I need some help, I've got a second hand 400D from Ebay. I have been waiting for a lens, and a friend lent me one so last night I finally had a chance to take some pictures and the camera seemed to be working fine.
However, today, I took the CF card out for the first time to transfer pictures to my laptop and when I put it back it a message came up on the camera that there was an error with the card, I tried taking it out and putting it back in a few times, but no luck. I tried to format the card in the camera, but when I did I got an error 99. I formatted the card on my laptop, but the same thing is still happening!
Is the CF card one you already had or did it come with the camera?
The easiest check is to try a new CF card to rule that out, but in all reality, error 99 could mean anything from a bad card to dirty lens contacts, to something even more severe.
What was the lens you tried on the camera? Try operating the camera without the card in at all and see if it's still giving you any errors or if the error only occurs when the card is in the camera.
@kath_wood It's the only CF card I have at the moment :)
@marubozo Yes, it came with the camera, and I don't have another one at the moment. The lens is a standard kit lens 18-55mm.
I've just tried the camera without the card in and it seems to work fine, just tells me there isn't a card in there.
I guess I'll have to wait and get a new CF card to eliminate that, just seems odd that it was working absolutely fine until I tried to put it back in...
@minxymissk What computer/OS are you using? When you format via the computer if there's an option for a "low level" format or something similar, I'd give that a try.
Error 99 on a 400D is probably a compatability problem. It seems that you have a dodgy CF card, replace it with a brand new card and let the camera format it, you should be fine. If this doesn't help, try cleaning the lens contacts, that's usually plan B.
@marubozo A friend advised me to format using FAT32? So that's what I did, and no luck. @robd57 I shall get myself another card, hopefully that will solve it, I was just concerned that it was something really bad :(
My friend @madnad just had a problem with a Canon and error 99. Apparently this is a common error message in Canons, which means "something wrong, but don't know what".
Thanks everyone for responding, I'll try another CF card and hopefully that will sort it - don't want to have spent nearly £200 on a camera I can't use! :(
I've got errors with cards occasionally on the 10D, usually comes from hitting cut rather than copy on the computer, I usually format the card before each shoot on camera, however it's always managed to format the card itself, you could try a different format option for the card (FATvsFAT32)
My first DSLR was the Canon 400D, it's a surprisingly reliable camera for the price. I learned a lot using it, even got some competition winners and salon acceptances with it. I'm now using it to teach my missus some basics, so she can join in as well.
@minxymissk Karen, you've had lots of good suggestions above. I have a Canon 450D. Touch wood, no trouble myself, but I got interested in an earlier thread querying error 99 and it's got quite a history and a messy definition.
Wow. I just had this exact same problem with my Canon 30D last night. Took the card out of my camera and tried to download the photos from my card reader, which is what I always do. Came up as the card being empty plus my laptop told me that I would have to format it before it could be used. Tried accessing the photos through my computer, only to be told that the file or directory is corrupted and unreadable. Still hoping it was just my card reader I put the card back in my camera, hoping to download it from there. Said there were no images on the card (which actually there is; over 1800 of them as a matter of fact. They are all just damaged and unretrievable now).
Next I tried another card; one which I know still had photos on it but I had already downloaded them so I didn't care what happened to them. Again, camera claims there are no images. If I try to take a photo I get "err cf". I then tried to format the card but when I did that I got "Err 99 Shooting is not possible".
Last step I did was re-read the 2nd cf card through my computer. Luckily that card is not damaged.
Well, maybe not so lucky as my camera is definitely the problem :-(
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The easiest check is to try a new CF card to rule that out, but in all reality, error 99 could mean anything from a bad card to dirty lens contacts, to something even more severe.
What was the lens you tried on the camera? Try operating the camera without the card in at all and see if it's still giving you any errors or if the error only occurs when the card is in the camera.
@marubozo Yes, it came with the camera, and I don't have another one at the moment. The lens is a standard kit lens 18-55mm.
I've just tried the camera without the card in and it seems to work fine, just tells me there isn't a card in there.
I guess I'll have to wait and get a new CF card to eliminate that, just seems odd that it was working absolutely fine until I tried to put it back in...
@robd57 I shall get myself another card, hopefully that will solve it, I was just concerned that it was something really bad :(
Thanks everyone for responding, I'll try another CF card and hopefully that will sort it - don't want to have spent nearly £200 on a camera I can't use! :(
You may find this site of interest. It digs into the mysteries very well I believe. http://www.lensrentals.com/news/2008.12.31/canon-err99
I think Err99 is a generic canon problem...hope the new card fixes it
Next I tried another card; one which I know still had photos on it but I had already downloaded them so I didn't care what happened to them. Again, camera claims there are no images. If I try to take a photo I get "err cf". I then tried to format the card but when I did that I got "Err 99 Shooting is not possible".
Last step I did was re-read the 2nd cf card through my computer. Luckily that card is not damaged.
Well, maybe not so lucky as my camera is definitely the problem :-(
http://www.piriform.com/recuva
I've used this for friends that have mistakenly deleted files or damaged memory cards, hasn't let me down yet.