Err99 problem in Eos 1D Mark III

[jorge_tutor]

My Canon Eos 1D Mark III is now in Canon to be repaired. I can not take any

picture because that error shows up in the display. I have tried everything,

without success. Does not matter which lens I put in. No pictures. What I see

is if I select to clean the sensor manually the mirror does not retract leaving

the sensor to be cleaned.

Anybody has this problem?

 

Thanks

 

Jorge

[steve_dunn2]

<p>I don't know about the 1D III, but Error 99 happens in lots of other EOS bodies and has been discussed many times. Unfortunately, it's a hard one to sort out, because it doesn't mean one specific thing. There are error codes for other specific issues, and then there's error 99, which means something is wrong but it's not one of those other specific problems.</p>

 

<p>If the usual things don't fix it (removing all batteries, trying different batteries/lenses/flash cards, cleaning contacts, etc.), then it usually means the camera needs to go back to Canon to be fixed.</p>

[colinsouthern]

Not a single Err99 on mine to date

[mark_hanna2]

Hi Jorge,

 

Just wondering how may pictures have you shot with your 1D before this happened?

 

My 5D lasted about 30,000 cycles before developing an intermittent shutter lockup err99 problem.

 

mark.

[jorge_tutor]

Hi Mark,

 

To be honest I do not know, but it could be around 15.ooo.

 

Jorge

[will_l.1]

Hi Jorge,

 

I just did a search engine query on "1D Mark III Error 99" and it lead me to this posting. Tonight I shot 3 events. It was my final event late in the evening that this "Err 99" message showed up. I picked up my 1D3 from a local store on the 6th of Oct and on the LCD display below the 3" LCD, now reads "100 2773". Also, I was shooting with a 580ex II at the time. My firmware ver. is 1.1.0. My serial number is in the 540xxx count assuming that they go in any numbering order.

 

What happens to me is I shoot and it works and then I shoot again and the error message comes up. I had the Canon 24-70mm on at the time and being that in the past, I've experienced the same error message on my 5D with this lens, I thought it was the lens issue. I switched to a 16-35mm Mark I and the same problem happens. After the initial "Good" shot, the next shot would simply give me an "Err 99" and being that this is a 1 series, it reboots itself (Unlike my 5D which I have to switch OFF), the "Sensor Cleaning" comes up and I can shoot again for the first shot before exhibiting the same behavior. On a few occasions during these incidents, I could hear the mirror flip up and then drop down if I depress the shutter button slightly to activate focusing and if I turn the camera off I would hear it flip and down a few times. Finally, out of curiousity, I turned the camera off and then on, took the 16-35mm off and shot once. It worked. Then looking at the mirror, I shot again and it stayed up in the locked position with the "Err 99". I don't know if this is what happened to you or anyone that owns this camera? I hope it's not a heat/usage issue after using it a full day or so because when I send the camera to Canon and they can't acheive the same error I would be bummed. So actually before I ship it out, I will take the battery out and try it again when I wake up (assuming that 7+ hours is enough for it to rest) I will test again to see if the problem persist.

 

Also, anyone exhibiting this "Err 99" problem and knows why, could you please let us fellow Canon 1D3 owners know?

 

Hope this gives you a better sense of my situation Jorge...

[yellowdog53]

Hi Jorge:

No doubt you have it sorted by now...

My 1Ds II did it when I first got it, then it went away...

My 1DIIn did it after 5-6000 frames ( in the middle of a wedding) and went back to Canon. It returned with a brand new shutter....( and no, I didn't put my fingers in there)

So much for Canon "pro" quality...

[jorge_tutor]

Hi,

 

Thanks for your inputs.

 

Yes fortunately the camera is working after a couple of days in Canon.

In the note explaining the problem they stated that it was a reflex mechanism problem that was repaired and tested.

 

The problem now is that I will not be able to trust the camera at 100% again, therefore I will have to carry as well my EOS 1v just in case I am abroad and a similar problem arise again.

 

Thanks to all

 

Jorge

[atort photography]

I just had the same thing happen to me with my Mark III. I was using a 70-200IS and also

had my 580 on there as well. It is the first time it had ever happened, but happened around

three times in a couple hour span which was pretty frustrating knowing that my Mark II 1Ds

in at CPS for service too! I am not sure what is going on or what is causing it. I was told that

it is very difficult to pinpoint where and what the error is being caused from and a pretty

vague error message that can be almost caused from anything like a bad lens connection,

etc. If you have a 00 error I believe that has to do with the IS on the lens. I will send this

body and lens to CPS when I get my other body back. Grrrrr. :)

[satori]

Today, after 5 weeks of using my brand new canon 1ds mark iii, it went dead with permanent err 99:) I had 24-70 L lens at the time when it happened (shooting rapidly in Ai servo). Similarly, I heard mirror unsual action on pressing shutter, before it developed err 99. I'd add that I had a problem with a lof of sticky crud on the CMOS sensor when it arrived. Ubelievable, 8k camera!? Shame on Canon!

True, the pictures from the camera are the best that I have seen so far, leaving 5d in a different league.

[litepixels]

My Err 99 experience ...

I was shooting a wedding this past Saturday with two MkIII's. On one was a 24-70 2.8 +

580 Mk1. This camera had been idle for about 20 minutes and I picked it up to shoot a

hula performance and on the first shot got an ERR 99. This camera has about 30k clicks

and I followed the prompt to turn the camera off, and on. Then to remove the battery.

The ERR99 persisted. I tried this several times and on the last attempt changed modes

from Tv to Manual or vice versa. Pulled the battery again and the err disappeared. It

didn't reappear all day yesterday when I was shooting a Surfing contest for 4 hours.

 

I'm not sure that this post will help but with a camera that has so much happening every

time the shutter is fired, an occasional error msg should be expected. The problem is

resolving the err to get back to shooting. Good Luck everyone.

[deanfryda]

I had the same 99err today on my Mark III. I tried different lenses and a different battery, but evertime I went to push the shutter to take the shot the lens would stop down, and I would here a click, then the 99 error would show up. I took the lens off, rebooted the camera and lifted carefully the mirror and watched for the shutter to move when I pushed the shutter butten. I saw the curtain move slightly, then the 99Err. I ended up banging the camera on the side and that fixed the problem. So I'll be sending it in to get looked at, but I've taken several hundred pictures today and I can't get the error to return, so smacking the camera on the side with my open hand seemed to free something that was stuck. So if you are in a jam taking pictures and this happens, hopefully you can try this and it will get you through your photoshoot.

[scottshotsphotography]

<p>ERROR 99 today. My 1DS Mark III turned on fine, I went to shoot and error 99. It made a noise, stopped down but the mirror would not go up. Tried manual sensor cleaning mode and mirror still would not go up. Called 800-OK CANON and spoke with a service rep. He had me "reset" the camera by taking off the lens and flash, and removing the memory cards and battery. He then had me turn the camera on for a couple of minutes with the battery out. I then put the battery back in, turned the camera on, set the shoot with no memory card mode on and tried to take a picture. Same thing happened with the error 99 so I was told to send it in to Canon for repair. Four month old 8k camera, I'm totally bummed with Canon right now. I am going to have trust issues with my work horse from now on.</p>

[sbrauchli]

<p>I am on my 2nd 1D Mark III. The first one got stolen, but it also had this error appear when shooting high bursts. I was going to send it in to Canon, but then it was stolen. I bought the camera again 2 months ago. I didn't take it to Madagascar so it was not being used for the month I was gone. today I went to shoot at the local Zoo and it gave me the Error 99 - this time I couldn't get it to go away and the camera is totally useless now. I do have the latest Firmware 1.2.3 installed. Even if Canon fixes it, I won't be able to trust it. I have had the 10D, 20D, 40D, 50D, and 5D and never EVER had an issue with any of them, then I buy myself a "professional" level camera which apparently never went through any testing at Canon... too many companies rely on their customers to test their crap these days...<br>

I am thinking of selling it once fixed and trying out the 5D Mark II. The 50D with 6.5 fps is not quite as fast, but at least its reliable....</p>

[jorge_tutor]

<p>This week was an authentic nightmare with my 1D MIII. Everytime that I was removing the memory for uploading into my HD and put it back, this error showed up again.<br>

I was abroad and the memory of my first case came to my mind. Ufortunately now removing all cards, power off, removing lens and a crossing fingers works. Even today this error cames unexpectely doing nothing, and later for awile the camera was dead.<br>

Maybe I will buy a 5D MII for a back up. The EOS 1D is getting, after nearly two years, a completely unreliable camera.</p>

[scottshotsphotography]

<p>I got an e-mail from Canon today actually admitting to the error 99 problem! Check this link out for info: <a href="http://www.usa.canon.com/consumer/controller?act=PgComSmModDisplayAct&fcategoryid=215&modelid=15710&keycode=2112&id=56398">http://www.usa.canon.com/consumer/controller?act=PgComSmModDisplayAct&fcategoryid=215&modelid=15710&keycode=2112&id=56398</a> <br>

They are offering free repair and an apology. Fortunately my repair was under warranty but over a hundred bucks for insured shipping. Should I ask for shipping $$$ back?<br>

Also, new firmware available for 1d and 1ds Mark III.</p>

[robert_pelkey]

The Canon EOS 1D Mark III (576XXX) that I've had in the bag for a mere few months (6575 shots) was a pleasure to use until I encountered the Err99 shutter mechanism fault with the camera. It was, needless to say, an extremely unpleasant experience to be in the field and have this happen. I immediately tried the removal and reinstallation of the battery and turned the camera off and on again as the camera instructed and the shutter continue to fail.

 

In reporting the malfunction to Canon (a day later after service was available), 1-800-OK-CANON had me remove the lens, memory cards, and battery. I was then instructed to reinstall the battery and fire some shots. At that point, the shutter apparently worked flawlessly. I got the impression that I was discouraged to send the camera in for repair. I was told that it could be an isolated problem that may not happen again. I was given all the details to send the camera in to have it looked at nonetheless. I'm in agreement that this camera can never again be trusted as it should be.

 

If I were aware of this potential problem prior to the gear's acquisition, I would have likely chosen the Nikon equivalent (decided against to save money on the lenses).

[scottshotsphotography]

<p>It gets even better. Funny you wrote the above today. I just got the Error 99 code again today! Right before I went out on a paid shoot I went to test fire the 1DS MarkIII and it froze up with Error 99. A couple of month ago it did the same thing and I sent it in for repair. I was also instructed to "reset" the camera with the above methods but my camera won't unlock. Had to use my old backup camera for the shoot today:( I am preparing for a day of phone calls and fun with Canon tomorrow, I'll let you know how it goes. Can we say $8,000 LEMON. </p>

[jorge_tutor]

<p>After my previous err99 problem in 10.2007, it comes back again a couple of months ago. It started showing up every time I replaced a memory card or even switching on the camera. Doing the usual things, removal of battery, lens, etc the problem was solved and I was abled to continue, till some weeks ago when the camera stop to respond. I sent it back to Canon and after a couple of days I have it back working fine again, till.......<br>

In my case this error was repeated after 17 month and aprox. 100.000 shoots.<br>

Before to buy the next Canon camera, MIV? I will wait to see if this Err99 shutter mechanism fault problem has finally solved</p>

 

[todd_coleman]

<p>My Mark III has been doing this for two months straight and here is the work-around for me (I haven't had any downtime (as in 2-3 weeks) when I don't think I will need my camera to send off to canon).<br>

1 - remove the memory cards. 2- remove the battery and plug in the LP-E4 AC Adapter. 3 - Remove any lenses and pop on your camera lens cap 4- plug in the canon tc80n3. 5 - face it down (let gravity help the shutter!) 5. put your camera into manual and set the exposure time to something like 1/1000 second exposure. 6. set your canon tc80n3 to just keep taking pictures (push down - slide up) - it will error 99 from any where from 5 seconds to about 2 minutes but will eventually start taking pictures.<br>

At this point, I turn the camera off - put on a lens, put in the memory cards, put in the battery - reset the tc80n3 to take a picture every 3 minutes regardless of if I am shooting or not. I leave the camera on put it in the camera bag. I usually don't do this until about an hour before I need to use the camera. I than format the card when I am ready to shoot and don't have any issues as long as the camera takes a picture less than every 3 minutes. I tried 5 minutes but that would give me the error 99 sometimes - usually it just takes holding the shutter button down for 10-15 seconds and it is happy again.<br>

I have recalibrated the battery, tried various lenses, bought new memory cards, and reset the camera to factory defaults, and updated the firmware to the latest - none of this worked for me but the above did.<br>

Any yes I have been using microsoft products for over 15 years so this is a natural thought process.</p>

[5711]

<p>well then..i recently got a new eos 1d m3. i upgraded the firmware to 1.3.0. which is the newest offered by canon. this night i wanted to test the high iso settings with various lowlight shots.. so i took the last bus out of the city, as far as i could get (vienna/austria). 2 minutes after the bus returned to the city, the last one for tonight..i released per accident...error 99..well then..it had been a wonderful hike till the first taxi company was willing to pick me up for a reasonable price.</p>

<p>i now tried all of the things you guys said, but nothing worked, as intended. (not even the "logical analysis and help provided by a longtime windows user, wich i am aswell since win. 3.11, i thought this last remark was pariculary funny)</p>

<p>so i will have send it in, with 300 shots made and yes i only used it about four times till this night.</p>

<p>i figured this is more of a closed group, a supportgroup of angry canon users, so that is the reason why i shared with you my friends.</p>

<p>i will keep you posted anyway, see you next week, same time same place.</p>

<p>cheerio</p>

[5711]

<p>LEVER ASS'Y, MIRROR CHARGE<br />LEVER ASS'Y, SH CHARGE<br>

and something more i forgot has been replaced. the error 99 is fixed now.<br>

anyone know what those parts are?<br>

shutter charge? mirror charge?<br>

technical built in bug, per default..so is it a feature?<br>

will my freshly repaired canon eos 1d mark 3 now break down after another 300 releases or will it work from now on?</p>

<p>any ideas?</p>

<p>cheerio</p>

[5711]

<p>i had also been told that the mark3 often get an error 99 when older lens models by sigma are beeing used.</p>

<p>in that case, the error 99 might also be caused by old optics. this can be fixed by sigma. as far as i had been told, they just change a chip.<br>

using the same lens on other canon cameras like 30d,10d or 5d might aswell result in yet another error 99, which can be solved by replacing the new chip with the old chip (in the sigma lens).<br>

thats the issue mostly reported by one of the best and well known stores here in vienna.</p>

<p> </p>