Canon PowerShot A540 Digital Camera Logo
Posted on Oct 25, 2007
Answered by a Fixya Expert

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Canon A540 flash charge not holding

After taking a picture with a flash, the screen goes black and the orange (flash charging) light starts flashing.  This continues indefinitely unless you swap to picture viewing mode and back again, in which case all looks well.

Also, when taking a photo that requires a flash, I am accustomed to seeing the flash light come on for a couple of seconds the first time the button is half-pressed in order to focus.  Usually, if the button is then released and pressed again to re-focus, the flash does not re-charge and a picture can be taken immediately.  Since I've been seeing the strange behaviour above, I've also noticed that *every* time I re-press the button, the flash light comes on again for a few seconds.  Batteries don't seem to be lasting as long either.

I've tried changing the batteries and using my other SD card but without seeing any difference.  We are about 6 months out of warranty.  Any help or ideas appreciated!

Julie
London, UK

  • Anonymous Feb 13, 2008

    When I press the shutter button, the flash symbol on the LCD flashes for some time before taking a photo. After the photo has been taken, the orange ready light flashes for several minutes then the camera either shuts down or a message comes up on the screen to change the batteries. This happens even with fresh batteries. Has only been happening in the last few weeks. The camera is about 2 yrs old. Any ideas on what the problem might be?

  • JerryTGreat May 25, 2008

    Exactly the same symptoms here--switching to preview, then back makes it take th enext shot just fine, but the camera gets 'stuck' recharging the flash. I verified I'm not affected by the battery spring issue--this is wierd!!!

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  • Canon Master 4,738 Answers
  • Posted on Dec 16, 2007
CameraR
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Some of The Canon Powershot A530 and A540 cameras are subject to a advisory recall. Seems that a small spring on the battery compartment door can short out the batteries. Suspect this of yours, in that you mention that your batteries aren't lasting long. If your camera is on the list, Canon should fix this for you for free, including free shipping both ways. This is regardless of your camera's warranty status. Please check the following two links for more info:

http://camerarepair.blogspot.com/2007/12/canon-a530-a540-with-short-battery-life.html

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