What to do When Canon Lens AutoFocus is not Working!

What to do When Canon Lens AutoFocus is not Working!
Arif H Fahim

Are you also facing problems with Canon lens Autofocus?

To be honest with you, it’s usual for Canon lens having issues with the Autofocus feature and many users have already complained about the Autofocus. So you were not alone in having these problems.

Now, what do you do when your Canon lens Autofocus is not working at all? How can you fix your lens’ Autofocus? What will be the cost of fixing them? Why is your Canon 18-55mm lens Autofocus not working?

We will answer all of these questions right here. You just have to stick with us until the very end to get the answers. Now, let’s move to the main content, shall we?

What to do When Canon Lens AutoFocus is not Working!

What is Autofocus?

Although most of you may know this already, still let us briefly give you an insight into Autofocus.

Autofocus is a feature that allows you to make sure that the object or person you are taking picture of is sharp within the photo. Most shoot cameras have this feature built-in that you cannot disable, whereas DSLR cameras and mirrorless cameras give you the obligation to disable them anytime you want.

Why is Autofocus not working on Canon lens?

There are several problems we face when the Autofocus is not working. Normally, it works by measuring the distance between the camera and the object by reflecting a red beam. Now, let’s see what are the reasons that will cause Autofocus to have issues.

1. Camera and lens not being compatible

For the starter, we got the camera and the lens not being compatible. If the camera and the lens aren’t tuned up, the Autofocus won’t work either and you will get blurry images. Although you can turn off the AF in DSLR cameras.

2. Dirty camera lens and contact

Next up is a dirty lens or dirty camera contract. It’s common that your AF is not working when your camera lens and contracts are blurry themselves. It interrupts the AF to measure the distance and focus on the object.

3. Dirty Autofocus sensor

Sometimes, the AF sensor can get dirty. Although an AF sensor is built inside the camera. So, it’s rare to have issues with the Autofocus sensor. When you don’t clean your camera for a very long time, the inside of your camera also gets a bit dusty.

4. Not activating the Autofocus

It’s not always the camera’s fault that the AF isn’t working. We often make mistakes and think that it’s the camera. One of the most embarrassing mistakes is not even enabling the Autofocus mode or selecting a different focusing mode.

5. Taking pictures from close range

The feature is at its full potential when you use it for taking pictures from afar. But when it comes to taking pictures from a close angle, the AF feature might not work well.

6. Interruptions of the obstacles

And if there are obstacles in front of the object you are focusing on, the Autofocus won’t be able to work with all of those. It can only focus on only one object at a time.

So, these were the reasons why this feature won’t work in your Canon camera, now let’s see how can you fix them.

How do I fix my Canon lens that won’t focus?

Now you already know why your AF won’t work. But do you know how to fix them? Well, if you don’t, no need to worry because we will be guiding you on how to fix an errored Autofocus.

1. Cleaning the entire camera

The first one would be cleaning up your whole camera. As you know, dirty camera lenses or contacts and dirty AF sensors are one of the major reasons why your camera won’t focus anymore. So, clean them thoroughly in order to make sure the dirty lenses and sensors aren’t the ones causing the error.

2. Enabling the Autofocus mode

This one is a bit tricky. You have to check whether the Autofocus is on or not. For that, you need to check Custom Function Setting. You have to make sure that your camera has enabled AE lock/AF.

3. Switching to Manual Focus

You can also try switching to Manual Focus and then switching back to Autofocus again. Even though this method is not as effective as the other ones, it is worth trying.

4. Try zooming on one object

When your AF is detecting many objects at the same time, try to zoom it onto the object you are taking the picture of. That’s not the fault of either yours or the camera’s if it’s focusing on multiple objects at the same time.

5. Increase the distance

And if your Autofocus is not working well with closer distances, then try increasing the distance between you and the object for zoom in to make the feature work.

Well, that was all about how you can fix the problems regarding Canon lens Autofocus not working. But when you try to maintain it with the help of a professional camera repairer, how much will it cost you.

How much does the Canon lens Autofocus repair cost?

The cost will vary from lens to lens. It means the cost of Autofocus repair will depend on the lenses.

Normally, it will only cost you about 10 US dollars, but when you try to repair a 50mm F1.8, it will nearly cost you 20 US dollars.

People tend to complain: Why is my Canon EFS 18-55mm lens Autofocus not working? Or why is not my Canon 50mm lens Autofocus not working?

It doesn’t matter if you are using an expensive lens or a cheaper one, lenses’ AF might have issues once in a lifetime of theirs. The only thing that matters is that an EFS 18-55mm lens will cost your more than a 50 mm lens and you have to bear with it.

Conclusion

DSLR cameras have an option to let you disable the Autofocus feature. But many shoot cameras won’t give you the pleasure.

So, if you own a camera that has the AF always on, then you have to fix the problem all by yourself. Although, most people use DSLR Canon cameras now. So, that wouldn’t be a problem for you, but if it does matter, you know how to fix them.

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What to do When Canon Lens AutoFocus is not Working!

Arif H Fahim

I, Arif H Fahim is a proud camera enthusiast, come with CameraGuider. Here, I write detailed reviews about different camera gears including cameras, lenses, flashes, and tripods.