HELP ME!..my body is possessed

sonny_c

My 20d body...that is.

Today I was shooting a soccer game. About 15 minutes before the game ended my 20d flashed the infamous "Err 99" code then shut off. Three seconds after my camera shut off it went haywire. It went into a continous burst mode. The only way to stop it was taking the batteries out.

So far I've tried removing the battery grip, changing lenses, changing batteries, and pressing all the buttons on the camera. The batteries had more than 3/4 of a charge. After I got home I tried a set of fully charged batteries. Then I removed the battery grip and tried all four batteries one at a time. Same results. I turned off my ceiling fan, shut the a/c vent to the room, closed the door (so no dust will be flying around). With no lens on the body I took off the cap and inserted a battery. Again, the same result. I could see that little shutter just going crazy. Can anybody help me?

I called Canon Tech support this morning and explained my problem. After going through their troubleshooting steps we did not solve my problem. They recommend sending in my body. 2-3 weeks without my baby.......

I am in a serious predicament. My 20d is broke and I have a homecoming game (little league mind you but they are serious about this stuff) this Saturday to shoot and games booked on Oct 21, Oct 28, Nov 11 and possibly Nov 4, & Nov 18.

SpeshulEd

I'm pretty sure Shay just had this same exact problem with his 20D.

I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but I think your camera is kaputz. :cry

sonny_c

I bought my 20d Aug 2005. Unfortunately it's been over a year and the warranty no long applies. Up til yesterday I've taken over 100,000 photos in just over a year. Question.....Is the 20d made for this type of use? Should I just buy another 20d or 30d and use my older one as a back-up once it gets repaired? OR should I step up to the 1d Mark II?

I need to make a decision by Wed. If I do decide to go with the 1d...I'll need a few day to get familar with a new body. What is the rated actuations for the 1d MarkII N?

sonny_c

SpeshulEd wrote:

I'm pretty sure Shay just had this same exact problem with his 20D.

I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but I think your camera is kaputz. :cry

That's what I was afraid of.

SpeshulEd

here's the other thread...
http://www.dgrin.com/showthread.php?t=42908

looks like his died at 100,000 too.

sonny_c

SpeshulEd wrote:

here's the other thread...
http://www.dgrin.com/showthread.php?t=42908

looks like his died at 100,000 too.

Yup...same exact scenario.
Thanks

Jeffro

sonny_c wrote:

Yup...same exact scenario.
Thanks

You should have had a back-up! I'd get the 20D repaired, and get a 30D to use as my primary. Unless of course money wasn't an option, then it would be a Mark II all the way. Good luck.

cmason

sonny_c wrote:

I bought my 20d Aug 2005. Unfortunately it's been over a year and the warranty no long applies. Up til yesterday I've taken over 100,000 photos in just over a year. Question.....Is the 20d made for this type of use?

20D is not actually rated. Some say it is good for 50,000. The new 30D is rated for 100,000 I believe.

mr peas

Sounds like its dying! ;(

Dont fret, just just put on an 8 gig card and keep shooting in burst!

But seriously, read that thread listed above. I think your best course of action is to call Canon.

I wish you goodluck!

claudermilk

cmason wrote:

20D is not actually rated. Some say it is good for 50,000. The new 30D is rated for 100,000 I believe.

Bah, it's good for more than that. I have at LEAST 50,000 on it, probably more like 60,000 and it's still working flawlessly...well, ok it's acquired one hot pixel over all those shots. The 30D has the same shutter mechanism from everything I've read, so if it's good for 100k, then the 20D ought to be as well.

SpeshulEd

well considering two on this board died at 100k, I'm guessing thats the magic number.

I'd probably grab a 30D or if you have the scratch move up to the big leagues...if you're using any ef-s lenses then you might want to stick with the 30D as they won't work on a full frame body.

I'd still have the 20D sent in, if Canon can repair it, it'd make a good backup for those "just in case" moments.

sonny_c

Well, I went ahead and purchased the MarkII N. It should get here tomorrow. Then I'll send off my 20d for repair.

Jeffro

sonny_c wrote:

Well, I went ahead and purchased the MarkII N.

I "hate" you! Soooooooooo jealous, since my 20D is probably getting close to the magic number too.....

Let me/us know how you like the new rig! I bet you it!

jsedlak

sonny_c wrote:

Well, I went ahead and purchased the MarkII N. It should get here tomorrow. Then I'll send off my 20d for repair.

Wow, just like that huh?

I am happy for you! hehe I would say congrats, but the whole 20D deal kind of sucks.

troutstreaming

make that 3 as of 8:00 pm PDT...

sonny_c wrote:

My 20d body...that is.

Today I was shooting a soccer game. About 15 minutes before the game ended my 20d flashed the infamous "Err 99" code then shut off. Three seconds after my camera shut off it went haywire. It went into a continous burst mode. The only way to stop it was taking the batteries out.

So far I've tried removing the battery grip, changing lenses, changing batteries, and pressing all the buttons on the camera. The batteries had more than 3/4 of a charge. After I got home I tried a set of fully charged batteries. Then I removed the battery grip and tried all four batteries one at a time. Same results. I turned off my ceiling fan, shut the a/c vent to the room, closed the door (so no dust will be flying around). With no lens on the body I took off the cap and inserted a battery. Again, the same result. I could see that little shutter just going crazy. Can anybody help me?

I called Canon Tech support this morning and explained my problem. After going through their troubleshooting steps we did not solve my problem. They recommend sending in my body. 2-3 weeks without my baby.......

I am in a serious predicament. My 20d is broke and I have a homecoming game (little league mind you but they are serious about this stuff) this Saturday to shoot and games booked on Oct 21, Oct 28, Nov 11 and possibly Nov 4, & Nov 18.

I was shooting this evening at an NCAA Div 2 V-ball match and in the middle of the second game - error 99. Pulled the batteries out of the grip and as soon as I had reinserted - the shutter starts to fire. Sounds like exactly the same scenario. Not sure how many actuations I have, but I am sure it is north of 70k - just not how far north.

CRAP!

I am not making enough at this to justify buying a new camera now (have only made enought to cover the cost of the 20D when it was new and the battery grip with some spare batteries), so will need to wait until I hear the estimate. l may rent a 5D and a 1D2 over the next couple of weekends to cover what I was planning on shooting and see what I think, but I really was going to hold out on tempting myself with a 1 series until the next model was released.

Should I be looking for a gently used 1D as a stop gap (except for the poorly lit gyms?) Rentals? Buy a new/used 5D as a landscape body - I try not to machine gun, so the frames per second will not hurt me too much for now. But then I have a serious chunk of change in the 5D and the 1DIII is pushed that much farther in to the future and I really want the pro autofocus - and need high ISO in the winter. I just can't see plunking the money down on another 20 or 30D, but I think that timing is bad (almost end of product cycle) for a new 1DIIN - plus my wife wantsto kill me already for past camera purchases, let alone now ones.

Anyone in the Seattle area looking to unload a used 5D or 1D.

Does anyone know how accurate the $200 or $700 estimates in the other thread are?

Yikes. My head is spinning and I have not even poured that glass of whiskey yet.

On a positive note - I have months of back-logged post-processing to do - so maybe this will help me get caught up... But Fall only comes around once a year, time passes, and I was getting some traction with the college level V-ball.:cryscratch

photogmomma

Have you tried a different BRAND of card? I've heard that some cards will randomly act completely goofy.... Same with certain lenses. (Although that doesn't sound like your case since it did the same without the lens...) But it's worth a try.

Sorry this is doing this! That sucks.... I hope it's the card!

troutstreaming

photogmomma wrote:

Have you tried a different BRAND of card? I've heard that some cards will randomly act completely goofy.... Same with certain lenses. (Although that doesn't sound like your case since it did the same without the lens...) But it's worth a try.

Sorry this is doing this! That sucks.... I hope it's the card!

It acted just as goofy with no CF card present, although I never tried a different brand, just a different size of Sandisk (ripped the 2 gig that I was shooting with out and replaced it with an empty 1 gig in case there was a chance off the card getting corrupted by the cameras bad behavior.)

According to Phototronics it is the shutterbox that failed. To take the camera apart, replace the shutterbox - clean everything - and inspect all of the solder/connections and other parts for issues is going to run me ~$400 (mostly labor) and two weeks of down time - seems a little steep with the $200 quote that someone else floated, especially as the part is cheap. But they have the camera and I do not have the time to retreive it and try anywhere else (like Canon) until the weekend, so that is what I will pay too avoid having the camera gone any longer than neccessary.