How do I fix a pop up flash on a canon sx280 camera

Check that use of internal flash is not disabled in the menus.

• is your settings set to manual ? if you are set to manual mode and the flash does not pop out try pressing the flash button located near the EOS 60d label
• if the flash won't pop out after pressing the button try to follow the steps on this you tube link

How to fix the This menu cannot be displayed External flash is attached...

Sorry, you don't. The SX280's display is fixed; it doesn't move. You can put a mirror behind the camera, have somebody else set up the shot, or have somebody else pose while you set up the shot, but you can't see the back of the camera from in front of it.

You may download the manual at http://gdlp01.c-wss.com/gds/4/0300010764/01/pssx280hs-cu-en.pdf

I suggest you return the camera back to the shop and get the camera repaired or replaced as it would be still under warranty.
If you try to fix it yourself you may void your warranty.

Frustrating I am sure. I had the same problem on my first XTi. I cannot remember what the settings were, but I think I was set for portrait and had flash set as the white balance default source. Therefore the camera always popped up the flash assuming that I wanted or needed fill flash.

Change you white balance to sun/shade/tungston etc as is appropriate, choose a faster ISO speed in lower light levels and try using the P or Tv mode and use a shutter speed that generates a middle range aperature for your particular lens.

I would suggest taking it to a technician to have it repaired. It does not seem like something you should try to fix yourself.

Maybe there's a problem with your camera's pop-up flash.

Contact Canon Customer Support, and see what they can do for you. Probably they will point where you can get your camera repaired.

Again, the best advice is to immediately contact Canon, and get advice - if you try and fix yourself, it may invalidate the guarantee!

My guess is that when you press the flash release button, to pop it up, an electronic switch powers a release, and a spring loaded action pops up the flash - remember, you have to push it shut after use, it is not auto retract! I also am sure that the charge circuit is activated when the flash pops up. If it is not popping up when you press the button, the charge circuit will not be operating either.

I am sure you will find that if you ring Canon, there is a procedure which will return the camera to default settings, which would reset the flash action too perhaps. It may mention it in the handbook of instructions, or Canon will tell you. I had mine go weird, but it wasn't flash, and they told me, and it fixed my problem when I followed the advice - always ring them, and if you take the advice, and it causes a problem, you have a valid way out of responsibility if they claim you made the problem worse by forcing it to do something it wasn't doing as it should.

Hope this helps

Adrian

I found the answer and fixed my flash. Look on http://photo.net/bboard/q-and-a-fetch-msg?msg_id=00ODWf

This will describe how, if you have been using a speedlite alot, than the little tab under the shutter release side of the hot shoe can get bent down thus constantly pressing down (toward the bottom of the camera) the small button which deactivates the pop-up flash even when the speedlite is not attached. Just bend the tab up a little with a jewler's screwdriver, turn the camera off and on and voila!! Fixed!!! Dan describes pushing the tab down, but on the xti, the tab needs to be bent up to release the flash deactivation switch and fix the problem. Thanks to Dan D on photonet for saving me a service call.

There are two versions of this problem: 1. The flash does not pop-up. 2. The flash does pop-up.

Here’s the fix to the err05 msg when the flash does pop-up. This will work on the XTi and perhaps on similar Canon cameras:

The pop-up flash has two legs. Look at the pivot point of the right leg (”right” when looking into the lens). Just in front of the pivot is a very small spring-load pin on the “roof” of the camera body.
This pin is the sensor that tells the camera the state of the flash. The pin is pushed down when the pop-up flash is closed and is suppose to quickly spring up when the flash is opened. Problem is, the pin sometimes gets dirty and drags. When it is slow to spring up … you get the err05 message.

Fix: Take a small jeweler’s screwdriver and dip the tip in isopropyl alcohol. (Don’t use any other solvent unless it’s designed for cleaning electronic parts!) Then touch the screwdriver tip to the pin. Do this several times until the pin area is nicely wet. Then push the pin up and down until it is able to spring up quickly.

Enjoy.