20D - ERR 99 message

Good afternoon, my first post, I am pleased to have found this forum.
I have a Canon EOS20 just barely one year old, not used very much, that I had to send in to the shop for repairs. The camera stopped working, displaying ERR 99.
Canon themselves via their website were helpful with a diagnostic (check card, check battery, check lens, turn off/on, etc.) but problem persisted.
I sent the camera to Mack Camera Service (an extended warranty was useful in this case) and have just received it back today, and have not had a chance to test it yet. I am hoping for the best.
My question is - Does anybody have any experience with the ERR 99 problem? Is it repairable, what did they do (they never did say what the problem was nor what they did to repair), or am I in the beginning of a long and painful process? I thought I had read of similar problems on other forums.
Thank you for your comments.
David

Hi David,

It seems that err99 occurs when it can find anything more specific. Turning off/on, etc will reset the software/firmware to a known state, cleaning contacts etc. will hopefully improve communications between the bits, if the contacts are dirty, and there are only a few areas of contacts that the user can get at - battery, cf card, lens, maybe shoe flash & remote cable. If that doesn't fix it, then its back to canon. It seems a few folk have had the shutter mech. replaced by canon. Who did the Mack repair? I have the same cover on my 20d. So far, I've not had anything that can't be fixed by removing/replacing, lens, battery or cf, and not often at that. I wouldn't worry, just use it more.

Best wishes,

Ray

IIRC, "Err 99" means the camera can't communicate with the lens. I had it show up when I bought a lens with a defective aperture mechanism.

Does this only happen with one lens, or all of them? If it's just one, send the lens in next time.

My 20D has a broken release on the built in flash. If I don't manually pull the flash up with my fingernails while pressing the flash button you can hear the internal release try 3 times. It then gives up and goes to Err 99. Power off, pull battery, replace battery, power on and you're ready to try opening the flash again.

As someone else said, I think it's a catchall error, so there won't be a single thing that goes wrong or a single prognosis in case you get it :/

Chuck Fry said:

IIRC, "Err 99" means the camera can't communicate with the lens.

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That's one of the many things it can mean.

In the case of my 20D, it means that the camera can not detect that the mirror has flipped out of the way, in order to open the shutter. I know it's the mirror, because in mirror lockup mode, the error occurs during the mirror phase.

If I turn the camera sideways or down, then no error occurs. Normal orientation is where the problem lies, and that is the orientation in which the mirror has to fight gravity to flip out of the way.

Canon 20D Err 99 repair

Good morning,
I have received my camera back from Mack Camera Service, less than a month from when I sent it in, the repair note simply says "replaced shutter mechanism".
I will test it this weekend, and the only worry is - is this going to happen again?
But the service from Canon, and from Mack, very good, except for the technical explanation of what EXACTLY was wrong.
Good day,
David

sounds like your shutter died, and I wouldn't worry as it is very unlikely to happen again. ERR99 pretty much covers everything that can go wrong, it basically means that your cam has crashed. I had one today on my 1D2. someone was playing with it and confused it. It is a very unspecific error and could mean an infinite number of problems. hope you are enjoying you camera being back and working again!

Dear Daniel,
Thank you for your reply. I have readjusted my thinking to, hey, there was a problem, it got fixed, under warranty, it seems to work now. I did take some photos this weekend, and like the results. I have to get a website photo storage thing going on so I can share them with the group. There is a new skateboard park in Bordeaux, and there was some good action shot opportunities, even pre-production, looks OK.
I'll let you all know,
David

David Farrington said:

I have to get a website photo storage thing going on so I can share them with the group.David

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Hi David
come to see me I may have some idea about that!
Funny to speak together thru OPF when we live in the same (small) town and work within a few hundred yards (oops, meters!) one from the other!

Have a good day