Possible Stuck Aperature questions

[cyphertext69]

ok, this is my question:

When you look at the lens, it says: EF-S 18-55mm 1:3.5-5.6, does this mean that these are the lowest aperature settings the lens will accept or is that the largest?

The reason I am asking the question is because, when I look through my viewfinder, it's very dark. When I was playing with it earlier it was fine. I think I might have a stuck aperature but I want to make sure there isn't anything that I can do to fix it or understand it.

When I went to manual mode and set it aperature priority, it will not take anything more than 3.5 @ 18mm or 5.6 @ 55mm. Whenever I set the the aperature higher than that, it gives me ERR 99. I have taken the battery out and replaced it after charging it and it still doesn't work. I am lost! Someone please help me.

 

[Mad_Gnome]

Those aperature settings are the maximum aperature range over the zoom range of the lens. Thus, at 18mm, the maximum aperature would be 1:3.5, getting slowly smaller as the lens zoomed until maximum would be 1:5.6 at 55mm. (As the number gets larger, the aperature gets smaller.)

From what I've heard, you may be having the infamous "Canon low battery" issue, which seems to be pretty common with recent Canon cameras. I don't think the problem is a stuck aperature. The reason I say this is that to the best of my knowledge, when an aperature becomes stuck, it's generally stuck open due to breakdown of the helicoid grease, which causes oil contamination of the aperature blades, and I don't believe your lens is old enough for this to have happened. (My old Vivitar Series 1 28-90mm zoom lens has this problem.) They've also much improved the lubricants they use since this issue was discovered, and this is much less of an issue with newer lenses. I could be wrong, but I believe your problem might be traced back to the battery. Someone more versed in Canon could probably give you better advice than I can, but I felt I should give you what little info I had. Hope this helps.

~Adam

 

[Kent Frost]

Has the lens been jarred in some way? Has the bag it was in been dropped or hit in any way? It sounds to me (and this is just me talking out of common sense here, not technically by any means. I don't know what Err99 means, only a Canon tech would) like the camera is giving you an error message based on the fact that it can't change the aperture mechanically. Something may be jammed. Does the lens turn properly when you zoom in and out? Does it feel or sound "grindy"?

 

[cyphertext69]

Those aperature settings are the maximum aperature range over the zoom range of the lens. Thus, at 18mm, the maximum aperature would be 1:3.5, getting slowly smaller as the lens zoomed until maximum would be 1:5.6 at 55mm. (As the number gets larger, the aperature gets smaller.)

From what I've heard, you may be having the infamous "Canon low battery" issue, which seems to be pretty common with recent Canon cameras. I don't think the problem is a stuck aperature. The reason I say this is that to the best of my knowledge, when an aperature becomes stuck, it's generally stuck open due to breakdown of the helicoid grease, which causes oil contamination of the aperature blades, and I don't believe your lens is old enough for this to have happened. (My old Vivitar Series 1 28-90mm zoom lens has this problem.) They've also much improved the lubricants they use since this issue was discovered, and this is much less of an issue with newer lenses. I could be wrong, but I believe your problem might be traced back to the battery. Someone more versed in Canon could probably give you better advice than I can, but I felt I should give you what little info I had. Hope this helps.

~Adam

Adam, Thank you for your reply. This makes sense to me. However, I put the number for the aperture to the highest number and the lowest number, neither of them seemed to move the aperture to either direction. I have read about a issue similar to mine on the dpreview.com website. This lady had the same problem with the same lens. I am sending the lens to Canon to find out. I will definitly keep you guys posted. Thanks for all you replies

~Ronnie