Displays pictures remaining with power off

Here is the diagnostic process, allegedly from Canon themselves. It's quite old, a newer camera probably has a SD card rather than CF.

To isolate the cause of the issue, we [Canon] suggest that you do the following:

1. Turn off the camera.
2. Remove the lens, battery, and CF card.
3. Allow the camera to sit without power for approximately 20 minutes.
4. Insert a fully charged battery, and turn on the camera.
5. Depress the shutter button as you would to take a picture.

Does the "ERR 99" message appear? If it does, then the camera should be serviced. If it does not, then please proceed to the next set of steps:

1. Turn off the camera.
2. Insert the CF card.
3. Turn on the camera.
4. Format the CF card in the camera.
5. Depress the shutter button as you would to take a picture.

Does the "ERR 99" message appear? If so, then the CF card is the most likely source of the issue. Try using a different card.

If the message does not appear, please complete the following steps:

1. Turn off the camera.
2. Clean the lens contacts by gently rubbing them with a pencil eraser or soft cloth. Be careful that you do not let any debris fall into the camera body.
3. Reattach your lens.
4. Turn on the camera.
5. Depress the shutter button as you would to take a picture.

If the "ERR 99" message only appears when one particular lens is attached, then that lens should be examined by a service technician.

If you see the "ERR 99" with a different Canon lens attached, then the camera should be serviced.

Yep set the auto turn off higher and instead of removing the battery, just open and close the battery compartment.

This appears to be a problem I have raised with Canon, hopefully they will release a firmware update soon to fix this

When you take pictures without the internal card , they get stored inside the camera internal memory (usually 8 or 16 MB only).

Connect the camera to a computer using a data cable, without putting any memory card inside the camera. The camera internal memory will be displayed as a new external usb disk on computer.

Not all CF cards are created equally, so yes, it could be your batch of cards. To determine if the error is CF related, and not anything else, try the following steps which are used to diagnose err 99's

To isolate the cause of the issue, do the following: -

1. Turn off the camera.
2. Remove the lens, battery, and CF card.
3. Allow the camera to sit without power for approximately 20 minutes.
4. Insert only a fully charged battery, and turn on the camera.
5. Depress the shutter button as you would to take a picture.


Does the “ERR 99′ message appear? If so, the camera may be faulty and requires a service. If it does not, then: -

1. Turn off the camera.
2. Insert the CF card.
3. Turn on the camera.
4. Format the CF card in the camera.
5. Depress the shutter button as you would to take a picture.


Does the “ERR 99′ message appear? If so, then the CF card is faulty. Try a different card. If the message does not appear: -

1. Turn off the camera.
2. Clean the gold contacts on the lens by GENTLY rubbing them with a pencil eraser or soft cloth. Keeping the camera face pointing down, also clean the gold contacts on the camera, being careful that you do not let any debris fall into the camera body.
3. Reattach your lens.
4. Turn on the camera.
5. Depress the shutter button as you would to take a picture.
If the “ERR 99′ message only appears when one particular lens is attached, then that lens should be examined by a service technician.
If you see the “ERR 99′ with a different Canon lens attached, then the camera is faulty and should be serviced.

Due to the age of the camera, the Ultra 2 CF card may be using a different architecture than your other CF cards. In other words, the card is incompatible with the camera.

One other problem may be that the camera is not designed to recognize a card which is of a larger capacity.

As I cannot find the 300D on Canon's site it is difficult to find exact specifications as to the abilities of the camera, as to what type of CF card it will accept, what the largest capacity it will accept, etc.

A more fixable problem would be either that the card is not formatted properly - which may be possible through the camera itself. Please try to navigate the camera's menu to find a format option. If not, you can insert it into a CF card reader and attempt formatting it that way. Please see Here for formatting through a camera.

Also, try Here for yet another possible explanation of your problem, as #6.

If the camera is meant to take the capacity and type of CF card, and is not damaged, the only other explanation is that it is write-protected. As I do not know the exact features of your CF card, I cannot say whether or not it has a manual write-protection switch. If it does, it would be a small sliding piece of plastic or metal on the side of the card which toggles the write-protection feature. It may also be write-protected as a file system, in which case you will need to format it.

If the card refuses to format due to a write-protection, you will need to remove the write-protection from the card first and then format it.

The following picture shows a CF card with a write-protection switch on the left hand side.



If this proved helpful, please rate. If you need further assistance, please come back and I will attempt to provide further help.

Thank you and take care,
- Dshack.

Have you been taking shots in continuous mode (burst)?  The camera has a built in buffer of fast memory where photos are stored before being written to the slower CF card.  Once the memory gets full the camera will not take another picture unless some of the images complete transfer to the CF card. You will notice a number inside your viewfinder (bottom left) the number goes down when you take a picture that is how much space is left in the buffer when it hits 0 the buffer is full it will go up as the buffer clears.  Note that RAW takes up more space and fills the buffer quickly.
If you get the "Busy" message even after just 1 shot then there is something wrong with either your CF card or your camera and you should take try another card or it to canon for service.

Hi

First thing I would do is reset all the options back to the default settings. Now try taking a picture again? Is it working properly?

I was going to check through the settings on an XT for you, but I grabbed my XT and it's not turning on... I thought the only problem with it was I needed to replace the CF reader pins but now I can't remember... Sorry I cant help much more until I get my XT to power again.

Thomas

here is a link for further steps to take on Error 99: Canon info

The article refers to the 30D, but the same troubleshooting will work for your camera too

I don't have the camera, but I would expect it will store those images in My Documents either in the Nand Dick area or (preferably) on the CF card. You would transfer them either through Copy and Paste with an Active Sync connection, or a PCConnect folder sync, or also with PCConnect using copy and paste within beXplore. Another method would be to remove your CF card and use a CF card reader connected to your PC, usually via USB. Or you could try a can opener ;-)

Error Code "E50" (CF card formatting error) When a camera error occurs, an error code like "Exx" will be displayed, where the x's represent numbers. The "E50" error code indicates formatting a CF card has failed. Solution To clear the "E50" error, try performing the following procedure. 1. Try using another CF card. If you have another CF card, try loading it in the camera. If the error code is not displayed when the other CF card is loaded, there may be something wrong with the first one rather than with the camera. 2. Use your computer's ScanDisk utility to check the CF card for errors. Use ScanDisk to check the CF card for card error or card failure. Refer to the instruction manual for your operating system or Windows Help for further instructions. (If you are using a Macintosh, use the "Disk First Aid" program to check for card error or card failure. Refer to the instruction manual for your Macintosh OS for further information.) Be sure to back up the data on the CF card on the computer before you check the CF card. If a card error or card failure occurs when you use your computer's ScanDisk, there is something wrong with the CF card. Follow ScanDisk's on-screen instructions to solve the problem. If the same error occurs when you are using the CF card supplied with the camera, please contact the retailer where you purchased the camera or the nearest Canon service center. If the error code is displayed right after you took a picture, the image may not have been recorded. Switch the camera to playback mode to check if it was recorded. Precautions for handling a CF card: - Do not remove a CF card or disconnect the camera's power source while the camera is recording, loading, or erasing data on a CF card. - CF cards are high-precision electronic devices. Do not bend, force, or subject them to shocks or vibration. - Do not attempt to disassemble or alter a CF card. - Place the CF card in the supplied case for storage. - Moving a CF card rapidly between temperature extremes may cause condensation in the card, leading to potential malfunctions. To avoid condensation, place the CF card in a sealed plastic bag before moving it into a different temperature area and allow it to adjust slowly to the new temperature. If condensation forms on the CF card, put it aside until the water droplets have evaporated completely. - Do not use or store CF cards in the locations subject to dust or sand, high humidity, or high temperatures.