40D Help

Error 99 on my camera after I try to take a photo. It gave me that error a couple of times now. I can not take any pictures now at all. It sounds like it is taking one and then the camera shuts off. I have to remove the battery and put it back in to get the camera to turn back on. I can view my menu and change settings or any of that stuff but can not take a photo. I have tried three different lens in it now and does the same with all of them. I don't get the error 99 anymore either. Camera just shuts off. Any ideas?
Thanks
KC

try cleaning the contact between lens and camera. DO NOT USE ALCOHOL.
If that doesn't work, sometimes 3rd party equipments used with the camera causes the problem. check for that too.

If you have another battery, charge it and try it...


Jason C

Replaces wrote in post #8978139
DO NOT USE ALCOHOL.

Or rather do. If the error remains, at least you'll not care.

Replaces wrote in post #8978139
try cleaning the contact between lens and camera.

Don't waste your time cleaning the contacts - start by removing the lens & try taking a shot. If the camea still has problems with no lens attached, then no amount of cleaning will help. Once you've determined the camera functions okay without a lens, then you can start looking at contact issues if they exist...

Nascar Nut wrote in post #8978127
Error 99 on my camera after I try to take a photo. It gave me that error a couple of times now. I can not take any pictures now at all. It sounds like it is taking one and then the camera shuts off. I have to remove the battery and put it back in to get the camera to turn back on. I can view my menu and change settings or any of that stuff but can not take a photo. I have tried three different lens in it now and does the same with all of them. I don't get the error 99 anymore either. Camera just shuts off. Any ideas?
Thanks
KC

it may be time to upgrade

Well I tried shooting with the lens off and it works. I put the lens back on and it shot three frames before it shut off. I took lens off again and it works. I put lens back on and it is working now so far. I shot several frames and it is now working. What is a good way to clean the contacts with. I have heard to use an eraser on them. Maybe they are dirty and I just worked them clean a little from removing the lens.

The contacts are mostly copper, so a pencil eraser usually works well (ever taken a pencil eraser to a penny before? Same concept). Does it do it with other lenses? I had a copy of a 50mm f/1.8 that would give me Err99 on multiple bodies, but only that particular lens.

You really want to avoid using a pencil eraser if at all possible as the contacts are plated, and an eraser can remove the plating and create problems down the track.
Best use something like a q-tip with a tiny bit of isopropyl alcahol if you can get some and gently clean the ends of the contacts. While you're at it check that all the contacts spring out properly as it's been known for them to become sticky & not come out fully. Again a tiny bit of isopropyl can help.

The other end of the issue being the lens contacts - give them a bit of a looksee also...

joeseph wrote in post #8979192
You really want to avoid using a pencil eraser if at all possible as the contacts are plated, and an eraser can remove the plating and create problems down the track.

Hmm. I've just always heard pencil eraser, but it makes sense that it could possibly damage a thin plating. I wonder what Canon says to do... Well I looked up the manual, and it said "clean the contacts" but it didn't say how. That's not very helpful now is it?

Ok, I came back and tried the camera again and it started doing it again. It is not giving me an error 99 anymore. It just shuts itself off. Now if I leave the lens off and can shoot as much as I want to. No problem. I have a sigma wide angle lens and a canon kit lens and my 100-400 canon lens and they all do the same thing. I put the lens on and I can take about 3 pictures and then it shuts the camera off. I was having to pull the battery out and put it back in to get the camera to work. Now I just have to turn it off and back on again and then I can shoot 3 more pictures. All the contacts look like they are springing up just fine and not sticking. I will give the contacts a cleaning with q-tip and a tiny bit of isopropyl alcahol and see what that does. They sure don't look dirty to me though.

I had an Err 99 on my 40D and it ended up being the shutter. Sent it back to Canon and they put a new shutter in it under warranty.

Dan

ERR99 is a general catch all error for anything electrical. It usually has to do with some accessory not communicating correctly with the body. I can be a lens, flash, battery, Cf card, battery grip... if you take off and test one at a time, you might be able to figure out what is causing the problem.

Something I have noticed. When I pull the battery out and put it back in sometimes it makes a different sound then normal. I don't know how to explain the sound. It is almost like a light screeching sound. When it makes this sound and I try to take a picture it does not take it. When I pop the battery out and put it back in and there is no sound, I am able to take any where from 1 to say 10 shots before it turns its self off. I am starting to think it is my shutter. I have tried different lens cf cards and batteries and its the same problem with all of them. The only time it seems to function right is when there is no lens on at all.