Why would my tablet shut down when i try to take a picture

when you say shut down do you mean it goes of or goes into safety mode

Try safe mode first: Power the Device Up in Safe Mode Motorola XOOM . this helps To eliminate third party apps as the issue.

If that doesn't help then try How do reset my Motorola XOOM to original settings .

Mark
Motorola Support

With it connected to WiFi select Settings / Reset / Factory Reset

That should fix it.

The problem could be that you are pressing down the power button and the volume button at the same time when you shut down. That will cause an android tablet to reset itself. There may be an issue with the power shut off button.

hold down power and volume up and down at the same time for 10 seconds and then release. should reboot. if not then there is something wrong with the board or a software glitch.

One sure way is to leave it running doing something like youtube, until the battery runs completely out of juicy. Then plug it in and let it charge all the way up, and see if that fixed the issue.
Good luck!

Try shutting down your tablet completely and wait a few minutes before turning it back on. Turn it on and see if that helped. That happened to my tablet too and I shut it down a while and it worked.

If I understand you correctly, you have a Tablet, when you try to take a picture your tablet shuts down. This can usually be caused by bad firmware or software.

Step 1: Check the Tablet's vendor site, is there a software update for the Tablet? If yes, download and install it.
Step 2: What application are you using when you take a picture? Using Google Play Store download and install an alternate application like Camera MX.
Also make sure you are not accidently holding the power buttom when takeing a pacture.

Shut off then hold power and down volume i believe.

have you tried connecting it up, leave it for say 8 hours and don't use, try it then?