So.. I've been getting "Error 99" for a couple weeks now. I've suspected that it's NOT a communication error between lens and camera. (I use all Canon lenses) Whenever getting the "error 99" message, I could hear the shutter release and then there was a slight variance in the sound that the shutter made. To me, it sounded like the shutter wasn't moving freely, like there was something impeding the movement of the shutter mecanism.
Took the camera in to have it cleaned and seviced at a reputable and certified Canon service center, and everything checked out fine.
In the past few days, weird things have been happening to my pictures:
And just a couple hours ago.. CATASTROPHIC SHUTTER FAILURE!
I took a photo, and my camera went "clic........ rrrrrrrr". And that was it.
Pardon the crappy webcam photo, but this is what the shutter looks like now:
If that is still under warranty, they should replace that camera no questions asked. No doubt SOMETHING is/was wrong and you tried to have a certified Canon place catch or fix it before the shutter failed.
Yeah it's under warranty. I only purchased the camera 5 months ago. In fact, it was on November 12, 2004.
I spoke to the retail outlet where I purchased my camera, and they said to call back tomorrow when the manager is in and they would see about doing a stright exchange. This is OBVIOUSLY a manufacturer defect, because this camera has been babied since day one. And for that kind of a failure after only 5 months? I'd have to have been storing gravel in the camera or something.
Maybe I've just taken too many photos? (8K, ballpark)
Imagine a graph, time on the x-axis, chance of failure on the y. Every product has a "bathtub" kind of shape to it. There is a high probability that there will be faiures of cameras early in their life. Then there is a long "service" period where there is a low chance of failure. Then wear sets in, and failure probability goes back up.
This is standard engineering expectation for any device. Computers get past the first parth of the bathtub using "burn in", meaning you put a bunch of them somewhere on and hot, and wait for some to fail. I imagine it is much harder to do that with a digicam, though.
So my guess is your camera is one of the unlucky ones in the first part of the bathtub curve. Nikon? Same curve. Minolta? Ditto. Pentax? Yup, they swim it too.
The flip side is Canon is an excellent company that stands by their product. You can get it fixed or replaced, no problem. Other camera manufacturers? Reports vary.
Well. Perhaps a great portion of my reaction is based soley in angst - nobody stubs their toe and then analyzes probabilities. Knee jerk reaction usually dictates alot of swearing and blaming the chair for being in the middle if the room when you're in a hurry to answer the phone. And if it REALLY hurts, the chair might even get thrown and broken.
Such is the way when expensive electronics die right when you need them the most.
Sorry about your misfortune. A year from now, if you love photography at all, you will be making great pictures.
This may not be the most opportune moment, but I think you are half way here and there is no time like the present ....
Bad stuff happens to good people. It is not what happens to them that defines them. What they do when it happens is how they define themselves. You can let yourself be controlled by knee jerk reactions as you put it or you can control yourself. How much you are one way or the other is fundamentally your choice.
When you have a working camera back in your hands, make the best pictures you can with it, whether it is Nikon or Canon. In the meantime, study and review, or simply do something completely different for a while and don't even think about photography.
