Problems with Canon XTi

[ASCSurveyor]

Hopefully this thread is in the right place. If not, the mods are free to move it.

I've recently started having problems with my Canon EOS Rebel XTi. I've had the camera for about 3 years, and loved it. Very few issues with it that haven't resolved themselves.

However, on a recent trip with a friend out on a Family & Friends cruise aboard the USS George H.W. Bush, I began having a problem with the camera that didn't resolve itself.

I began receiving an Error message

Err99:

Shooting is not possible. Turn the power switch to OFF and ON again or re-install the battery.

(cooincidentally, this pic was taken with my A520, which is nearly destroyed, but still works flawlessly )

Along with this message, the shutter action felt "light". Normally, I'm used to the heavy "ka-chink" of the shutter opening and closing. But it seems when this error occurs, it seems that either the shutter isn't operating completely or something. Hard to explain unless you experience it. Or, I could just be imagining the whole thing. :mrgreen:

Anyway, I of course tried turning the camera off and back on, replacing the battery with my backup, and swapping out memory cards. Same error. I would occassionally be able to take one or two photos, but then would receive the same message.

Needless to say, I was slightly upset, as I really wanted to take photos of the air power demonstration.

After a few hours, I attempted to use the camera again, and low and behold, it worked. I took a few photos, and had no problems. I even managed to shoot most of the air power demonstration. Then the camera started to fail again. So that took out my idea that it had something to do with the lens. :x

Since then, the camera has sat in my camera bag, where it usually does, like a punished child. Although I'm not sure what it's done. I love my camera, and it's one of the few things that keeps me sane. I'm by no means a fantastic photographer, but I enjoy taking photos, so without it, I feel sad. Very, very sad.

Has anyone else experienced this problem? Does it cost much to repair? Should I just look into buying another camera? I'm completely lost as to what could cause this problem, as I take good care of the camera, and can't seem to think of anything that may have happened to it to cause this. I'm confused, frustrated, and sad about the whole ordeal.

Please help.

 

[KmH]

Sounds like time for a shutter replacement, about $250.00 USD. An XTi shutter has a mean time to failure of 50,000 actuations. That means 1/2 last longer and 1/2 last for fewer actuations.

You looked up ERR 99 in your users manual right?

It's a catch all error code that basically acknowledges they don't know exactly what is wrong, but it is often associated with a shutter that has had it.

There are over 7 million Err 99 hits on Bing:

err 99 - Bing

 

[Derrel]

Err 99 is often a lens/body contact failure. Normally, I just turn the camera off, remove the battery, wait a few seconds, re-install the battery, and power the camera back up. My experience has been that Sigma lenses can cause Err99 issues more so than Canon lenses, but that's a limited sample of 2 Sigma lenses and eight different Canon EF lenses and two Canon's, 20D and 5D. Anywayyyyyyyy---a very careful and thorough cleaning of the gold-plated contacts on your lens(es) and the body is in order, and that should stop the Err99 messages from re-occurring IF the problem is dirty contacts.

If you have say, an older Sigma lens, it might need to be re-chipped by Sigma to bring it up to full compatibility with the XTi generation of cameras.

 

[ASCSurveyor]

Sounds like time for a shutter replacement, about $250.00 USD. An XTi shutter has a mean time to failure of 50,000 actuations. That means 1/2 last longer and 1/2 last for fewer actuations.

You looked up ERR 99 in your users manual right?

It's a catch all error code that basically acknowledges they don't know exactly what is wrong, but it is often associated with a shutter that has had it.

There are over 7 million Err 99 hits on Bing:

err 99 - Bing

I did look up err99... and yeah... it was no help. I figured if I described what was wrong on here, I'd get a better answer.

Err 99 is often a lens/body contact failure. Normally, I just turn the camera off, remove the battery, wait a few seconds, re-install the battery, and power the camera back up. My experience has been that Sigma lenses can cause Err99 issues more so than Canon lenses, but that's a limited sample of 2 Sigma lenses and eight different Canon EF lenses and two Canon's, 20D and 5D. Anywayyyyyyyy---a very careful and thorough cleaning of the gold-plated contacts on your lens(es) and the body is in order, and that should stop the Err99 messages from re-occurring IF the problem is dirty contacts.

If you have say, an older Sigma lens, it might need to be re-chipped by Sigma to bring it up to full compatibility with the XTi generation of cameras.

I only have two lenses, and both are Canon.

What would you suggest to clean the contacts with? I've used an eraser on some simple electronics, but I don't know if that would be acceptable on the camera. I'm open to suggestions... especially if it will save me $250.

 

[KmH]

To enhance the contact beween the lens and camera body use the sharp end of the pencil. Graphite is a conductor.

You don't want eraser debris in your mirror box.

Derrel is correct that Err 99 can also indicate a body/lens communication error, among other things not yet defined. The problem is, Err 99 is so non-specific it's almost useless.

If it doesn't recur after cleaning the contacts it's no guarantee the body/lens contacts were dirty.

I think it's very telling you noticed a change in the sound of the shutter mechanism.

All focal plane shutter mechanisms have a MTF (mean time to failure):

Canon Model - Rated Shutter Life
Canon EOS Digital Rebel XS / 1000D - 100,000
Canon EOS Digital Rebel T1i / 500D - 100,000
Canon EOS Digital Rebel XSi / 450D - 100,000
Canon EOS Digital Rebel XTi / 400D - 50,000
Canon EOS Digital Rebel XT / 350D - 50,000
Canon EOS 50D - 100,000
Canon EOS 40D - 100,000
Canon EOS 30D - 100,000
Canon EOS 20D - 50,000
Canon EOS 5D Mark II - 150,000
Canon EOS 5D - 100,000
Canon EOS 1D Mark III - 300,000
Canon EOS 1D Mark II N - 200,000
Canon EOS 1DS Mark III - 300,000
Canon EOS 1DS Mark II - 200,000

(With a very big Thank You to Bryan Carnathan of The-Digital-Picture .com)
So, how many shutter actuations do you think your XTi has? Unfortunately Canon doesn't write the shutter actuation count to the maker notes in the EXIF data fields like Nikons from the last 4 or 5 years do. The only way to get an accurate count is to send it in to Canon Service.