Beginner Canon 350d autofocus/focus confirm problem

stinkypu

stinkypu

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Christopher
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Hi Guys,

While hunting on ebay i found a 350d listed with an autofocus problem, as im using old manual lenses this isnt a problem for me.

I have the 300d and bought an adapter from pentax to eos with an af confirm chip which works well i get the focus confirm beep and dot in the viewfinder to confirm,

on to the 350d ... no such luck no focus confirm and obviously no af as listed .

On to google the three things i found were
1)theres a small plastic part that wears away and needs replaced,
2)the spring in the af-mirror has become bent / displaced or
3)the mirror needs adjusted via the 1.3 mm allen key behind the mirror.

The main issue with the auto-focus is that when using an ef lens the focus whirrs out then in but never stops at a point in focus (its nowhere near close)and the focus lock doesnt confirm , having tested everything that could be related to the lens and amount of light needed to focus with the 300d it narrows everything down to the 350d itself.

Has anyone any idea of how to go about fixing it? if its the first one is it an easy enough thing to replace?(I've some experience dismantling and soldering..... reassembling is another matter ;) ) Or if it needs someone with a bit of expertise what kind of cost range would it be? as the camera only cost £20 its not really economical to fix for a big amount and all im really missing is the focus beep lol although it would be nice to learn about the ai servo mode if i could get it working,

For option 2 i've looked through the mirror with a light and it looks to be in the right place i can see the a/f in the small a/f mirror if it was out of place surely i wouldnt see those clearly right?

Option 3 I've no allen key that small but have orderd one just to see if its possible that it might only need a small fix

Your reward for reading all this A Swan :D


october 175 by stinkypu on Talk Photography
 
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I can only help with one point (2). There is a spring on the right hand side of the mirror as here


Canon_EOS_350D_Intern_1.JPG


This can pop out when cleaning and is a 5min job to replace - you will be able to check that the spring is there and if you can see its arm(s) then it might have come halfway out.
 
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Hi Jason thanks for the reply, I had a check and this spring seems fine.

Its the little mirror behind the main mirror that reflects on to the af sensor that may be the problem.

If you still have a 350d you can see the little mirror if you slowly push up the main mirror (apologies if im calling things by the wrong name) it folds up neatly underneath as the mirror goes up.

Saying i was having a nosy in there i gave the small mirror a little clean as there was a few bits of dust and fluff but werent the cause and dint make things any better or worse lol.

The allen key was posted today so hopefully i'll have that tomorrow and be able to see if that sorts it at all if not i'll have to try the small plastic piece that can be replaced with a metal bit.

The only other thing i seen was that canon were able to recalibrate cameras (mentioned through the hotshoe) is this another option possibly and is it only canon who would offer this(im still keeping in mind whats economical on a cheap camera) wasting a few £ is ok but anything else i might as well put it towards another bargain hunt :)
 
Hi Peter, you have to turn on the beep in the menu settings(i just checked its the third option on page one) then when your focused the red dot in the af grid lights up with what point is focused and a beep sounds.

At least thats how the 300d works for sure... saying the af doesnt work i cant be certain about the 350d ;)
 
I received the allen key today but it didnt cure the problem . It looks like its the awkward option :(
 
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