20d/30d Portrait Upgrade

I am in a little situation. Here is some background to get you ready for hearing about my hellish photography week.

I have been shooting with a 20d and 30d in a somewhat professional capacity for the last 2 years. I bought both cameras with around 20,000 shots on each +/- 5000 shots. I do not know how many shutter actuations are on each camera, but it is not more than 50,000 on the 30d and probably less than 35,000 on the 20d.

On Friday, the 5th of this month, I shot with my 30d+Sigma 70-200 for an entire football game with OCF for about 150 shots in around 40 degree temperatures. The last shot I took ended with a rapid burst of shots at what sounded like 10fps, flashing "error 99" on the top LCD and the rapid fire didn't stop until I took both batteries out of the grip. I put the batteries back in, and it snapped a few shots off fine.

A week later I took it easy on my 30d during a senior session and used my 20d as my primary. About 40 shots in, my 20d+Canon 85mm just stopped working and flashed an "error 99" message in the top LCD. I used the 30d for the rest of the shoot (~250 shots) and it worked fine.

So now I have two bodies that aren't worth very much money that could possibly have failing shutters. I cleaned all of the contacts on my lenses, charged all of my batteries, and formatted all of my CF cards. I tried out the cameras with each lens, different batteries, and all different combinations of CF cards and I could not replicate the problem. What I need from you POTN, is advice. What would you do? I have several shoots over the next two months as it is my busiest time of year, but I do not have funds readily available to drop $1k on a camera. It also seems kinda crazy to drop $400 to replace 2 shutters in 2 cameras that aren't worth $750 combined. If money wasn't an option I would pick up a used 5d for $1000, replace the shutter in my 30d as a backup, and sell my 20d fully disclosing its brush with death. However, I don't have $850+ to spend on a camera right now. A reasonable budget is somewhere between $400-$650.
You guys should know I shoot about 75% portraits and 25% sports/events.
Please help and I appreciate any assistance.

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Cliff notes: 2 "error 99"'s on both my 30d and 20 within 2 weeks of each other. Not sure what to do, need advice.

Well at that price range, there's the 40D which is a great value for what it does. You MIGHT be able to squeeze a 1D MKII, but that would cost you around 700-800USD which is a little high and it would most likely also have a high shutter count. I say, for you, a 40D will do the job. It might also be a plus that you'll be familair to the APS-C format. There's also the ancient 1D and 1Ds Classic that you might look at too..

Am I going to see any difference between a 20d and a 40d besides the bigger LCD? It seems like a 40d is kinda a move across than a move up, but I guess I could pick up a 40d for ~$500, fix the 30d for $200 and sell the 20d for $150-250 ish?

If you haven't seen any issues with the pictures, the shutters may very well be fine (heck, the 20D may just have dirty contacts). I would pick up a used 40D for ~$500 and keep the other two if you can (or sell them as working, with a discounted price and a caveat).

If you weren't working "semi-professionally" I wouldn't even think about a new body. But I know that it's terrible to have equipment that you can't count on....

TheBurningCrown wrote in post #11285749
If you weren't working "semi-professionally" I wouldn't even think about a new body. But I know that it's terrible to have equipment that you can't count on....

That is my problem. The whole point in me buying two bodies 2 years ago was to avoid this, yet here I am. I guess I save for another couple of weeks and buy a used 40d. The only back up I have is my grandmas Rebel xt, not really pumped about using that thing when charging people for pictures.

zelseman wrote in post #11285809
That is my problem. The whole point in me buying two bodies 2 years ago was to avoid this, yet here I am. I guess I save for another couple of weeks and buy a used 40d. The only back up I have is my grandmas Rebel xt, not really pumped about using that thing when charging people for pictures.

Well speaking from experience, I have the Rebel XT and my pictures come out just fine (disregard the currently pitiful Flickr!).

It has the same sensor as the 30D, so don't be ashamed of the photo quality.. (though the user interface is quite different...)

TheBurningCrown wrote in post #11286097
Well speaking from experience, I have the Rebel XT and my pictures come out just fine (disregard the currently pitiful Flickr!).

It has the same sensor as the 30D, so don't be ashamed of the photo quality.. (though the user interface is quite different...)

After posting that I checked your gear list and felt kinda bad for downing it. It's not an incapable camera, simply less capable. The noise gets unbearable past ISO 800. The AF is slower. The camera feels completely different in my hand. But you probably already know this.

Anyways, I don't have another shoot until the first week in December. So I think I will wait it out with what I have and order a lightly used 40d before that shoot. Thank you for all of your help.

There have been some threads about the Canon Loyalty program. Are you aware that you could trade/upgrade a broken camera for a refurbed unit through Canon? It may be a slight bit more than a used 40D, but it will have been gone through by Canon as a refurb. I did this a while back with a 300D Rebel for a 50D. Quite happy with what I got.

Call Canon and see what they say about the 30d as what happened prior to the Error 99, may be something they know of regarding a fix. *Just a suggestion, not sure if it's cost effective to repair either body...

Grab a used 40d, there are some here on potn last time I checked. That's your best bet. I asked many here on potn, and never heard anything bad about going from a 20/30d to a 40d. Some even like it for smaller prints (8x10 or < better than their 50d's, etc.

Canon CLP with a trade gives you 20% off refurbished price. Many posts here on potn regarding same. They are currently out of stock on the 40d (body only), they do have a 40d kit and also a 50d in stock. Maybe by the time you save some $$, Canon will bring the 5d mkii back to the CLP in the event you want to have 2 bodies - FF & Crop.

coldcuts113 wrote in post #11287586
Canon CLP with a trade gives you 20% off refurbished price. Many posts here on potn regarding same. They are currently out of stock on the 40d (body only), they do have a 40d kit and also a 50d in stock. Maybe by the time you save some $$, Canon will bring the 5d mkii back to the CLP in the event you want to have 2 bodies - FF & Crop.

Mark_48 wrote in post #11287303
There have been some threads about the Canon Loyalty program. Are you aware that you could trade/upgrade a broken camera for a refurbed unit through Canon? It may be a slight bit more than a used 40D, but it will have been gone through by Canon as a refurb. I did this a while back with a 300D Rebel for a 50D. Quite happy with what I got.

If I were you, I wouldn't do the CLP with either the 20D or the 30D. Both cameras aren't dead yet, so you could potentially be wasting a little bit of cash. If you want the peace of mind it's not a bad idea to pick up a broken Canon SLR (I think P&Ss may work as well) and go through the program with that - you would get much more for your 20D or 30D on here even if they were just sold "for parts."

But an idea to keep in mind, nevertheless.

zelseman wrote in post #11287217
After posting that I checked your gear list and felt kinda bad for downing it. It's not an incapable camera, simply less capable. The noise gets unbearable past ISO 800. The AF is slower. The camera feels completely different in my hand. But you probably already know this.

Agree on the AF point, but disagree on the noise (it's roughly the same as the 30D, again with the same sensor). Yes the noise is bad, but it's not unusable. I regularly need to push the camera up to 1600 to get some shots, and I'm not afraid to do so. The one point you're dead right about though is the 'feel' of the camera. Personally I just couldn't use it without a grip, my hands are too big. The xxD series feel and operate much more smoothly compared to the XT, even if the image quality is comparable to a 20/30D

This would be a much better speech if I had some good example shots to share, but I'm working on that .

zelseman wrote in post #11287217
Anyways, I don't have another shoot until the first week in December. So I think I will wait it out with what I have and order a lightly used 40d before that shoot. Thank you for all of your help.

Good luck!

TheBurningCrown wrote in post #11288497
If I were you, I wouldn't do the CLP with either the 20D or the 30D. Both cameras aren't dead yet, so you could potentially be wasting a little bit of cash. If you want the peace of mind it's not a bad idea to pick up a broken Canon SLR (I think P&Ss may work as well) and go through the program with that - you would get much more for your 20D or 30D on here even if they were just sold "for parts."

I have been comparing prices and agree completely. Even if I got $200 out of the 20d, its still more money toward a different body than 20% off of a refurb 40d.

Did you get my pm from yesterday?

I did, I'm working on a reply.

coldcuts113 wrote in post #11287586
Call Canon and see what they say about the 30d as what happened prior to the Error 99, may be something they know of regarding a fix. *Just a suggestion, not sure if it's cost effective to repair either body...

Grab a used 40d, there are some here on potn last time I checked. That's your best bet. I asked many here on potn, and never heard anything bad about going from a 20/30d to a 40d. Some even like it for smaller prints (8x10 or < better than their 50d's, etc.

Canon CLP with a trade gives you 20% off refurbished price. Many posts here on potn regarding same. They are currently out of stock on the 40d (body only), they do have a 40d kit and also a 50d in stock. Maybe by the time you save some $$, Canon will bring the 5d mkii back to the CLP in the event you want to have 2 bodies - FF & Crop.

good info to know if my 20d ever dies on me. thank you