Can't shoot anyone for time being

 'Scuse me while I kiss the sky, 2010

Last Saturday I was starting to shoot someone when I got the dreaded  error99 on my Canon. First frame I shot. I thought it was a fluke. Then the second, third, etc... This was after a drive and after climbing onto the roof of a building via a step ladder too - not a fan of heights.

Now, while this can mean many things for a Canon, it is often related to the electronics and there are several physical cleaning the contacts sort of remedies you can try to resolve it. Also removing batteries, lens, flash, battery grip, CF card and so on, let any residual charge dissipate and try again with fresh battery, formatted CF card and so on.

I received several helpful suggestions from folks I know, and aside from trying to upgrade the firmware - which I have not done yet, nothing has worked.

I called Henry's on Fanshawe around lunch on Tuesday and spoke to Peter. Apparently their records are not readily available going back to March of 2008 when it was last in for repairs. I know it has to go in for repairs - which I can't afford if it costs anything at all, but I wanted to find out if the three strikes rule was still applicable. It was explained to me last time it was fixed that Canon has a policy that if a camera body has to go in for repair three times, the third time they won't repair it, they will just give you a new body. And if the one you are replacing isn't in stock or available, it would be the next logical equivalent body. Sadly, not likely a 1ds MkIII :)

He took my information and said he would call back. I held my breath.

I got a call back from Henry's about 20-30mins later. Peter said they were able to pull my paperwork from the original sale June 22nd, 2007, and the repairs in November '07 and Feb/March '08. He quizzed me as to what troubleshooting I had done etc. He then said that he had checked and the three repairs rule for Canons still applied. And most importantly that, as I had got the extended warranty at the time I purchased it, I was still covered...

Upgrade path from my trusty - for the past two years - XTi will likely be the XSi or the 450d.  They didn't have one in the store, but would order one in and call me when it was available. That is a load off.  Of course that means, different batteries, different memory - SD instead of CF, different battery grip - the BG-E5...   If anyone wants to share some love, I could use a Henry's gift card. :)

No estimate as to when I will have this camera in hand, but until then I can't shoot anyone. And first on my list when I do get it is my friend Corey who is moving away soon and I have promised to shoot her one last time before she goes.

Mike