Camera is 3 years old. Lately I take a picture

I have the same problem and I'm not sure why it does this. I think it has something to do with the connection inside the camera.

How old is your battery? The rechargeable LI-ion battery is only meant to last a couple years at most. If your battery is a couple years old (or longer) it's probably time to consider a new battery.

Fortunately, due to the popularity of Canon cameras, generic versions of the NB-4L battery for your camera are widely available. This makes them very inexpensive. Recommend looking for one on Amazon with good user ratings. Here's some suggestions.

Use alkaline or rechargeable batteries

Try the following diagnosis steps, in this exact order. This will isolate the cause of the issue: -
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.

does the camera still work ok?

This worked for me after having the persistent "Replace the batteries" problem for about a year straight.

1. Reset the camera, according to the instructions in the manual. (Power on, hold MENU for 5+ seconds, select “OK”, wait, turn camera off).
2. Remove the date/time battery for two minutes (the tiny one in the battery compartment in its own little plastic holder). Replace after 2+ minutes.
3. Important: Insert freshly charged batteries into the camera.

I tried everything short of getting a new camera, and this was the ONLY thing to work for me. Its also simple enough that it takes 3 minutes to do, in case it were to ever happen again while on vacation, etc.

Good luck and I hope this helps.
Eric

Chargeable batteries usually last for a year or two. Alkaline batteries should only be expected to last for around a dozen shots (as such, NEVER rely on alkaline batteries). Recommend buying another set of NiMH rechargeables. Make sure you get 2500 mah or better power rating (look on the package).

I had the same problem, apparently if you're using a external memory card that can cause this problem...

I didn't know that but I contacted Samsung and got mine repaired.

They put a note in saying the power board was faulty in the camera.


Much, much better now. I can take pictures like I used to be able to!

I have this problem as well. I thought it was a problem with my NiMH batteries. So, I bought a volt meter to make sure the batteries worked. I have 8 AA NiMH batteries. I charged them all up and tested them with the volt meter. They were all good to go. However, no matter what I put in the camera one of two things happens:
1. I get the "change batteries" message.
2. I don't get the message, but the next time I check the camera (a few days later), one of them is totally drained.
Something is very wrong and I plan on contacting Canon.

You MUST use rechargeable batteries , like NiMh , with charger for that kind of battery , and your problem will go ...