Oops newbie concerned damaged my lens

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Herethere

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I have a Canon Eos 500d with the kit IS lens. I was adjusting the autofocus ring on the front...however I think it was on autofocus and so should have been doing this itself. I think it was on the Manual settings (on camera) and I have been doing this manual adjustment for past few weeks since I got it...the lens was on AF (autofocus).

Please help! Have I damaged my new camera?
 
Herethere said:
I have a Canon Eos 500d with the kit IS lens. I was adjusting the autofocus ring on the front...however I think it was on autofocus and so should have been doing this itself. I think it was on the Manual settings (on camera) and I have been doing this manual adjustment for past few weeks since I got it...the lens was on AF (autofocus).

Please help! Have I damaged my new camera?
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this is nothing more than a free bump, since i use Nikon, but my d90 has an af/m selector on the body as well as the lens (well those with the inbuilt motor)

cheers.
 
Probably not, but to check properly which lens is it?
 
The kit lens does have a switch on the body for AF or MF. You can turn the focus while in AF but there is a little bit of resistance and normally when you half press the shutter it will refocus anyway. If you have the switch in MF the end turns easier. I can't see it damaging the focus mechanism turning it while in AF unless your heavy handed and try to move it too quick.

AF is controlled by the lens not the camera so you can't have it enabled on the lens and the body say MF unless its broken. See what happens when you change the switch from AF to MF the screen should change showing MF on it. Also down the viewfinder in MF the red lights don't come on but in AF which ever point you have set will light up when it achieves focus.
 
Thanks. Sounds like its ok then. Phew. However whatever setting I had on camera was not autofocusing it hence why I was focusing it myself even though it was on ad on the lens. Don't understand all of the camera settings yet
 
I think there is some ambiguity in the original post mixing up manual focus and manual settings. As long as the lens has full-time manual focus (such as the EF-S 15-85) you can adjust the focus manually even if it is set to autofocus as John mentioned.
 
Yes I think I am confused. Manual settings on camera (i think) and auto focus on lens. But lens was not focusing even though af on so I was adjusting it myself
 
Canon bodies dont have focus motors, so it would be impossible to break the camera, but you have chewed the gears in the lens. Some lenses have full time manual overide, meaning you can manually adjust the focus at any time, other dont, meaning you need to disengage the AF motor to safely manualy focus.
You said that the lens wasnt focusing, so either the lens is already broken, or you have the lens set to M.
 
Canon do emphasise that the manual focus ring shouldn't be moved by hand when set to autofocus, this could result in damage to the lens gearing.
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I am really confused. Whatever setting on camera the lens was not focussing. Af was on. I changed settings today on camera and it was auto focusing and when on mf on it was looser to focus myself with lens. So maybe lens is damaged? Oh know
 
Herethere said:
I am really confused. Whatever setting on camera the lens was not focussing. Af was on. I changed settings today on camera and it was auto focusing and when on mf on it was looser to focus myself with lens. So maybe lens is damaged? Oh know
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This sounds just like it should be, no problem.

When AF is engaged, with the kit lens (and a few others without full time manual focus override) you're not supposed to try and focus the lens manually. You should turn the AF off. You can do it, but there's resistance as you're shifting the whole mechanism in a way that it's not supposed to be shifted. Normally not a problem, but if you're heavy handed and force it around fast, you can cause damage.

Bottom line is that if it still auto focuses normally, and the ring turns nice and easy when the AF is off - which is what it sounds like - then no worries.
 
You're confused !!?? :)

On many (especially non L lenses I think) lenses if the AF option on the lens is selected it will focus when the shutter button is half depressed and be stiff if you try and turn the lens manually

If the M option is selected the lens will turn easily but will not focus when you half depress the shutter button as you have opted to focus manually (useful when shooting through fences or twigs, stems of grass etc).

Read the paperwork that comes with your lens (or give its details as someone here will know) to see whether you should change to M to manually change it or not.

Does this help/
 
The lens is 18 - 55 IS lens from Canon. What confuses me is that ad was on, on lens but not focussing.
 
What are you aiming the lens at, if its too close, it wont focus. make sure any switches on the lens are set to AF. Just for the purpose of this, set the camera to an auto mode.
Go outside and focus on something at the end of the garden. Does the lens focus?

Has the lens ever autofocused since youve had it?
 
It has focussed - it did it today which is when I was worried I was moving ringy. If its damaged its just the lens not the camera isn't it? Only got it 3 weeks ago from Amazon. Thanks
 
As I said, there is no physical mechanical connection bewteen the lens and the camera, so you cant break the camera by misusing the lens.

If its not autofocusing at all, or unreliably, then I'd contact amazon about a replacement.
 
Hi

How are you trying to use focus? Are you using Liveview - face detect or back button, or simply looking through the viewfinder?


Can you hear/see the lens trying to autofocus? Assuming its AF thats on and not IS thats selected - the lens should attempt to focus, unless its closer than the minimum focus distance 0.28m/0.8ft it wont focus at all. You will however still here the focus motor attempting it.

Also the little red dots in the diamond shape, through the view finder are focus points - could you have the wrong point selected?


Andy
 
Using LiveView mostly. Had a look, it does focus. However not sure it does all the time so may be faulty

Think I may have been too close - have I done much damage to the lens? If so then I should ask for a replacement. Amazon out of stock so cant get another at the moment. I havent used it much, so maybe it will be ok???
 
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If it autofocuses ok it's fine. Lenses have a minimum focusing distance so it won't af objects too close for it (and you can't manually focus either). That's what macro lenses are for.
 
Probably be ok, get out of live view and try it properly. If it works ok then, it should be fine.
 
Cheeky b**gger, you may have chewed the gears a bit, but if I have I want a replacement.
 
If using Liveview the backbutton focuses it, the astericks '*'.

You'll see the white rectangular focus box turn green when focus is achieved. If you want to focus somewhere other than the centre of the image you can move that rectangle around using the 4 direction buttons that surround the Set button.

Its not recommended to turn the focus whilst still in AF, as mentioned earlier the gearing can be worn or chewed. Ive turned mine a few times by accident and its still ok.

You may have to return the full kit and be without the camera aswell. Personally I would keep it as it was user error/learning curve :-) however if it was indeed faulty (which seems not to be the case) I would return it without hesitation!


Andy
 
Herethere said:
Thanks everyone - great help. I THINK its focusing, (auto focusing) - I can see the front ring move a little when taking pics which I guess means its working
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Yep, thats what it does, although if you focus on something close (not too close tho) and then further away, you should see the lens ring turn through its entire fosuc range.
 
Herethere said:
Right NO the AF is not working...on AF now, pictures blurred
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That doesnt mean the AF isnt working, that could be due to wrong shutter speed or several other varibles.
 
Charlene,

Maybe try stepping back to the basics first to test. I often do this lol, in everything from networking, IT, cars and photography...

Put the camera in auto and let the flash come up. Now for this test use the viewfinder and take a picture, something patterned preferrably so you can see distinct lines or sharpness.

Obviously ensure AF is on, and maybe IS to ensure blur potential is reduced via camera shake. Ideally take is shot a in bright room as as the autofocus will struggle in dark although the flash will assist. Oh and don't be within 0.25m of the item in focus!!

When you press the shutter the AF Points in the viewfinder will glow RED, this is the point that should be in focus when you press the shutter completely. Also to the bottom, extreme right of the viewfinder a GREEN DOT will confirm focus acheived when it goes solid green and stops blinking.
 
Thanks for the replies...was playing around taking a few pics of the house (inside) and it will not focus. Occasionally will auto focus but most of the time the green light in viewfinder flashing...I think it may well be faulty (this was in full auto setting)
 
Herethere said:
Thanks for the replies...was playing around taking a few pics of the house (inside) and it will not focus. Occasionally will auto focus but most of the time the green light in viewfinder flashing...I think it may well be faulty (this was in full auto setting)
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Probably not enough light / contrast to attain focus lock
 
Try it tomorrow, outside in good light. Its far too dark inside for a lens like to always focus correctly.
 
Well the lens does appear to be autofocusing, so does this mean that the lens is probably ok? Will know not to focus the focus ring when it Auto Focus now - bit concerned about long term damage to the lens?
 
The main problem appears to be in full auto mode. It does not like to focus on anything really - whats your like in Full auto mode John?
 
In full auto mode (green rectangle) you can't select anything other than manual or auto focus on the lens, If you leave it in AF it will automatically select the focus point usually by the brightest item in the frame or what it thinks the subject of the image. Sometimes it will be a single focus point others there will be a few of them that light up. The focus point lights flash very quickly when it gains focus and you then press the shutter.
 
In Full auto mode it flashes and I see the AF points in the viewfinder but it wont actually take the picture - just keeps flashing a few times (its trying to focus, but it wont actually take the picture)
 
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