Somewhat Frustrated.

Shark · April 2, 2009

I can make this a long story, (which I am very capable of doing since I like to ramble), but instead I'll make it a short one. I'm too frustrated to take you to the moon and back on this. I hate looking online for stuff like this, so I thought I would throw it out there for all you to see, and possibly get some good direction. I shoot with Canon. Yesterday while doing a baseball game, my Canon 50D displayed the dreaded err01 on the LCD. Out of nowhere, it wouldn't take a shot, then I looked at the LCD, and there it was. Inside I freaked a little. I turned the camera off for a second or two, turned it back on, and it was ok for the rest of the game.
I'd like to go back to the sentence, "I freaked a little". After my film days when I went digital, I bought a 5MP SONY Cybershot. It was a nice little point & shoot, but I was shooting hockey at the time, and I wanted something better. I bought a Canon Digital Rebel. That was at the end of 2004. I did alot of shooting with that camera. In the Fall of 2007, err99 popped up. I had no idea what it meant. All I know was, at the time, the camera wouldn't work. I went online and looked things up. I did the pencil eraser to the contacts bit, took the batteries out and replaced them, changed lenses, all that, nothing worked. Finally had to send the camera to Canon. I was told it would cost $350 - $400 to fix it. I decided against doing that. Besides, I had now seen the 40D at the store. I bought the 40D in the late fall of 2007. Loved it. Did alot of shooting with it, and just under a year later, as hockey season was starting up, err99 appeared on that as well. Fortunately that was still under warranty, so Canon fixed that at no charge. While the camera was away being fixed, I saw the new 50D out there. Heard some good things about it, and figured the 50D as my main camera, with the 40D as my backup would be pretty good, so I bought the 50D. That purchase was probably near the end of 2008. Now, five months or so has gone by, and the err01 comes up last night at the baseball game. Like I said, the camera worked fine the rest of the game, once I turned it off, then turned it back on again. Does anybody have suggestions, ideas, stories of their own that can possibly steer me toward what my next step might possibly be. Both cameras are still working, but after last night's err01, and with my experience with the err messages, I am getting nervous. My lenses are as follows:
Canon 50mm f/1.4
Canon 85mm f1.8
Canon 17-55mm IS f/2.8
Canon 70-200mm f/2.8
Sigma 80-400mm f/4.5-5.6
Sorry about the length of this post everybody. I had said in the beginning I wanted to make it as short and to the point as possible, but I guess I just can't physically do that.
ANY SUGGESTIONS?????

Signed,
The Somewhat Depressed Shark

scarysharkface · April 2, 2009

I'd gotten the error on my new 50D a few times, so decided to investigate the firmware update from Canon. It's listed under "drivers and downloads" on the EOS 50D page at:

http://www.usa.canon.com/consumer/controller?act=ModelInfoAct&fcategoryid=139&modelid=17499#DownloadDetailAct

It appears to have fixed it.

John

ziggy53 · April 2, 2009

Canon ERR 01 and ERR 99 are often related and have similar treatments (although ERR 01 is generally lens related while ERR 99 is a more general error that "may" be lens related):

http://www.dgrin.com/showthread.php?t=124874
http://www.dgrin.com/showthread.php?t=74937

Bottom line is that ERR 01 is often caused by:

Lens contacts
Power problems relating to camera/lens/battery
Bad IS section in the lens
Bad aperture section in the lens

The firmware update that John mentioned does help some folks but since your problems seem to span several bodies I would look for a commonality.

Is one lens in particular seeming to throw the error?
Have you cleaned the lens and battery contacts recently?
Have you had the problems using both third party batteries and Canon batteries, or just one kind of battery?

Shark · April 2, 2009

ziggy53 wrote:

Is one lens in particular seeming to throw the error?
Have you cleaned the lens and battery contacts recently?
Have you had the problems using both third party batteries and Canon batteries, or just one kind of battery?

Well, about the one lens causing it, I wondered that myself. But when it first happened with the Rebel, I was shooting with a Canon 70-200 f/4 lens. When it happened with the 40D, I was shooting a team photo, so I wasn't using a big lens, I was probably using my Canon 18-55 kit lens. Yesterday I was using the Sigma 80-400mm f/4.5-5.6
I don't ever clean the lens and battery contacts. I hope everybody didn't gasp right then. Is the best way to clean them, the eraser method? Is this something that could be done expertly, at a local camera shop?
I have about five batteries, three of them are definitely Canon batteries. I know one of the other batteries is a third party battery, not sure if they both are.

Shark

ziggy53 · April 2, 2009

I tend to clean contacts with a "new" pencil with a red eraser. Be sure not to let any rubber dust fall into the lens or camera bodies. I don't generally need to rub with too much force so I don't generate much dust.

Other folks do use foam swabs and alcohol to clean the contacts. If you use that method I recommend not saturating the swab because you don't need any alcohol dripping or flowing into the lens or camera.

Shark · April 2, 2009

ziggy53 wrote:

I tend to clean contacts with a "new" pencil with a red eraser. Be sure not to let any rubber dust fall into the lens or camera bodies. I don't generally need to rub with too much force so I don't generate much dust.

Other folks do use foam swabs and alcohol to clean the contacts. If you use that method I recommend not saturating the swab because you don't need any alcohol dripping or flowing into the lens or camera.

Thanks ziggy. I will give that a try again. I guess I should probably start doing this on some kind of regular basis, you think? I don't really know if there's a way to tell when your contacts need to be cleaned, is there? Is there a way to tell when they are clean, so you can stop "erasing"? Or is it a few swishes back and forth?

ziggy53 · April 2, 2009

Shark wrote:

Thanks ziggy. I will give that a try again. I guess I should probably start doing this on some kind of regular basis, you think? I don't really know if there's a way to tell when your contacts need to be cleaned, is there? Is there a way to tell when they are clean, so you can stop "erasing"? Or is it a few swishes back and forth?

I look at the contacts and I can usually tell visually when they need cleaning. For the lens side I do a couple of passes in a wiping motion but for the pin contacts on the camera I tend to use a rotating motion.

I have also had to clean the contacts of batteries and grips.

Shark · April 2, 2009

Thanks ziggy.

Tee Why · April 2, 2009

If you are finding this on several bodies and lenses, then I don't think a lens or a body is a problem. I would however clean the contacts regardless as you may be working/shooting in humid or dusty places where their can be issues with coating on the contacts.

Also make sure that the battery door is closed securely with an audible click. If you are using a grip, make sure it's contacts are clean and that it is securely screwed into the body as they tend to loosen. Also make sure that the batteries fit firmly into the grip.

You may want to only use Canon batteries for now and see if that makes a difference. My personal experience is that the third party batteries often don't hold the charge as well and can often cause trouble as I did with mine once.

Good luck.

cdub · April 3, 2009

I've never run into problems with any err messages (knocking on wood as we speak), but when you mentioned that you have five batteries, I thought about the number of times that you'd be in and out of the battery compartment, and how the contacts of your batteries could be coming into contact with fingers, dust, etc. in your bag, pocket, etc.

It seems odd and out of place that you receive err messages so often. In part to what Ziggy suggested, I would also pay special attention to how your contacts are treated when batteries/lenses are in use and not in use. Make sure they're isolated from any exposure if at all possible.

JohnBiggs · April 3, 2009

Shark wrote:

Sorry about the length of this post everybody. I had said in the beginning I wanted to make it as short and to the point as possible, but I guess I just can't physically do that.
ANY SUGGESTIONS?????

I'm sure there are some types of writing classes that can help you get your points across as succinctly as possible.

Art Scott · April 3, 2009

don't remember the brand...it is PRO (something) contact cleaner....evaporates real fast and does a superb job.....it is a spray on....that i spray on to a swab or cloth if I am leary about what else it could get on to..............but it does make contacts shine

Shark · April 3, 2009

JohnBiggs wrote:

I'm sure there are some types of writing classes that can help you get your points across as succinctly as possible.

Thanks.

How was that? That was pretty succinct.

Shark · April 3, 2009

Thanks to everybody with all the tips that were suggested. I believe this is something I will definitely need to keep an eye on regularly.

Somewhat Frustrated.

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