Two of my lenses died!

As the title states. I have been having ERR99 on my 20D for a little while now and finally found out why. I originally thought that maybe my camera was starting to crap out, well it wasn't. The two lenses are the
EF-S 17-85mm f/4-5.6 IS USM & my


EF 50mm f/1.4 USM


I am very surprised by the 50 going bad. The17-85 is my everyday lense so I am not too terribly surprised.That lens has been through alot in the last 4 years that I have had it. My nifty 50 gets used infrequently which is why I am surprised. So I took them in to the shop to be shipped off to Canon for an estimate. It will be about a week & a half before I hear anything. So here is to hoping that they are a inexpensive fix, I really do not want to have to buy a new lens right now. But if I have to then I will. Time to start shopping for a new everyday lens just in case.

What helped you decide it was the lens and not the body?

Anyway, chance to upgrade! 15-85, here you come!

mrkgoo wrote in post #8898916
What helped you decide it was the lens and not the body?

Anyway, chance to upgrade! 15-85, here you come!

I called Canon and they had me do a couple of test that ruled out the body. For one the 17-85 was dark when looking through the viewfinder and it would not focus, the 50 would not focus but lighting was fine. My other lenses that I have work without any problems. My contacts are nice and clean. The camera shop checked all of that out also before deciding that they needed to go in.

Sad as it is I was hoping that it was my body so I could do the loyalty program and upgrade to the 50D. I wonder if they have something similar for lenses if the cost is too much to fix in relation to purchasing new. Hell if the body was bad then it would have been cheaper to replace than it is for lenses.

do you have a nifty 50 or a 50 1.4?

Nicky D wrote in post #8898952
I called Canon and they had me do a couple of test that ruled out the body. For one the 17-85 was dark when looking through the viewfinder and it would not focus, the 50 would not focus but lighting was fine. My other lenses that I have work without any problems. My contacts are nice and clean. The camera shop checked all of that out also before deciding that they needed to go in.

Sad as it is I was hoping that it was my body so I could do the loyalty program and upgrade to the 50D. I wonder if they have something similar for lenses if the cost is too much to fix in relation to purchasing new. Hell if the body was bad then it would have been cheaper to replace than it is for lenses.

That wouldn't convince me it's not the body. I would prefer to test the lenses on different bodies to confirm, but that's just me. I'm not sure what you mean by dark (as in how dark), but the 17-55 would be significantly darker in the viewfinder compared to the 50 1.4. In fact, it would be at LEAST 8x darker.

I tend to subscribe to simpler answer is the correct one. One body or two lens failures? I'm thinking AF on body over AF on two lenses.

Then again, you did say other lenses worked fine.

Nicky D wrote in post #8898952
I called Canon and they had me do a couple of test that ruled out the body. For one the 17-85 was dark when looking through the viewfinder and it would not focus, the 50 would not focus but lighting was fine. My other lenses that I have work without any problems. My contacts are nice and clean. The camera shop checked all of that out also before deciding that they needed to go in.

You sure the 17-85 isn't just darker thru the VF because it is 3 stops slower at max aperture? That sounds pretty normal to me.

Either way I guess Canon will let you know since you sent in the lenses. My money's on the body, though, unless you dropped your camera bag or something. 2 lenses at once would be rare indeed.

CosmoKid wrote in post #8898973
do you have a nifty 50 or a 50 1.4?

Is there truly a difference? I thought they were both nifty fifties.

CosmoKid wrote in post #8898973
do you have a nifty 50 or a 50 1.4?

I thought the 1.4 that was the nifty fifty???

mrkgoo wrote in post #8899007
That wouldn't convince me it's not the body. I would prefer to test the lenses on different bodies to confirm, but that's just me. I'm not sure what you mean by dark (as in how dark), but the 17-55 would be significantly darker in the viewfinder compared to the 50 1.4. In fact, it would be at LEAST 8x darker.

I tend to subscribe to simpler answer is the correct one. One body or two lens failures? I'm thinking AF on body over AF on two lenses.

Then again, you did say other lenses worked fine.

tkbslc wrote in post #8899016
You sure the 17-85 isn't just darker thru the VF because it is 3 stops slower at max aperture? That sounds pretty normal to me.

Either way I guess Canon will let you know since you sent in the lenses. My money's on the body, though, unless you dropped your camera bag or something. 2 lenses at once would be rare indeed.

The camera shop checked them on a different body, I didn't have one available to try. On the 17-85 the shutter was locked almost closed. When you looked through the actual lens off of the camera you could see that it was almost completely closed. The 50 would not allow you to even manually focus it, even off of the camera. So unfortunately I do have 2 bad lenses. As crazy as that sounds I do tend to have luck like this sometimes. Now I will probably need to go and rent a lens for Halloween for the kids.

The camera shop also put one of their lens' on on my body to check and it worked fine.

Nicky D wrote in post #8899398
The camera shop checked them on a different body, I didn't have one available to try. On the 17-85 the shutter was locked almost closed. When you looked through the actual lens off of the camera you could see that it was almost completely closed. The 50 would not allow you to even manually focus it, even off of the camera. So unfortunately I do have 2 bad lenses. As crazy as that sounds I do tend to have luck like this sometimes. Now I will probably need to go and rent a lens for Halloween for the kids.

The camera shop also put one of their lens' on on my body to check and it worked fine.

Definitely sounds like it! Sorry, I was left speculating, because you didn't say much in your initial post. Thanks for clearing it up.

Nicky D wrote in post #8899354
I thought the 1.4 that was the nifty fifty???

1.8 = Thrifty fifty
1.4 = Nifty fifty
1.2 = Shifty fifty
Just too many people call the 1.8 the Nifty fifty, causing a hell of a confusion among everybody

Don't worry. It's not you. The 17-85 has a reputation for aperture diaphragm failures. The 50 1.4 is even more infamous for it's Auto Focus motor failures.

Patriks7 wrote in post #8899520
1.8 = Thrifty fifty
1.4 = Nifty fifty
1.2 = Shifty fifty
Just too many people call the 1.8 the Nifty fifty, causing a hell of a confusion among everybody

including this entire forum.
Canon 50mm 1.8 - The Nifty Fifty

mrkgoo wrote in post #8899007
That wouldn't convince me it's not the body. I would prefer to test the lenses on different bodies to confirm, but that's just me. I'm not sure what you mean by dark (as in how dark), but the 17-55 would be significantly darker in the viewfinder compared to the 50 1.4. In fact, it would be at LEAST 8x darker.

I tend to subscribe to simpler answer is the correct one. One body or two lens failures? I'm thinking AF on body over AF on two lenses.

Then again, you did say other lenses worked fine.

4x not 8x... 1.4 - 2.8 = 2 stops (f/2 and f/2.8, and its a double each time... so 2 doubles = 4x).

But I completely agree that a proper test would be to try the lenses on another body.

nureality wrote in post #8899998
4x not 8x... 1.4 - 2.8 = 2 stops (f/2 and f/2.8, and its a double each time... so 2 doubles = 4x).

But I completely agree that a proper test would be to try the lenses on another body.

I think mrkgoo made a typo. It's actually the f/4-5.6 17-85, not the f/2.8 17-55.