Dreaded Error 99, Shutter Problem

binghott · December 27, 2005

during a photo shoot today i started having problems with my digital rebel. i could hear the shutter partially click and then the screen said “error 99″. i would restart the camera and then continue shooting. that happened about 15 times during the shoot.

i had to shoot a concert tonight, so i was hoping the camera would last through the show. when i got there, i took some test shots to gauge the lighting. i was excited to be shooting a band in a venue that actually had decent lighting. as soon as the band came on stage and played their first note, i started shooting. on my first shot i got “error 99″ and that was all she wrote. i couldn't get it running again. i tried switching lenses, taking out batteries, and tons of other things, but nothing worked.

the problem isn't the lens because i tried all of my lenses. even though i knew there was no relation i tested the batteries, the memory card, battery grip, and anything i could, hoping it would somehow help. i'm very sure it's a shutter problem. i hear the shutter partially click when i press the shutter button.

i've had the camera for a few days over one year now, so my warranty period is over. i can't really complain about the camera crapping out, i've logged over 60,000 actuations with it, without a single problem until now. i do take good care of it, but i've used it like a work horse.

i've been planning on getting a new 20d and this is giving me a good reason to go get one, but i still want my rebel to be working as my second camera.

it's also funny that this would happen to me right after everything else was going so well equipment wise. i just got a used 17-40 f4L for a great price, got a reflector for free, and an offer for a free reflector holder. oh well.

has something like this happened to any of you? i'll be calling canon tomorrow, but do you know of any other way to go about getting it repaired?

thank you so much for your help!

MattC · December 27, 2005

Ahh yes, the dreaded 'Err 99'. I purchased my rebel off ebay. got it for $280 because the seller 1) listed it's name incorrectly, and 2) thought it was broken because it threw an 'Err 99' and he had no idea what it ment. When I first received the camera, I took a few pictures and I'd get the Err 99 when I shot with an aperture of f/9 or smaller but after a few shots it went away. I suppose this doesn't quite help you with your situation though. It's a good reason indeed to upgrade to the 20D. Might there be any camera shops around that you could take the body to and have them take a look at the shutter assembly? What happens if you put the camera in sensor clean mode?

pathfinder · December 27, 2005

I've seen Error 99 a few time with my 20D also, but removing the battery and rebooting seems to fix it for me each time. I think some lenses are more prone to causing this than others, but I can't really figure out why it ocurrs so randomly either. Cleaning the lens electrical contacts might be worthwhile to try.

Blurmore · December 27, 2005

Err99 and battery grip
This goes in the don't try new eq right before a big job file. My boss and I both shoot 20D's he uses a grip, I don't. We had a big retirement party/anniversary party (when I say big I mean a 6 billion dollar entertainment company) to shoot and that day he had picked up a new bracket. It was a stroboframe type that fit to the camera in a way that you could hold the camera normally without holding onto the bracket itself. Halfway through the first entertainment act of the night he started getting 99's, so I set up his 10D backup. I proposed that it was putting to much weight on the connection between grip and camera, he brushed that off. Later testing revealed that I was right, but only when the camera was in vertical orientation. In horizontal orientation everything was peaches. We also found that the weight was too great with the cam mounted to a tripod in vertical orientation. The exact eq used was a stroboframe pro-T, 20D, BG-e2, 24-70L, 580-ex flash, and off shoe cord. The design of the bracket means that ALL the weight of lens, camera, bracket, and flash is put on the joint between grip and camera, and that is a lot of weight. This is only one of the reasons I don't like the BG-e2, the other is that it makes an already chunky camera near unwieldable with even a basic flash set-up.

binghott · December 27, 2005

i forgot to mention that the only change in equipment i made recently was my 17-40 f4L. i highly doubt that was the problem. any other suggestions?

KA0TVO · December 27, 2005

Had similar problem with a Sigma AF lens on the 20D. Worked great indoors but locked up in sunlight. The lens was for a film camera and just would not work,gave the ole error message. Sure it's not your lens but check and see if it's making good contact with camera body.

ScottMcLeod · December 27, 2005

ERR99 can be caused by:

50mm f/1.8 on 300D with aperture more closed than 1.8 (the aperture doesn't talk properly to the camera, or vice versa)

Grip Connection on the 20D

Incompatible chips on Sigma & Tamron glass (send back to tam/sig for re-chipping)

Just about anything else that goes from the mirror box forward...

It's unfortunately a catch-all for what happens when all of the parts of the lens & mirror box don't mesh properly. Check all connections, check that your aperture is working properly (press DOF button and cycle through the aperture settings, etc...)

Otherwise, send the pair back to canon, and they'll get it working together.

arroyoshark · December 27, 2005

Just curious, as I have been considering a Canon DSLR, but do Nikon DSLRs exhibit any similar behavior glitches?

I recall earlier threads about error 99 messages on the 20D and some on the XT, but simply don't recall much discussion about Nikons.

ScottMcLeod · December 27, 2005

arroyoshark wrote:

Just curious, as I have been considering a Canon DSLR, but do Nikon DSLRs exhibit any similar behavior glitches?

I recall earlier threads about error 99 messages on the 20D and some on the XT, but simply don't recall much discussion about Nikons.

Not sure, but since I've moved up to my 10D, or any time I've used a 20D, I have yet to get the ERR99.

I've seen a D70 lock up a few though. Doesn't give you any error messages, just doesn't shoot.

JamesJWeg · December 27, 2005

arroyoshark wrote:

Just curious, as I have been considering a Canon DSLR, but do Nikon DSLRs exhibit any similar behavior glitches?

I recall earlier threads about error 99 messages on the 20D and some on the XT, but simply don't recall much discussion about Nikons.

I shoot nikon and the only time I had trouble was with my D2H 3 days after I bought it. I was shooting at a race and part way through the day it stopped focusing (Sigma 70-200 f2.8) It would still shoot fine but no AF untill power cycling, same problem and getting worse the next day. That next night I cleaned the contacts for the lens and it cleared right up and has not returned after 24,000 frames. No such problems at all with the D70.

James.

Edit, The D70 did freeze once, now that I think about it, I pulled the battery, dropped it back in and all was well. FYI, the battery that was in it had a recall and mine was bad, this may have just been the battery.

ScottMcLeod · December 27, 2005

JamesJWeg wrote:

Edit, The D70 did freeze once, now that I think about it, I pulled the battery, dropped it back in and all was well. FYI, the battery that was in it had a recall and mine was bad, this may have just been the battery.

Yeah, but wasn't the battery recall due to batteries exploding... not causing other problems?

binghott · December 27, 2005

ScottMcLeod wrote:

Yeah, but wasn't the battery recall due to batteries exploding... not causing other problems?

why would they recall batteries for exploding?

i thought that was one of the features. . .

JamesJWeg · December 27, 2005

ScottMcLeod wrote:

Yeah, but wasn't the battery recall due to batteries exploding... not causing other problems?

Yes and no, the recall was over an internal short, mine never blew but would get hot and at times go dead on it's own in a short period of time, also I think that an instant short could have caused this by a momentary loss of power while shooting.

James.

Blurmore · December 27, 2005

This may be a pointless observation in this discussion but.......here goes.
I always wondered how far Canon's experience in the camcorder world attributed to their success in the early DLSR volleys. The Nikon D100 (2002) was the first Nikon DSLR to sport a Li-Ion battery, the Canon D30 had one in 2000. Why? Because Canon had been producing Li-Ion batteries for power hungry camcorders, that and the use of (energy efficent) CMOS technology and Canon was left with a battery system over-engineered for an SLR digital camera. Nikon would have been smart to liscense technology from Sony or even Panasonic to make Li-Ion batteries, rather than suffer the PR debacle of a recall.

JamesJWeg · December 27, 2005

Blurmore wrote:

I always wondered how far Canon's experience in the camcorder world attributed to their success in the early DLSR volleys. The Nikon D100 (2002) was the first Nikon DSLR to sport a Li-Ion battery, the Canon D30 had one in 2000. Why? Because Canon had been producing Li-Ion batteries for power hungry camcorders, that and the use of (energy efficent) CMOS technology and Canon was left with a battery system over-engineered for an SLR digital camera. Nikon would have been smart to liscense technology from Sony or even Panasonic to make Li-Ion batteries, rather than suffer the PR debacle of a recall.

the recall was over a manufacturing error not a design flaw as far as I can tell, seems that the china plant batteries were bad but the other plants were not.

James.

Dreaded Error 99, Shutter Problem

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