Error 99

[teej72]

I get an "error 99" message when I take pictures with  my EOS Rebel XS.  I have changed my battery and memory card, but it hasn't helped.  Any suggestions about what to do next?

[Tim · Accepted solution]

Hello Teej72!

To isolate the cause of the issue, we suggest that you do the following:

 1.  Turn off the camera.

 2.  Remove the lens, battery, and memory card.

 3.  Allow the camera to sit without power for approximately 20 minutes.

 4.  Insert a fully charged battery, and turn on the camera.

 5.  Depress the shutter button as you would to take a picture.

Does error 99 still appear?  Please proceed with the following steps.

 6.  Format the memory card in the camera.  This will erase all data on the card so please be sure to save the images first. 

 
 7.  Also, please attempt the use of a new card properly formatted in the camera. 

 8.  Clean the lens contacts by gently cleaning then with a new, soft, micro fiber cloth.  If possible, please attempt the use of a different Canon EF or EF-S Series lens on this camera. 

 9.  Turn on your EOS Rebel XS.

10.  Depress the shutter button to take a picture.  



If the error 99 still appears on the camera with a different lens, then your camera needs service.  If it only occurs with the first lens you used, then just that particular lens needs service.

We recommend setting up service directly though our Service and Support web site. 

We hope this helps resolve this issue!

 

[Tim · Accepted solution]

Hello Teej72!

To isolate the cause of the issue, we suggest that you do the following:

 1.  Turn off the camera.

 2.  Remove the lens, battery, and memory card.

 3.  Allow the camera to sit without power for approximately 20 minutes.

 4.  Insert a fully charged battery, and turn on the camera.

 5.  Depress the shutter button as you would to take a picture.

Does error 99 still appear?  Please proceed with the following steps.

 6.  Format the memory card in the camera.  This will erase all data on the card so please be sure to save the images first. 

 
 7.  Also, please attempt the use of a new card properly formatted in the camera. 

 8.  Clean the lens contacts by gently cleaning then with a new, soft, micro fiber cloth.  If possible, please attempt the use of a different Canon EF or EF-S Series lens on this camera. 

 9.  Turn on your EOS Rebel XS.

10.  Depress the shutter button to take a picture.  



If the error 99 still appears on the camera with a different lens, then your camera needs service.  If it only occurs with the first lens you used, then just that particular lens needs service.

We recommend setting up service directly though our Service and Support web site. 

We hope this helps resolve this issue!

 

[ebiggs1 · Accepted solution]

Error 99 is a generic call for help.

But it is a undefined error that the camera knows something is wrong but it doesn't know what it is.

 95% of the time it is a failure in the shutter. Sorry.

[avengrove]

Shutter malfunction appears to be my problem. When I took a picture, I heard a half click. Didn't sound like the shutter closed. Then Error 99 appeared.

[bethschrag]

I fixed the Error 99 problem by using a pencil eraser to clean the lens contacts on my lens and camera body. It worked! Thanks to Nick at Click Incorporated in Libertyville, IL.

[RobertTheFat]

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@bethschrag wrote:
I fixed the Error 99 problem by using a pencil eraser to clean the lens contacts on my lens and camera body. It worked! Thanks to Nick at Click Incorporated in Libertyville, IL.

---

Not a good idea. Pencil erasers are pretty abrasive, and the gold plating on electrical contacts is extremely thin. You may get away with it once or twice and then discover that you've seriously damaged your camera.

[bethschrag]

The problem is obviously that those contacts need to be cleaned.

Do you have a solution that would work and won't damage the gold plating without sending it in?

[RobertTheFat]

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@bethschrag wrote:

The problem is obviously that those contacts need to be cleaned.

Do you have a solution that would work and won't damage the gold plating without sending it in?

---

I'll defer to any of several people in this forum who are more knowledgeable about this matter than I am. But I guess I'd begin by swabbing the contacts with a Q-tip dipped in alcohol.

[Waddizzle]

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@bethschrag wrote:

The problem is obviously that those contacts need to be cleaned.

Do you have a solution that would work and won't damage the gold plating without sending it in?

---

Treat it as if were a specially treateda and coated, glass lens filter, one which could be easily scratched.  I think cotton has too much of a potential to leave lint behind.  A micro-fiber cloth might be okay, with a non-abrasive solvent like alcohol.

Now, when it comes to alcohol, I do not know which is better, methyl or isopropyl.  In either case, you want to use something with a high concentration of alcohol, and low water content.  Methyl is stronger, more hazardous, because it is frequently used as an industrial solvent to clean things.  Isopropyl does not evaporate as quickly, and is far less hazardous.

I use inexpensive spray bottles of 91% isopropyl from the local drug store chain to clean my eyeglasses, and have done so for years and years without scratching them up.  Instead of pre-moistened lens wipe, you can buy lens tissue sheets.  I spray a sheet with alcohol, and now I have a pre-moistened lens wipe, minus the perfumes and dyes of lens cleaners.  I finish up with a micro-fiber cloth before the alcohol fully evaporates.  The tissues remove the majority of the dirt.

[ebiggs1]

"I fixed the Error 99 problem by using a pencil eraser to clean the lens contacts ..."

Robert said,

"Not a good idea."

Not just not a good idea.  It can be a disastrous idea. From Canon................

"Warning: do not clean lens contacts on either a Canon lens or the camera body with an eraser! It’s incredibly easy to rub off the gold plating on these contacts, and end up with data communication problems, even if that wasn’t the original source of the problem! It’s obviously a good idea to clean the contacts if a lens communication error is reported, but our strong recommendation is to use a soft, clean cloth, perhaps moistened with isopropyl alcohol if you feel the contacts are smudged with fingerprint oil or similar debris and really need a cleaning agent. Again, do not use anything abrasive, and to repeat: do not use an eraser!"