Canon 1D mk3 - Err 99 in cold conditions

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I have a somewhat aging Canon 1D3 that has served me well since purchasing it several years ago.

Shortly after, Canon issued a notice offering free repairs to the shutter/mirror box which I took them up on as I had been seeing an Err 99 message when pressing the shutter button.

Now, however, the same error still appears. Despite testing with various lenses, cleaning contacts etc the only variable I can see that has an effect is temperature.

I shoot wildlife and so I'm often outside in low temperatures. I end up having to detach the body, stuff it in my jacket and warm it up with my body heat to get it working again.

It seems ridiculous that this should affect the operation but I can't see what else it could be.

Would the internal/date battery have any affect on this? I thought about replacing that to see if it made any difference.

Any advice or suggestions would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks,

Chris
 
Cold temperatures reduce the deliverable voltage from a rechargeable battery. Just a fact of life. But of course at a temperature where battery power is reduced to 10% of its normal warm level, an old battery which has lost 50% of its maximum capacity will fare worse than a new one.

As you have found out, warming it up can bring it back to life. Wild life shooters in cold temperatures often go out with two fully charged batteries, keeping one in a really warm interior pocket. When the camera battery starts failing due to cold, swop them round. You could also consider using one of those chemical hand warmer things to keep your camera a bit warmer. And of course when not using it warm it up.
 
If you ahve a third party battery then i am 100% sure thats your problem.. I ahd the same problem on the same body and it took a long time to figure out as putting a canon battery in didnt fix the problem on site...and it was only happening at certain times so eventually figured it out.. only using canon fixed it... never bought a third party battery since..

the problem wiht third party battery was that even though it seemed like it did.. it didnt 100% seal so damp got in when cold..simple as that and hard to fix on site.. you need to start out with gu=enuine canon battery
 
Thanks folks,

I have genuine Canon batteries. I guess the battery is pretty old so normal wear and tear could well be a factor.

I'll test out what heating it up does as you've suggested (it's about 1 degree C here today) and yep, I've got a couple of those hand warmers so I'll see if they can help.

If anyone else has any other ideas, I'd love to hear them.
 
Ok, so I tested out the camera on Monday afternoon. Straight out the bag (which was in the cold car) it would give Err 99 in depressing the shutter button.

I took the battery out and warmed it close to my body for about ten minutes. Re-inserting it, I got the same result. I then warmed the right-hand side of the camera (the side with the shutter buttons) and after a few minutes was able to begin shooting again.

It seems very strange that there could be anything in the camera other than the battery would react to the cold like that...
 
Things contract in the cold. Maybe a dodgy contact somewhere that gets broken as things contract. With surface mount tech and the tiny voltages and ampages involved, it dosn't take much of a gap to break the circuit. Unuseuall for a pro spec camera, but that's life I guess. Probably not worth repairing due to cost and the cheap ready supply of replacements. Got one myself sitting here doing nothing nowadays. Love it dispite its reputation.
 
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