24 replies to this topic

[Bubble Girl]

Recently I had a leak in my Subal housing, nothing happened and all is back in working order - just a few droplets. Anyway, I took my camera under for the first time since the leak and was able to fire four shots until my camera went into Err 99 mode. I had this before the leak and had to switch it off then back on. Unfortunately, I can't take any shots at all now! I think it has something to do with the strobe, when it's slotted in the hotshoe on top of the camera it goes into Err 99 when I try to take a shot, otherwise with the strobe not attached, it works fine.
Has anyone else encountered this problem?
I know Eric was using the same set up - any probs or solutions??

I live on a boat in Palau where it is very difficult to have a Canon dealer look at it. Besides, this could be a strobe issue, in which case Canon wouldn't be able to help - or would they???

Please help!

Lisa

[james]

Hi Lisa,

I could be wrong, but I think one of the things that causes Error 99 is that the lens is not mounted properly. You should try putting the lens on and off a few times and see if that helps.

If not, it sounds like you may have some kind of short in your hotshoe wiring.

James

[Bubble Girl]

will try to clean the contacts with an eraser, etc. hmmm, wiring in the housing or camera?
thing is, I'm not sure who to go to first: canon, subal or inon!?

this truly is an expensive profession!

[betti154]

Lisa,

I've got a 350D, and on occasion (2-3 times) have got that dreaded Error 99 underwater after taking 1 or even 50 shots.

I fixed it by removing and reconnecting the lens.

Damien Siviero

[randapex]

I did a little research on this error message for a friend. Apparently, it's kind of a catch all error code. It's recomended to pull the battery and then re-insert it to clear the error. (Tough to do U/W ), and as James said, clean lens contacts. But, like a failing circuit breaker, in some cases, the error will pop up with increasing frequency until if finally won't go away and you'll have to send the unit in.
Do a search on it in Google for (lots) more info.

Rand

[UWPhotoTech]

Rand and James are right on track. Error 99 is Canon's general communications error. In most cases the error is caused by a connection problem with an external device such as a lens or a strobe (flash). It can also be caused by an internal mechanism not completing it's function such as a shutter unit or mirror mech.

In your case it's most likely corrosion in the hot shoe connector, the connector board, the sync sockets or the cabling. The shoe and connector board are easily removed and disassembled for cleaning or inspection, so I'd start there.

[Stewart L. Sy]

Another problem could be your camera's hotshoe, there are 4 screws under the shoe that eventually come lose, as mine did. I was getting intermittent strobe triggering. It's fairly straightforward to fix. Slip a thin jeweler's type screwdriver under the plate (you can see it as a raised line just outside the flash contacts), the plate then lifts up and out in the same direction as removing a flash. You should see 3 or 4 small cross head type screws, tighten these down and it might help with your strobe issue.

Stu

[Bubble Girl]

"In your case it's most likely corrosion in the hot shoe connector, the connector board, the sync sockets or the cabling. The shoe and connector board are easily removed and disassembled for cleaning or inspection, so I'd start there."

I have tried to clean the contacts on the lens, have alcoholed all visible contacts to eliminate any corrosion, etc.
It is not the strobe, nor the camera - tried the strobe on another subal housing (worked fine on the ND70) and tried another strobe on mine (didn't work). I tried an external land strobe connected straight to the hotshoe on the camera and it worked fine. It's just the housing it doesn't work in (hotshoe).

How do I remove all that? Do you mean in the housing?? Take it apart?

Any other suggestions? I'm in Palau - will be too expensive to send to Austria (Subal) for repair!

[james]

You can probably get Subal or Ryan to send you a hotshoe/bulkhead kit.

What one of these kits would typically include would be:

Bulkhead and oring (this is the part that gets wet)
Optional second bulkhead if you have a dual setup
Wiring from bulkhead to hotshoe
Hotshoe connector

Typically this would all come wired together and you'd slip the hotshoe through a hole in the housing, then mount the bulkhead and tighten the bolt on the inside.

I hope that made some sense - I'm not a Subal expert so their setup may be different.

Cheers
James

[Bubble Girl]

Morning James,

Ryan? Who's that? (Sorry)
The bulkhead kit, is that the orange round hotshoe connector (inside the housing) and rainbow coloured wiring?
How do I order? Where do I sign up?!

Merry Ho Ho!

Lisa

[Stewart L. Sy]

" I tried an external land strobe connected straight to the hotshoe on the camera and it worked fine.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Remember, a land strobe can be tighted down into the camera, a Subal hotshoe is simply spring loaded. Try this, if you connect the Subal's hotshoe to your camera, apply downward pressure on the hotshoe connector, will your strobe fire? If so, then what I told you about loose hot shoe screws is the cause.

Stu

[Stewart L. Sy]

The closest Subal guy to you is likely Torben Bohn in Manila.


stu

p.s. I have the Subal C10 housing as well.

[Bubble Girl]

I know Torben, he used to work with the company I currently work for. I don't have his email address though...do you have any contact details for him. I was just talking about him yesterday and sent an email to our Manila office for it, but they have yet to reply.

Do you know anything about the hotshoe/bulkhead kit?

[Stewart L. Sy]

If there is no corrosion in the circuit board of your housing then it should be OK. Check to see if all the connectors going into the board are plugged in properly too. Try opening the hot shoe connector on the housing, see if there's corrosion inside that.

Torben's contact info:

Diver's Point
Torben Bohn
Unit 8, 2nd floor, Wilson Square,
199 Wilson Street, cor. P.Guevarra Street
San Juan, Metro Manila
Philippines
Fon +63 2 7253631
E-mail: torbenbohn@web.de

Stu

p.s. who do you work for that has an office in Manila and Palau?

[Bubble Girl]

I work for Scuba World (Expedition Fleet Liveaboards) as their fleet video/photo pro. Some pro with no working still camera!?!?

thanks for the details.

lisa

[Stewart L. Sy]

I used to stay at their resort in Anilao and they used to supply all the gear for Dive Solana too. I swing by the San Juan office of Scuba World mainly to go to the Ice Monster outlet beside them.

I born and raised in Manila till I moved to BC 18 years ago.

Stu

[randapex]

Lisa, I've got one more thing to suggest.

The hotshoe connector in the housing is connected to a small circuit board that's mounted with 2 slot type screws. Disconnect the wires from the bulkhead(s) to the board and then remove the screws and board.

Turn the board over and you will see all the small solder points for the printed circuits. Look closely, a magnifiying glass might help, and see if you see a kind of greenish scum in places. (This would come from the salt water leak), I used a small xacto knife blade to carefully scrape away this crud. I think the second time, I used just a toothbrush. Anyway, re-assemble and try it. I think this crud is causing a short and once removed, will allow the strobes to fire. If indeed the strobes do start to work, then I'd suggest ordering a new hotshoe connector kit and replacing the old one.

Best of luck

Rand

[Bubble Girl]

thanks so much, i'll give that a shot this afternoon. i'm going to head to fish n' fins/neco marine and sam's tours and see if their photo pros can suggest anything. I'll let you know how i get on!

[t-bohn]

Hi Lisa,

I can arrange any spareparts to be shipped over to you or drop them in the Manila office. NO problem...
I'll give Subal a call later to find out if they have any additional suggestions.
Seems to be the cables. How many contacts do you have attached? Might help to remove all unneeded pins from the hotshoe if there is a short-circuit somewhere...

Will get you also the pin layout for the bulkheads, so you might be able to wire directly from the hotshoe to the bulkhead for now...

How is Richard doing with his D70 Kit? I guess you tried your strobes on his rig!?

Cheers from Manila
Torben

torben@t-bohn.com
torbenbohn@mac.com
+63 917 8586481
+63 2 535 75 74

[meister]

“I had this before the leak and had to switch it off then back on.”

“Rand and James are right on track. Error 99 is Canon's general communications error. In most cases the error is caused by a connection problem with an external device such as a lens or a strobe (flash). It can also be caused by an internal mechanism not completing it's function such as a shutter unit or mirror mech.”

If it’s any consolation, you and I are far from the first people to experience the infamous Cannon error 99 lockup, regardless of your later flood. I too have repeatedly experienced an error 99 problem. Aside from the flood, which quite obviously could be the major contributing problem at this point, I concur 100% with the aforementioned paragraph. For what it’s worth to you in resolving your situation, following has been my experiences with error 99 messages.

I had to send my camera in four times to Canon in order to effectively resolve my error 99 problem. IMHO, if your camera continues to give you error 99 messages when used outside of the housing, I’d contact a Canon rep. Then I’d send in your camera and lenses to Canon repair…

First time I sent in my camera to Canon they responded by returning the camera and stating they couldn’t find the problem. I called Canon again, but asked to speak to a supervisor this time. She said to resend the camera. So I sent the camera in for the second time. Canon returned the camera with a new shutter. The error 99 lockups continued. I again contacted the supervisor and subsequently sent the camera in for a third time. Canon returned the camera this third time replying they couldn’t find any problem. The error 99 lockups continued. I again contacted the Canon supervisor and I subsequently sent the camera in for the fourth time, only this time I was told to send in all my (Canon) lenses with the camera. The camera and lenses were returned with no additional error 99 messages.

Canon didn’t include an in depth description of what work was completed on the camera and lenses nor any sort of summary statement listing what they believed was causing the problem. However, on the repair slips I noted they did “check/clean,” one lens, “replaced rear lens ass’y unit” on another lens, “adjusted focus” on the third lens, and “cleaned mount contact” on the camera, which did fix the error 99 messages and which would lead me to believe the problem was communication problems between the lenses and the camera.

For some reason Canon returned each lens and camera on separate days, with a signature required for delivery each time, an unnecessary inconvenience…Ending on a good note though, once I contacted the supervisor, she would Fed Ex next day shipment labels which was nice courtesy as I only paid shipping for one of the four required shipments. The camera was returned within approximately two weeks each time.