Canon 20D - Malfunctioning - can you help troubleshoot?

[RESOLVED: see update below]

Hi everyone-

Equipment:
-20D body (approx 30-40K images)
-BG-E2 grip
-various 2.8 L lenses

I am having trouble with my 20D. It started on the last day of our diving trip (while on dry land) in Cozumel. I only add this because there was significant condensation on most things as we went from the cold A/C in the room to outside. To avoid this, I usually kept the camera in a dry bag and let it sit for a while to bring it to ambient temperature before opening.

Signs and symptoms:
-will power on, but not power off. Must remove battery
-playback display is not working
-meters light, but will not autofocus
-no shutter release, even on manual focus
-camera not recognized via USB or remote capture
-spontaneously, shutter may work for 2-3 shots, then "Error 99" pops up, despite full battery charge. Display also shows full battery prior to event

Things I've tried:
-removed grip and tried batteries individually (fully charged)
-pulled out small time/date memory battery and replaced
-tried different lenses
-banged on it


Any ideas?

Thank you in advance for your help!

-MDL

sad to say that sounds like an internal electronic fault - nothing to do but send it away for repair.

Mark Kemp wrote in post #6058236
sad to say that sounds like an internal electronic fault - nothing to do but send it away for repair.

Given the symptoms you've described, I had to agree with Mark.

Thanks Mark and Mark for your responses.

I just got off the phone with Canon repair dept. and after describing the symptoms, his response was, "Wow. You'd better send it in."

They estimated a 10 day turnaround time (not too bad, in my opinion). I will re-post with the results in a few days with the results.
---------------
In the meantime, I am gravitating towards the idea of selling the body after servicing it.

40D or 5D???

I like the full-frame idea, but spending $1,000 more on a body with aging features seems like a bad idea.

I have the following lenses:
-16-35mm 2.8L
-24-70mm 2.8L
-70-200mm IS 2.8L

Pros for the 40D:
The only "specialized" shooting I do is during hunting season when I am taking pictures of wildlife with the 200mm. I am buying a 2X converter for it this month.

Pros for the 5D
On the other end of the spectrum, the 1.6 crop factor has not been an issue for me when doing general wide-angle shooting b/c of the 16-35mm, which has been satisfactory for my needs. However, it would be nice to be able to squeeze a little more coverage out of my lenses. For my style of shooting, I think the 24-70mm would get a little more time on the body and I would have less need to carry the 16-35mm at the same time.

Any thoughts?

Thanks again,

MDL

If there are any new releases of camera bodies, it will at Photokina this September. It might be worth it to wait to see what is released.

Yes, once again we are in agreement. Your 20D is a fine camera (when its working) so I would not be looking to change right now, give it a few months and see what is available then.

Well, I know this response is ANCIENT and waaaay overdue, but before I post another question, I felt obligated to follow through and update everyone on the issue I experienced last year.

As it turns out, my 20D had a problem that was non-specifically described as "trouble with the power source electronics".

Whatever the trouble, the Canon service people get and A+++++ for an extremely fast turnaround time (less than a week), a spotlessly cleaned camera body, and... ready for this... NO CHARGE!!

Awesome. Thanks, Canon!

The 20D is still going strong, but sees a lot less use since the 5D came along recently. But hey, who can blame me?!?!

cool thats awesome