Anyone else have this problem?

Reginald · 22 Mar 2009 at 02:41

Hey,

Bought a canon 450d and picked it up today.. naturally I was excited...took a couple of pictures with it then started getting constant error 99 which through a bit of digging on google seems to be the catch all error message..it wont even let me take a picture anymore!!

I tried all sorts of solutions from online.. leaving batteries out for 20 minutes, lens off for 14.3 seconds, card out for 1 minute with my hands on my head, cleaning the contacts.. anyway several hours and much playing later.. its still doing it and i cant even take a single picture. Rang the place I got it from and they will replace it.. Am a bit worried though as when looking for a solution online loads of people seemed to be having this problem..some from soon after purchase and some after 7000 shots. Main school of thought seems to be a lens issue..maybe something to do with shutter lock on the kit lens... :confused:

Does anyone else have this problem? Or have any clue about this kind of shizzle? :mad:

Grr.. rant rant rant.

Thanks!

Dingleberry88 · 22 Mar 2009 at 02:45

Not had any problems at all with mine, and in 2 weeks I'll have had it a year.

I'd take it back for a replacement.

Trick · 22 Mar 2009 at 06:11

Do you know anyone else with a canon dslr who could let you try their lens instead?

^^Gord^^ · 22 Mar 2009 at 11:19

Only had the problem once after swapping lenses. Removing the lens and reattaching it fixed it. You could try cleaning the connections of the camera and the lens but I suspect you will have to return it under warranty for repair.

3dcandy · 22 Mar 2009 at 11:24

as said above er99 is quite often the lens. however, there's a backup battery in the battery compartment (little cr2032 or similiar, you could try taking that out and then trying again. this will reset your 450d, and you will have to put the time and date etc. again!

Pho · 22 Mar 2009 at 11:34

I get that on mine unless when I attach the lens I try and over tighten it (not too much, but twist it after it clicks in slightly).

Have you tried cleaning the lens' contacts, the lens' contacts on the camera and the battery contacts both on the battery and inside the camera?

Johnny|lucidcomposure · 22 Mar 2009 at 11:55

err99 is a general error code. It could be a high number of pretty much anything!

greywolf · 22 Mar 2009 at 12:05

I know its a completely different camera but my Nikon D50 use to do exactly the same and then give a general Err code. Turned out it was a faulty battery. So if you can maby try a different battery if you havent already.

EternityEight · 22 Mar 2009 at 15:45

Go to the menu and try to clean the sensor manually, which requires the shutter to be open.

If that fails with error 99, chances are your shutter assembly is broke and needs replacing by Canon, this is what happened to me

I put of sending it back because i was lazy but after i got round to it they fixed and returned it in 3 days

Reginald · 22 Mar 2009 at 20:01

Thanks for all the tips, have tried them all but nothing works

Returning it and getting a replacement on tuesday.

I've been reading a fair bit about how the kit lens is supposedly a bit useless.. is there another multipurpose (fairly inexpensive) lens that anyone recommends?

Cheeeeers

FreeStream · 22 Mar 2009 at 20:18

If its the 18-55 IS and you get a good one its not bad.

Unfortunately decency rises with price

Tamron 17-50 etc is highly regarded but we are talking a few times more than the kit lens!

You will soon get the bug and will be buying decent glass. I managed to shoot 20,000 with a 350D and the old kit lens so im sure you will be fine, just remember to stop down to about F8!

Bunka · 22 Mar 2009 at 20:24

Concorde Rules said:
Just remember to stop down to about F8!

Excuse me for being ignorant, but what exactly do you mean by this?

PinkFloyd · 22 Mar 2009 at 20:40

Reginald said:
I've been reading a fair bit about how the kit lens is supposedly a bit useless.. is there another multipurpose (fairly inexpensive) lens that anyone recommends?

The 450D kitlens is a nice piece of kit - its the older non-IS version that is rubbish.
Ofcourse if you compare the IS version to something costing a lot more it will seem poor.

Apart from the build quality the lens doesn't seem massively lacking compared to my other lenses I've got (taking into account most of them are twice the price too)

FreeStream · 22 Mar 2009 at 21:50

Bunka said:
Excuse me for being ignorant, but what exactly do you mean by this?

Having a lens wide open or stopped down too much brings out inperfections in the lens.

Stopping down abit hits the "sweet spot" in terms of sharpness.

Im not very good at describing the physical reasons, I just know it happens so I use it

3dcandy · 22 Mar 2009 at 23:51

Stopping down means trying to keep the aperture of the lens in the F8 region. This means going out of the comfort of the auto modes and into the creative modes like P, Av or whatever. If you use Av, set the aperture to F8 and the camera will set up everything else to get a decent picture. Av means Aperture value. Hope that helps!