Rebel XS

[JillF]

I have a Rebel XS bought in 2008.  When I try to take a picture, I get an ERR 99 message "Shooting is not possible, Remove and reinstall battery or turn off and on again. "  I bought a new battery and get the same message. The message comes up on all lenses.  Anyone have any idea what is wrong? Thank you for any help. 

[diverhank]

Error 99, from what I read, is a generic error (undefined) that could be caused by a number of reasons...

1. Lens problem - most likely not because you tried different lenses

2. Dirty lens/camera contacts - try cleaning the gold contacts (gentle rubbing with an eraser is the stated method)

3. Bad memory card - try installing different cards

4. Bad battery (including non-Canon batteries) - try a different battery

5. Exposure counter overflow - try resetting the exposure count (---> auto-reset)

6. Bad external flashes or stuck built-in flash

7. Internal circuit failures - out of luck if this is the case.

I'd first remove the battery and try to press the shutter button to deplete the remaining capacitance charge in the camera.  Leave it alone for half an hour then try installing a good fresh battery.  Go through the process of elimination.

Look at the bright side...here is a perfect excuse to get a newer better camera if none of the trying works :).  Good luck.

[JillF]

Thank you! I will get to work on this list.

[ebiggs1]

Error 99 is really a bad deal. Sorry.  If the new battery and/or CF card didn't fix it, I doubt any of the other suggestions will either.

You might try a different lens since it is easy. 

You might try prying up (fingernail only) on the flash door while you turn it on. <----might have a chance to work! 

The Canon XS is not a good candidate for repair, IMHO, of course.

[RobertTheFat]

Any chance it could be a dead date/time battery? IIRC, in the early days even low-end Rebels had actual removable date/time batteries, rather than just a couple of extra built-in capacitors. If that were the problem, I might have expected a more informative error message, but you never know.

[ebiggs1]

"Any chance it could be a dead date/time battery?"

No.

The camera does not need that battery to operate.  It will work with or with out it.