Canon DSLR Error 99 fix
Friday, April 29th, 2005
Please do not post a comment in this thread unless you have read this post fully including the updates and tried the various fixes listed. When you do post, please tell us the type of camera you have, the lens on at the time, whether you tried other lenses, etc. Read this before you post. Thank you.
Recently I started getting occasional errors when taking pictures with my Canon Digital Rebel (300D): error 99. I’d have to “reboot” the camera by turning it off and then back on to get out of the error mode and in the process I’d lose the last picture I took that produced the error dialog.
I searched around on the web in various Canon discussions and could not find anything definitive on this error. Some folks seemed to think it was a battery issue, some a card issue, some a lens compatibility issue. I was feeling pretty bummed out that my year old camera was showing signs of giving out. Then I called Canon Tech Support (should have done that first).
The guy at tech support listened and then told me that the lens contacts were dirty and to get a pencil with an eraser on the end, just a regular old pencil with a red rubber eraser. Detach the lens from the camera, hold it so that the lens’ gold contacts are pointing down and lightly erase their exposed surface, cleaning them of any hand oil that might have gotten on them.
Do the same thing with the gold contacts inside the camera body. This is a bit harder but it’s doable: just hold camera so lens opening points down so no gunk falls in. Erase lightly. I used a lens cloth and dabbed at the contacts rather than blow them so as not to blow the erasings inside the camera.
I did this to each of my three lenses just to be sure. Lo and behold, it worked (so far anyway). I’ve shot numerous pictures with each lens and have not gotten a single error 99 message. One would think sites like dpreview.com would have this but I never found it there. I’m psyched, I feel like I have a whole new camera now.
Update
If you are just discovering this thread and plan to post a comment about your error 99 experience I’d appreciate if you could post:
1. Short description of what happened.
2. Type of Camera you were using: Canon 300D (Digital Rebel), 350D (Digital Rebel XT), 10D, 20D, 30D.
3. Lens on camera at time: Canon, Sigma, Tamron. Focal lengh, speed
Canon EF-S 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6
Canon EF 50mm f/1.4
Sigma 24-70mm F/2.8 EX DG
Tamron SP AF 28-75mm f/2.8 XR Di LD
Etc.
4. Did you try another lens too? If so which one?
5. What was the mode dial on the camera set to? Auto, P, Av, Tv, M, other?
6. How much charge was on the battery when it happened? How old is the battery?
7. Did you try any of the remedies in this thread: cleaning contacts, pulling battery, etc.?
8. What country you bought, live in, and use the camera in.
Thanks.
Update #2
One of our participants in the long comment thread below (Tom) got this in a message from Canon USA. It may help some of you isolate the problem before you post a comment/question.
To isolate the cause of the issue, we suggest that you do the following:
1. Turn off the camera.
2. Remove the lens, battery, and CF card.
3. Allow the camera to sit without power for approximately 20 minutes.
4. Insert a fully charged battery, and turn on the camera.
5. Depress the shutter button as you would to take a picture.
Does the “ERR 99″ message appear? If it does, then the camera should be
serviced. If it does not, then please proceed to the next set of steps:
1. Turn off the camera.
2. Insert the CF card.
3. Turn on the camera.
4. Format the CF card in the camera.
5. Depress the shutter button as you would to take a picture.
Does the “ERR 99″ message appear? If so, then the CF card is the most
likely source of the issue. Try using a different card.
If the message does not appear, please complete the following steps:
1. Turn off the camera.
2. Clean the lens contacts by gently rubbing them with a pencil eraser
or soft cloth. Be careful that you do not let any debris fall into the
camera body.
3. Reattach your lens.
4. Turn on the camera.
5. Depress the shutter button as you would to take a picture.
If the “ERR 99″ message only appears when one particular lens is
attached, then that lens should be examined by a service technician.
If you see the “ERR 99″ with a different Canon lens attached, then the
camera should be serviced.
Richard, You may feel that you have a whole new camera, but what you really crave is a Canon 20D!
That’s right Gary! We can’t let Richard off that easy. ;-)
I’ve been having the *exact* same problem with my 2nd hard Digital Rebel. Now I know what I need to try this evening. :-)
Thanks,
Jeremy
Jeremy: Dale has recommended taking the battery out and letting the camera sit for a few minutes batteryless, then putting it back in. This can have the same effect as resetting a problem. I’ve tried it as well and it’s worked. If you come up with something else, let us know.
I’m no technician, but after trying to clear the ‘error 99′ from my 10D using all of the above, I finally looked inside. Try this… lift the mirror and visually inspect the shutter curtain. If each segment is not completely straight, touch it lightly with your blower bristles and try to pop it back into alignment. Mine took about 1 second. I remounted the lens and voila! Back to business!! Not sure how long it will last, but so far so good.
Jason: wow, great move. I wonder why the Canon guy thought all error 99s were lens related. I somehow think it a more generic error that crops up whenever the camera/lens needs to be “rebooted.” Dale solves his by taking the batery out for a minute, then putting it back. Thanks Jason.
I got “error 99″ on my 20D… and it was lens/contacts
related. Nothing works (removed batteries from GRIP
for more then 5 minutes, removed card, shoot down
with batteries inside… nothing) I just clean contacts on
both camera and lens and… WOW everything get to normal
Good luck and happy shooting
Peter, yep, that worked on my Rebel as well. The question is, how do the contacts get dirty? I don’t know about you all but I never touch those contacts, ever. So?
i’ve been having the same problem for sometime, i have tried cleaning, removing battery etc but no joy, i think its the shutter thats causing the problem, im gonna try jasons lift the mirror inspect the inside. i feel like i am blind without my camera. i don’t have warranty either as i got it 2nd hand [but in perfect con] hope i can get it fixed.
any ideas how much it will cost to send to canon for them to fix it and return it?
Mat, I don’t know but you should call Canon support on the phone first as they’ll have more ideas on what to do before you send it in. Does it happen sporadically? With a certain lens? Is there a pattern?
I’m glad I came acrross your page regarding the “error 99″. I cleaned the contacts with the eraser AND checked the screen under the mirror, which returned to alignment with a light touch with a brush. Turned the camera back on took a picture and….. IT WORKS!
Fantastic. This is great news. Of course, let us know if it pops up again, it might.
it happens all the time, my local LCE checked it with different a lens and tried my lens on a different body, its my body thats at fault. got the canon service number so gonna give them a ring and see where i stand. thanks for this page and your help.
Mat, it was canon service that told me about the eraser but I’ll be interested in what they tell you and if you have to send the lens in for work.
I’m getign the same problem (EOS 20D). Removing the battery worked for me. Sure wish there was a definitive answer though, as to the cause.
Jim
Jim: if you call up Canon they say error 99 is a lens issue but that’a a big embrella because there are many issues that could cause a problem: the lens contacts, the firmware in the camera being compatible with the lens, etc. I think pulling the battery does a system reset so that whatever the issue was goes away until… well, it comes back. But, at least you’re back in business for a while.
I had the issue once time with my 20D and it happened when I took my 50mm f1.4 off and put my 100mm f2.8 on. I figured it was the 100 but then I realized I’d changed lenses without turning the camera off. The next time I switched lenses I made sure the camera was off and do that each time now. I’ve not had the problem since.
Just out of curiousity, anyone reading this thread who’s experienced the problem: do you turn your camera off or leave it on when switching lenses?
Richard: Strangely, I’ve actually had the same lens on for a while (28-70 2.8L), and have shot dozens of photos quite happily. That’s why I was quite shocked when I saw the error. Removing the lens and CF card (Lexar 80x, 1Gb) achieved nothing, it was the battery-removal which sorted the problem. Worrying though…
Jim
You should still send in the lexar card, there’s a recall on them that may or may not have something to do with these errors. Hmmm, this is the first I’m thinking that there’s a connection.
I’ve sent mine in and am using two types of Sandisk cards: a Sandisk Extreme III 1 gig card which is the equivalent of the Lexar and a Sandisk Ultra II 1 gig card. I have not had an error 99 since switching.
Hmmm….
Here’s something to try or check out if your having err 99 problems. I’ve had my 10D over a year now and just started having problems. It has progressively worsened over the past two weeks – after doing the whole “turn off, take off lens, remove batteries routine” it would work for a little while and then misfire again. I’ve already cleaned the contacts as well as other remedies but no luck.
Some people say it’s the lens, some say batteries, some say shutter. I’ve found MY 10D will no longer shoot in “Program mode” hardly at all BUT I’ve discovered I can switch over to “Shutter priority” and not have a single error 99. As soon as I switch back to Program – instant err 99.
I’ve tested practically every shutter speed in Tv without getting an error for 100 shots or more – switch back to P and bam.
I’m not too confident that’s going to keep working though. BTW I have had err 99 plenty of times in Av mode as well – only shutter priority seems to be error free……. so far.
Carl, this leads me to believe that error 99 is a generic error code that covers a lot of territory: lens contacts, CF cards, battery contacts and more. If this is the case then looking for patterns may be a mistake, at least pattens that apply to all situations.
My current pet theory is that it may be a card issue. What brand and speed CF card are you using Carl?
yeah, this damn Err 99 issue on the 20D. just had it happening again. it didnt happen for a long time and, although, taking out the battery and putting it back in resolves the issue, it is an annoying thing to happen, especially if it happened in the middle of a commercial job. i am using sigma lenses (17-35 and 24-70) and a, you guessed it, LEXAR 1GB. If it happens again (and again), which i certainly dont hope, then it is time for another brand of card. good to know that the SANDISK seems to work fine.
in the manual, as all of you know, it says lens compatibility issue so i was very worried that my (not even one year old) SIGMA lenses were the issue but seems like it shouldn’t really be that.
good to know all the possible fixes for this issue. THANKS !
Teejay: I have only Canon lenses and have had error 99 issues with said lenses and a 300D Rebel and the 20D. However, I’ve not had a single issue since I switched to the Sandisk cards. Probably a coincidence but it does make me stop and think.
just a note to say im using a scandisk 512mb card and i still have the error. my problem is a shutter issue and nothing to do with the lens or card. As its a catchment error message its so hard to tell what the problem actually is. i think canon need to improve their error messages in firmware etc for future users.
Mat: I agree, a generic error message doesn’t do anyone any good. The support person telling me it’s a lens issue was plain wrong when pulling the battery can stop it. Argh. Thanks for the update on the card you’re using.
Just out of curiousity though, is your Sandisk care high speed, meaning, relatively new and something like “extreme III?” I do think there are issues with high speed cards and canon firmware although canon seems to be saying it’s all Lexar. God knows.
interestingly i switched my 300d into sensor cleaning mode, and i now have a fully functional camera bar continous shooting mode, which does seem to work in ’sports’ mode. which is a little strange and unexplained. but im glad i have most of the functionality back, enough to carry on with, until it returns or til i can afford to send it to canon for repair.
oh and my scandisk card is less than six months old, doesn’t say extreme III tho.
I never had a problem with err 99 with my 10D or d60 but my 20D has constant problem with err 99. Normally, when I have this error I just turn off the power, remove and reinsert the cf card and power back on and that will fix the problem. But this weekend on June 18, 2005 during a big wedding, after 3 hours shooting, it happened again, ERR 99 flashing – big time. I missed some shots and very annoying and embarassing situation. But this time the old trick did not fix the problem and even replaced the battery, switched the cf card between 1gb lexar and 512 scandisk . I had to swith to my old reliable D60. When I got home 20d is working fine. Folks we have a big problem with 20D.
It’s not just the 20D, it’s the original Rebel (300D) and the Rebel XT as well. It may be firmware which means that a simple upgrade is on the way. I have not had this problem much with my 20D and I’m thinking that one reason I had it was that I changed lenses without turning the camera off (I’m not sure if one is supposed to or not).
Let’s not go nuts here, there are problems but there is no single cause so until Canon releases something that says exactly what it is all we’re doing is making up theories based on our own experience. Not a bad thing to do but not exactly definitive.
I have also had this err99 code come up on my 20D which is less than a week old, it does it with any one of my canon lenses fitted but only when the aperture is set to wide open, it will then error without fail.
I will try cleaning the contacts but my guess is that its a firmware problem..
Franco, yes, the various circumstances that are causing this are so varied that it does look that way to me. Hopefully they’ll solve it soon.
I got a 300D in October 2003 – 4 months later it was giving me Err99’s every few shots. I only ever used Canon lenses, and all my CF cards are Sandisk. I tried cleaning the points, but still only got a few shots before the Err99 reappeared. Sent it into Canon and they sent it back saying they’d replaced the shutter. Never had a problem after that.
Upgraded to the 20D in November 2004, and haven’t had a problem, yet, but I do use all Canon lenses, only use Sandisk Extreme cards, and always format my cards before use (something I didn’t do with the 300D).
So far so good… touch wood.