys! I guess I will buy a new battery and see if that will help. =)

Moose

@aunderwood - Regarding the slow shutter response, it's possible your settings are off and a long shutter speed is being used.

For example, if the shutter speed is set to 1 second and you fully press the shutter, you'll actually hear two clicks...the first click is the mirror dropping and the second click the the mirror raising back up.

To rule out any "rogue" settings, try taking a couple test shots in Auto mode.

Terah

I found it depends on what SD card I am using in my T2i. It takes a few seconds to buffer and save each picture to the SD card. It will take up to 7 photos still needing to finish the buffer process, any more than that and it will give you a busy signal. I found if I am using a name brand high quality SD card I rarely get a busy signal as it buffers and saves faster. If I am not using a high quality card and I get carried away with rapid fire, I find myself waiting.

Invest in a high quality card and slow down your shooting speed a little and you shouldn't have any problems. I recommend SanDisk Extreme Pro as it buffers extremely fast allowing you to take more shots in a shorter amount of time.

beowulf

Terah hit on one of the main reasons this happens, the speed of the SD card. I buy nothing less than 133X to be safe. While you don't have to buy Class 10, you should, especially if you plan to do many shots rapidly. The slower the card, the longer it takes to write the image data. I find today that SDXC cards with faster speeds are not that much more expensive than cheap Class 4/6 cards. I bought a 64GB SDXC 133x (Lexar) for around $100. It's not cheap, but I have never run out of room for even a weekend of pictures using RAW+L. Well worth the money to know that I have plenty of room and speed.

aunderwood

Thanks guys! This has been so helpful! =)