So recently I started getting an error 99 on my Digital Rebel. Nothing would fix this, switching lenses, cards, whatehaveyou. I sent it into Canon Factory repair.

Got my estimate back today, and it's gonna cost me 200 dollars to pay for repair. I can accept this offer and get it fixed, or reject it and they send back the camera.

I'm not sure what to do...200 bucks would be a pretty decent payment towards a brand new camera. Not to mention who knows if i'll randomly get this error again, and have to repeat the process.

But on the other hand, what can i do with a Digital Rebel that doesn't totally work? Ebay it?

Any suggestions or information would be very much appreciated, this has been a really really annoying process...

i was in kind of the same perdiament as you

My camera was still underwarrentie, however, i lost the recipt and i didnt want to take it to the place i bought it because it was in inconvienance. So i took it to the place thats close to me. They sent it off and said "they'll give you a quote and you have the option to go a head or decline....but im letting you know that it could easily be in the $300 range to fix" so i said sure, no harm in sending it off to get a quote. I got the quote it was $175.

My reasoning:
1) I love my camera
2) I love photography
3) Its not that expensive


now, you say your camera is brandnew....shouldnt it have a warrentie on it? Or shouldnt the store you got it from replace it if it were malfunctioning in a certain time period. I say go ahead with the $200 to repair....its photography, its fun, its a hobby and your not waisting money I.E on ciggerettes or alchoal. haha

My reasoning doesnt really make sense, but it does?

the camera is about a year and a half old, so the warranty ran out just a few months ago.

and i was meaning that the 200 dollars i would be spending on the repair could be 200 dollars going towards a different brand new camera.

although I might just pay for the repair, then sell everything on ebay, and see where I stand.

i'm not really sure i want to stick with the same camera if it is just going to randomly crap out on me.

oops, i kind of read that kind of quickly. I dont know..you can get a pretty descent canon body for a resonable price. If you sell the body that you have now, and keep the len's and throw maybe another 300 in to the pot...you could get a nice Canon body...id probably do that.

Read this http://www.richardsnotes.org/archives/2005...contact-points/

Comment #6 by Jason

By the way, how long have you had your XT? Doesn't Canon have 2 years warranty or so? I'm asking since you said it's a new camera

the camera was not new. i had it for 1.5 years, and the warranty was only a year. they did not specify what was wrong with it, they just wrote back ERROR 99, which is something I already knew.

i decided just to pay the 200 for it, and maybe I will sell it on ebay and use that cash to upgrade. none of the fixes I found online worked, with cleaning connectors and switching lenses, or taking the battery in and out.

I'm no n00b, so this really threw me for a loop. hope the worst is behind me however.

considering getting a Nikon D80, money permitting.

Error 99 is a lens to body error.

Try cleaning all your contacts, camera and lens' with an eraser on the end of a pencil and clean them.

you aren't going to get much at all for a digital rebel on ebay. You can buy them so cheap new now, and the XT too actually, that it's almost not worth selling what you have.

I purchased this camera three years ago. I like it very much and it takes outstanding photographs. I have purchased three high-quality Canon-brand lenses and the top-of-the-line Canon flash. My home and office are lined with excellent photos, and I get many compliments from friends and co-workers. In fact, these photos and my glowing recommendations of this camera have encouraged five other people to buy it, and several of those folks have, like me, gone hog-wild and bought several lenses, flashes, etc.

Unfortunately, the story gets very grim from here. This camera’s reliability is non-existent. It has caused me a lot of grief and cost me a lot of wasted money and effort. After several hours of conversations with technical and customer support, I have patiently and dutifully sent this camera in for four and now five repairs. The result is that I have had the camera in my hands for ten out of the last twelve months and it has actually worked for nine out of the last twelve months. This is an unacceptable track record for a camera that cost me nearly $1000. I find it had to accept that a camera in this price range will only last for three years.

The story so far:

In April of 2006, when it was two years old, the camera’s shutter stopped working. I sent it in to the Canon repair center (Repair number LG703765), the shutter was repaired, and sent back to me. Repair costs were $200, not including the thirty or so dollars to ship it to the repair center. I lost use of the camera for two weeks.

A mere six months later, in October of 2006, the camera’s focus lock failed. I was told to send it in again, and after expressing my disbelief and annoyance that the camera was failing again so soon, the repair (Repair number LH124454) was done without charge, except for the thirty or so dollars to ship it to the repair center. I lost use of the camera for two weeks, including Halloween, during which I was unable to take advantage of any photo opportunities with my children.

It only took two months for the camera to fail again. Again, some kind of shutter problem rendered the camera unusable during my children’s first trip to Disneyland. Again after expressing my disbelief and annoyance that the camera was failing again so soon, the repair (Repair number WA864336) was done without charge, except for the thirty or so dollars to ship it to the repair center. I lost the camera for three weeks because of the Christmas holiday, during which I hardly need add, that I was unable to take any photos during the holiday. This was a major disappointment.

Less than a month later, I began to experience an intermittent shutter failure, during which the shutter would stay locked down (looking through the lens, it would be black), and then it would release after being set aside for several hours. I called the Canon technical support, and they told me that I would have to send it in again. I was reluctant to do so, because the shutter was sticking intermittently and returning to normal several hours later, which is a difficult problem to reproduce. However, after several episodes of this in late March of this year, the technical support person recommended – based on the number of incidents with the camera -- I contact Canon Customer Support.

My case with this department was handled by a man named Mike (866-886-1901 extension 2191), who listened to my saga and told me that I would need to send the camera to the repair center for “evaluation”. I explained that I feared they would not be able to find much as the shutter was sticking intermittently and returning to normal several hours later, which is a difficult problem to reproduce Mike explained that the evaluation would be complete and extensive, and that it might take longer than an average repair. It did not help that the free shipping was three-day, and the total time I was without my camera was three weeks.

I thought that “Customer Service” would include, at the very least, some follow-up about the results of the evaluation. Not so! I got home from work one day, the camera was returned, and the note inside said that the camera and lens was evaluated and nothing was wrong. Did I get a phone call from Mike? No. Did I get an e-mail from Mike? No. I waited a couple of days and heard nothing. I finally called him, left a message, but he did not return my call for over a week. By this time I was so disgusted, I didn’t bother calling back. I guess Canon’s idea of Customer Service is different than mine. At least this time, Canon ponied up the shipping costs (although I had to purchase fifteen dollars worth of packing materials).

Which brings us to today, two months later. While shooting some photos for a client, the camera failed mid-job. (Bye-bye, freelance job!) But this was a newer, different shutter problem. The shutter engages (softly) takes a black image, gives the dreaded, meaningless “Error 99”, and refuses to take another shot. This time the camera did not return to normal; it is dead in the water.

I am now at wit’s end. I just got off the phone with Mike, whose capacity for sympathy is somewhat limited. He gave the usual response – send it to the service center. I asked if there was any way to expedite the situation, and he said he could ask them to look at it “as soon as possible”. Give that it is Tuesday, and that they will be sending me another lame three-day label, I figure it will be back in my hands in what, three weeks?

Let’s recap:

* Camera down time out of the last twelve months: Almost three months.
* Events missed: Kid’s first trip to Disneyland and Legoland; Halloween, Christmas, and New Years 2006.
* Money spent on repairs/shipping: $300
* Estimated sales from my own purchases and recommendations to friends: over $5000