New poster, new Canon dSLR - need help...

divamum

Hi all. This is my first post, although I've been lurking for a while

I finally bit the bullet last week after MONTHS of researching and reading up on it, and got a Canon Rebel XT. I bought body-only since I have the Canon USM 28-70 zoom lens from my 35mm Elan 2E and an older Canon EF 80-200; in fact the whole point of this venture was to be able to use the lenses.

Unfortunately, it doesn't work - I got Error 99 on the first test shot I tried. Googling reveals that this is the catchall error code (and also that a LOT of people have had problems - how come this stuff doesn't come up when you're reading reviews and researching beforehand?! I've been reading up on this for MONTHS and never encountered comments on it before). I worked through all the diagnostics and fixes I could find on the net (and there are a lot!) and have narrowed it down so that as far as I can tell it's related to the popup flash. Camera itself, CF and nonflash pix are fine. The lenses (i'm relieved to note) worked fine in natural light, but as soon as it requires the flash it goes straight to error 99 and freezes after trying to take the shot (and the shot which is stored is badly and unevenly oeverexposed).

Obviously, I'll be in touch with Beach Camera from whom I bought once they're open again tomorrow, but has anybody here ever encountered this problem, or have any helpful comments or advice as to how to proceed? I'm hoping Beach will simply replace with another unit but.... It's new, btw, w/USA warrantee and all cards and pkging.

Any comments and advice welcomed. Thanks y'all!

(PS I did do a search on this, but the search function seemed to ignore my Boolean " " and would only search the word "error" which made it a bit difficult to find what I needed! Byall means point me in the direction of other threads if you know where to find them... )

Thanks again. This is a wonderful site and resource!

gus

Turn it off...remove the battery for a moment & then drop it back in & turn it on.

divamum

gus wrote:

Turn it off...remove the battery for a moment & then drop it back in & turn it on.

Thanks but, as I said, I worked through all the diagnostics and fixes of this nature that I could find online. Here's what I've tried (to no avail):

- Battery removed and camera left to sit for 20 minutes.
- recharging battery to ensure it was at full charge and trying again
- cleaning lens contacts with pencil eraser
- testing camera by working through shutter snaps with: battery only (no error); battery + CF card (no error); battery plus lens w/no flash (no error); battery w/flash (error 99). It is consistent and repeatable.

erich6

Do you get the error with both lenses?

Have you been able to reset the camera so you can try and take another picture?

If you can reset it try shooting in manual at smaller apertures and no flash and see if you get any problems. I once tried using an older lens on the 300D and would get this problem and it seemed like it would happen when it tried to set it at max aperture in one of the auto modes.

Erich

divamum

erich6 wrote:

Do you get the error with both lenses?

Have you been able to reset the camera so you can try and take another picture?

If you can reset it try shooting in manual at smaller apertures and no flash and see if you get any problems. I once tried using an older lens on the 300D and would get this problem and it seemed like it would happen when it tried to set it at max aperture in one of the auto modes.

Erich

Yes, I can reset it by switching off and on again, and yes it happens with both lenses. In fact, it seemed to me to be less of a problem with the older lens, the long zoom - at least with that one it saves the picture... even though the picture is a mis-exposed mess when the flash fires, and it DOES then freeze go to the error message.... it saves it to the card.

And yes, without flash it seems to be ok. I played around in manual and although I didn't go through every aperture setting (will do that later to test) it seemed ok.

Is it likely that Beach will simply swap it out for a replacement unit, or am I going to have to troubleshoot this via Canon and warrantee? That's actually my main concern at the moment, and I want to get my ducks in a row so I know how to proceed. It's brand new - arrived on Friday... so the vendor should replace as a DOA? It doesn't SEEM to be the lenses (given that they'll work in non-flash situations) and both lenses are Canon brand, so...

Anyway, keep those suggestions coming! I won't have a chance to call Beach until tomorrow so all the information I can gather before then so I can try to do this as painlessly as possible would be great.

Thanks so much for your help.

cmason

divamum: do you have a local shop, say a Wolf Camera nearby? Heck, even a Circuit City? Take your lens down there, put it on the display Canon (XTi, 30D, whatever) and see if it works. If so, you have a bum camera. If not, a bum lens.

FWIW, I did the same as you, purchased the Canon XT because I had an older Canon 35-80 lens from a film Rebel. Turns out the lens is so poor in quality that I should never have included it in my criteria for a new camera. BTW, I likely would have gone Nikon without it (other reasons). Now the older lens did serve a purpose: it got me out using the camera, and as a result, I learned the limits of the lens, and what I would rather have in a lens. This of course lead to spending more $$, but I know what to spend it on now.

I am delighted with my Canon, have no reason to ever go with Nikon now, and have put my 35-80 back on my old film camera, where it continues to gather dust.

divamum

cmason wrote:

divamum: do you have a local shop, say a Wolf Camera nearby? Heck, even a Circuit City? Take your lens down there, put it on the display Canon (XTi, 30D, whatever) and see if it works. If so, you have a bum camera. If not, a bum lens.

FWIW, I did the same as you, purchased the Canon XT because I had an older Canon 35-80 lens from a film Rebel. Turns out the lens is so poor in quality that I should never have included it in my criteria for a new camera. BTW, I likely would have gone Nikon without it (other reasons). Now the older lens did serve a purpose: it got me out using the camera, and as a result, I learned the limits of the lens, and what I would rather have in a lens. This of course lead to spending more $$, but I know what to spend it on now.

I am delighted with my Canon, have no reason to ever go with Nikon now, and have put my 35-80 back on my old film camera, where it continues to gather dust.

Now why didn't I think of that - that's a great idea! I'll do that later today.
One more diagnostic, at any rate....

cdonovan

Error Code 99 is a problem with reading the lens.

It happened with my tamron 70-300 and however not with the 28-80 canon that i had.

The owners manual told me it was a lens issue, I took it back to the shop I purchased the lens from...we ran tests with the camera body and the lens switching back and forth...it was a lens error and I had to send the lens back for "repair" not sure what they did, but it's been perfect ever since!

Frustrating as old heck..especially when I had a wedding shoot 3 weeks after the problem occured

on a side note....Squeeky wheels do get the grease

divamum

Good news/bad news
Good news - I won't need to buy new lenses.

Bad news - this means I have the hassle of exchanging the camera.

I took both lenses to Best Buy and tried them on a 20D and another XT - worked perfectly (with flash) on both. No problem. No error messages. So.... I guess that pretty conclusively proves it's the unit I received.

Wish me luck - any tips for returns? I've never had a DOA before except with Dell (who were great).

ziggy53

divamum wrote:

Good news - I won't need to buy new lenses.

Bad news - this means I have the hassle of exchanging the camera.

I took both lenses to Best Buy and tried them on a 20D and another XT - worked perfectly (with flash) on both. No problem. No error messages. So.... I guess that pretty conclusively proves it's the unit I received.

Wish me luck - any tips for returns? I've never had a DOA before except with Dell (who were great).

Hopefully, your invoice explains how to return the camera, otherwise you should check with Beach Camera before returning it, in case they have to issue a RMA number or something. Beach has a pretty good ResellerRatings score, so I think you'll be OK.

Next time, I suggest you buy from B&H because their service after the sale is just sooo good, including returns/exchanges. (Legendary service.)

Good luck anyway,

ziggy53

ziggy53

cmason wrote:

divamum: do you have a local shop, say a Wolf Camera nearby? Heck, even a Circuit City? Take your lens down there, put it on the display Canon (XTi, 30D, whatever) and see if it works. If so, you have a bum camera. If not, a bum lens...

Good advice cmason!

ziggy53

divamum

Update: couldn't have been smoother or easier so far. Beach were great and have already sent the replacement (I had to reorder to avoid the delay while the defective unit was in transit so will be looking for the refund when the other goes back, of course). The price had actually changed since I bought last week, but they honoured my original purchase price without any quibble at all. I'd have to give them a customer service A at the moment.

So, so far so good... Here's hoping the replacement WORKS! I'll post when it gets here just as a follow-up so... watch this space I guess.....

divamum

Yay! Replacement works perfectly - am thrilled (and very relieved!)

Given all the photo gear/photo dealer horror stories one hears I was a bit paranoid about it all, but my worries were totally unfounded and it was absolutely fine. And I have to put in a plug for Beach Camera - there was no problem of any kind and they were extremely helpful and responsive.

Thanks again for all the replies, and in particular to CMason for pointing out the OBVIOUS diagnostic (I still can't believe that didn't occur to me - major duh!).

Now just waiting for my new 2g CF card to arrive from Newegg .... (making do with a small one from my point-n-shoot for right now) : New toys ! YAY!!

ziggy53

I just love a happy ending.

ziggy53

erich6

Great to hear everything worked out!

Now...start posting the shots you are getting with that bad boy!

Erich

cmason

Hey! Great news....of course you are now on that slippery slope...I give you 6 months before you are looking for a new lens

divamum

cmason wrote:

Hey! Great news....of course you are now on that slippery slope...I give you 6 months before you are looking for a new lens

HA!! BUSTED!! I'm already reading up.... lol

Actually the short zoom is fine - excellent clarity. The long zoom - MUCH older lens (it was 2nd hand when I bought it in about 1995) is a little softer than it was on the Elan (not at all by the way, what about the digital process changes the actual clarity of the glass?). But for right now they're absolutely fine. I'm having a ball playing with it - nothing yet worth sharing with you megafabu shutterbugs but I'm loving it. In particular getting to shoot B&W at the flick of a switch - WOOHOO!!

Anyway, I suspect I'll be less of a lurker now I'm up and running- watch this space!

Bkodger

I am having the exact same issues with my recently purchased Rebel XT, so I'll start going through the same steps I just read here. Has anybody ever ordered from here before:?

http://www.andale.com/storefront?view=ITEM_DETAIL&cid=12319085&lid=295042674&mode=1

That's where I got mine, and hope they have the same type of customer service so I can get it exchanged.