both canon lenses no longer auto focus?

[maineiacjay]

I have a Canon Rebel XSI and two kit lenses, an 18-55mm and 75-300mm. after about a year of use, the 75-300mm lense stopped auto focusing. a couple of years later, the 18-55mm lense also stopped auto-focusing. it was all of a sudden. i was using it and all was fine, and then it just stopped.

i do a lot of animal photography and portraits, so im pretty lost without auto-focus. does anyone know why these lenses would stop auto-focusing or even better, how to fix it? there are no actual camera shops around here so ive got nobody to ask for advice. id rather not have to buy new lenses since that would be expensive, but without these lenses, i cant use my camera and i dont want that to go to waste.

any help is appreciated.

 

[lambertpix]

One helpful bit of troubleshooting would be to pop those lenses on another camera body to be sure it's the lenses that are at issue. It might also be worth cleaning the contacts on the camera & lenses.

Both of these are fairly inexpensive lenses, though, so it's possible that the focus motors are just shot.

 

[maineiacjay]

i dont have another camera that uses the same lenses, so thats not possible. im working on getting a new, better camera, so i dont want to buy new lenses for a camera i wont use as often, but i do wish they worked so if i needed a backup, id have it.

ive cleaned the contacts on both lenses and the camera and also tried adjusting the setting in the camera to no avail. i can hear it trying to focus inside the lense but it doesnt actually move anything. contact points are lined up and click into place on the smaller lense, but not the larger one. i cant remember if it ever "clicked."

however, if i set it to auto focus and turn the focus to the right (out of focus), it DOES focus back correctly. but if i turn it to the left (out of focus), it wont focus.

i just wish i got more than a few years out of the lenses.

 

[TipTop]

Try putting one of your lens on MF and then try twisting the focus ring at the very end to the lens to see if it was just stuck. This might free it up to then continue to auto focus. Hope you get it sorted.

 

[wyogirl]

Just an FYI:
If you have your lens set to AF, then don't mess with the focus ring. You can damage the focus motor by doing that. Only use the focus ring when the lens is set to MF.

 

[TipTop]

Just an FYI: If you have your lens set to AF, then don't mess with the focus ring. You can damage the focus motor by doing that. Only use the focus ring when the lens is set to MF.

Absolutely, make sure you switch the lens to Manual Focus first.

 

[maineiacjay]

ive tried switching it to manual focus and when i am shooting something that isnt moving, thats what i have to do. i moved the ring in auto focus once just to see if it would do anything and it did. like i said, if i moved it right and pressed the button half way down, the focus turned itself correctly and the photo was focused, so that tells me that it can focus and that it is not stuck, but i cant figure out why it wont work otherwise. but if i moved it to the left, it wouldnt go back to focus. so maybe whatever is needed to pull the focus to the right no longer works? i dont know the inner workings of the lens, so i dont know if that can be the problem or not, but thats all i can think of. i cleaned the contacts again and they are spotless. i think im just going to have to work a bit harder to get the camera i want a bit sooner than expected. sigh. thank you for the help

 

[Big Mike]

Canon U.S.A., Inc.
Factory Service Center
100 Jamesburg Road
Jamesburg, New Jersey 08831
Tel: (732) 521-7007

Sounds like you need to contact these guys.

 

[Overread]

Which camera are you thinking of getting?

Also make sure you've not got any focus limiter switches enabled on either lens which might stop the AF from engaging. Otherwise it sounds like the motors are damaged or the internal cogs might be worn causing it to not get a proper start up.