Err99 Brand New Mark III Serial 570xxx

thegary wrote in post #6872264
As with other canon cameras..this is starting to seem common place...

I don't own a mark III...would like to...but try updating the firmware to the newest available...the link is at the top of the forum..

It may help..

Good luck
Gary

I wouldn't say this is any more common than it was three or four years ago, just that they ship several time more cameras (and a lot more cameras are being shipped to people who are less than semi pro, most of which overreact at every inconvenience). The percentage of actually broken cameras hasn't changed, but since there's more of them, there's more broken cameras. And now, even more so than three or four years ago, people take their complaints to multiple forums that they normally don't post in. Since people that want to complain about a problem are much more likely to write about it than people who are perfectly happy with their cameras (and are out using them rather than here complaining), it seems to be a bigger problem than it actually is. Not dissing OP at all, he's got the right ideas (return, repair, not sitting around and sulking), rather saying there are too many people not like him.

This is simply a (bad) luck of the draw type thing. It worked perfectly fine when canon tested it, and when you had it at first, then it went sour. My mkiii went sour after a week, the rear dial just wouldn't work (first call i made to canon they suggested to reinstall the firmware until i cut them off and told them to press the button i needed to turn the wheel, second call the guy was great and said that he'de send a box with labels, put the camera in there, fill out the sheet that was inside, and to send it). I sent it to canon and within a week they had the camera new as can be, and even new firmware too (the wheel felt different, so they did end up replacing it).

nontetheredbrain wrote in post #6876351
I was thinking same thing, but not all retailers put the serial number on the receipt.

They are just stickers on the box. They peel right off. I had the err99 on my first 40D and this is exactly what I did.

I had the error on my very first 350D. Cleaning the lens connection pins solved the problem.
This may not always a working solution but always better to rule out dirty pins before giving the camera a slap!

MuahMan wrote in post #6877017
They are just stickers on the box. They peel right off. I had the err99 on my first 40D and this is exactly what I did.

I haven't purchased a camera body in a B&M store in five years. Whenever I get something from B&H it has the serial number printed on the inovice, body or lens.

I think the last lens I bought from B&M store also had the serial number printed on the receipt. But that was a camera store not a bigbox.

elguevon wrote in post #6876316
So this morning I turned on the camera, attempted to take a picture, Err99. Repeated another couple times, same thing. So I decided to resort to a light tap...got nothing to lose. We're not talking about smacking it on a hard surface or requiring a hammer.

I took the camera and held it in my right hand...with my left hand palm I gave it a light whack on the camera's left side (where the AV connectors are)...turned on the camera...snapped a picture...then another...then another...finally said bonzi and enabled the hi-speed (10 fps) and held down the button. Worked. Held it down again for another couple seconds...worked.

I've been taking random test pictures all this morning and the POS is working!!!! I can't get an Err99 anymore. I mean really...c'mon....seri​ously?

I'm still sending it back as this never should have occured in the first place, but wow...are you kidding? A whack fixed it...at least for now.

Probably just a loose connection or chip. Yes, still return it. In spite of what people say this is a rare occurrence.

I've had the same problem with MK III three times in one year. It was always another explanation since ERR 99 is undefined error. But problem is that I cannot rely on the camera. What if this happens when I will be in the middle of important shooting?
This shuld not happen with pro body!

elguevon wrote in post #6872483
Yeah..I've tried the camera without any lens and no luck. Tried all my lenses that have worked fine on my 40D...nothing. Tried with new memory card and without one completely...no luck.

I removed the main battery and will let it sit. Not sure about how to remove the "system" battery you refer....frustrating.

Page 188 in your manual. Some people remove this battery for a few minutes and it does solve the problem sometimes. I guess it sort of reboots the camera. Never had to do it myself as -- touch wood -- I have never had a problem with any of my DSLR's.

The "removing the battery" was the first thing I tried....didn't make a difference. The light "nudge" I gave it proved to be the trick. I've been using the camera quite a bit since and I haven't had a problem yet....Since Dell has a 21-day return policy I'm going to take it on vacation with me since I couldn't be guaranteed I'd get a replacement before Friday. I'll exchange it when I get back. I'll bring a second body with me just in case.

The only thing I can think of (which shouldn't cause any issues) is I was shooting vertically (camera on it's side) for an extended period of time and the hockey arena was probably 30F. Maybe somehow the vertical nature somehow caused something shift ever so slightly...the "nudge" corrected the loose component or something.

Who knows...thanks for all the responses. Have a great Holiday season.

adrianarh wrote in post #6880350
I've had the same problem with MK III three times in one year. It was always another explanation since ERR 99 is undefined error. But problem is that I cannot rely on the camera. What if this happens when I will be in the middle of important shooting?
This shuld not happen with pro body!

Normally you talk it over with canon reps and they find you a better solution. However, since you haven't (at least haven't posted about it), all i can say is "tough luck, you pulled the straw covered in crap" and that maybe it's you, not the camera


The point of the story is: mean time to failure, like all statistical methods, is purely imaginary. The model fits perfectly for all the points where the actual data isn't different. And guess what, real life means that data will be different at some point, just a matter of time and circumstances. And that if the +- part of the failure model is the opposite for the lens as for the body and is imaginary, if you put the two parts together you'll end up with a real number, so it can't be imaginary (brain is shorting out on fourier transforms and sampling theorems)

basroil wrote in post #6887015
Normally you talk it over with canon reps and they find you a better solution. However, since you haven't (at least haven't posted about it), all i can say is "tough luck, you pulled the straw covered in crap" and that maybe it's you, not the camera


The point of the story is: mean time to failure, like all statistical methods, is purely imaginary. The model fits perfectly for all the points where the actual data isn't different. And guess what, real life means that data will be different at some point, just a matter of time and circumstances. And that if the +- part of the failure model is the opposite for the lens as for the body and is imaginary, if you put the two parts together you'll end up with a real number, so it can't be imaginary (brain is shorting out on fourier transforms and sampling theorems)

Have you ever heard of Murphy's Law
To adrianarh --- Maybe you should think about a back-up body if your shoot's is that important, can get 10D/20D/30D bodies for fairly cheap these days or if you have a bit more money a 1D II or 5D. Even with the best equipment there is always a chance something could go wrong.

Figured I'd post a follow-up:

Got back from vacation on December 30th after taking around 700 pictures. The entire time I never got another error. I still didn't want to take a chance and called Dell to exchange the camera on December 31st. Rep opened a case and said due to the holiday I'd receive a call back on Friday, Jan 2nd regarding the exchange. Sure enough on Jan 2nd I got a call back and BRIEFLY described the problem to the Dell rep...he said no problem we'll send you a new camera and inside will be a pre-paid airbill to return the defective camera as well.

I got a CALL back from the Dell rep today saying "the camera should be at your front door...hope this one works out better for you."

I really couldn't believe that it went this smooth, especially given some of the horror stories you hear about Dell customer service. In this case, they were phenomenal in every aspect. They took the camera back with little questions, overnighted a new camera, paid to ship back the defective camera, and followed-up to confirm everything was to my satisfaction. Props to Dell for excellent service this time around.

New camera's serial is more recent (574xxx) than my previous (570xxx) so I hope this one works out.

Thanks for all the feedback/advice....I leave you with this photo taken from Mazatlan, Mexico with the Mark III using a 24-70 2.8L...straight from the camera....had to scale back the web image size/resolution unfortunately.

HOSTED PHOTO
please log in to view hosted photos in full size.