EOS 350D - Error 99 :(

elven

Does anyone have any experience with this? It's just happening with my Sigma 28-80mm but only at certain aperture settings - tonight I'm going to do some investigation and try to narrow it down a bit more. When it hangs, I hear just half of the ka-chunk sound that I usually get when taking a shot. I heard about the shutter curtains getting stuck but if that was the case, I'd expect it to happen regardless of which lens I'm using.

I also have to try cleaning the contacts with an eraser but I've read that you can actually do more damage that way, if you end up removing some of the gold plating. I'm starting to worry that I've got a dud lens - I know it's about 5 years old and has been through a fair bit of bad handling but I've never put it down on its contacts or put it in the bag without the cover on it. Can you get lenses serviced or would it end up cheaper to replace with an EF-S that matches the smaller sensor? I'm not sure I have a couple hndred quid spare for that just now...

Anyone else had any issues with similar?

ChityWest

It may be an idea to try that lens (at the problem aperture) on a different camera if you have access to one - that would make certain that its definitely the lens, and not just some funky incompatibility between your camera and that exact lens. It could be worth investigating if theres a firmware upgrade for your camera too. Cant think of anything else at the mo - it sounds like if you can get it serviced (and they manage to fix it) it would be cheaper than replacing it - unless you catch a bargain on ebay or somwhere like that. Good luck.

elven

Well I used that lens for 5 years happily enough on my old EOS 630 (first manufactured circa 1982). But that had a bath and everything, and still managed to work... they don't make em like they used to!

Not sure when the camera is only 4 weeks old that I want to do the firmware thing and risk ending up with an expensive paperweight Although apparently it's what everyone is shouting at Canon for because a) they should be providing more specific error messages and b) there's a good chance that the error is occurring because the firmware settings are too tight for the actual hardware to operate within. But who knows.

ladgie353

Err 99 is a frequent issue on Canon dslrs with Sigma lenses (try +sigma +err99 on google).
Apparently, it comes from the fact that Sigma doesn't pay Canon royalties on the system and therefore doesn't get the full technical lowdown.
Happens on my 10d with the 70-300mm Sigma if I use anything but the max aperture.
Some recent Sigma lenses can be rechipped to fix the issue but not all.
Canon's answer is turn the camera off, remove and reinsert the battery and turn the camera on again...

Fajitas!

Happens with my 70-300 a lot, and sometimes with my 35-105, both lenses are over 17 years old. My friend mentioned some chip in the lens itself, but I don't know anything about it!

Fireman

It hapened me once as I was about to take a very important Pic ( EOS 20D) but I had just changed lens so I took the lens off and put it on again and it corrected my problem. Check the back of you're instruction manual it gives all the error codes

Fireman

EireRoadUser

Theres definetly stuff on the net in regards to chipping old sigmas.
I read something at fred Mirandas site I think ,before I purchased my first sigma.