Canon 5d Mark 2 focusing problems

[akshar_yogi]

<p>This problem occurs frequently and is extremely embarassing and irritating: I press the shutter button half way to focus at a subject but the camera does not respond at all, the AF point does not light. Then after a minute or so it starts working again. This happens in manual or auto mode, with or without flash, and happens with different lenses. So it cannot be the lenses or flash unit that is causing the problem. ( also, when I press the FE/AE lock button, the asterix icon does not appear inside the camera display ). Pleas advise.</p>

[mark_pierlot]

<p>Could you, by any chance, be trying to focus the lenses closer than their minimum focusing distances?</p>

[akshar_yogi]

<p>No. The subject is about 3 to 4 feet away. I have L Series lenses : 24-105mm, 24-70mm, and 70-200mm. The problem occurs when I am using any of the lenses.<br>

Despite the temporary focusing problem, when I continue to press the shutter botton through, the camera DOES take the shot.</p>

 

[akshar_yogi]

<p>No. The subject is about 3 to 4 feet away. I have L Series lenses : 24-105mm, 24-70mm, and 70-200mm. The problem occurs when I am using any of the lenses.<br>

Despite the temporary focusing problem, when I continue to press the shutter botton through, the camera DOES take the shot.</p>

 

[peter_rowe]

<p >Akshar, this could be a lot of things from mirror lockup, to timers, to bad contrast, to Custom Functions, to a faulty camera. When you say "after a minute or so it starts to work again..." do you really mean a 60 seconds (is the timer set)? When you say it happens in Manual mode you mean the lens is in Manual Focus (not the Camera for Manual exposure)? In Manual Focus, even if the lens is not focused then it should take the shot. The FE/AE lock button does not show the "*" - has that button been reprogrammed to do something else? You might try resetting the camera, or have you tried removing the battery to see if that helps?</p>

[elliot1]

<p>Is it possibly you are playing back a photo or have a menu open when this is happening?</p>

[dan_south]

<p>Is the MF/AF switch on the lens set to AF or MF?</p>

<p>Are you shooting in low light? Does this happen with another object at a similar distance in bright sunlight? (AF can struggle in low light.)</p>

<p>Does the object have any creases, edges, of areas of changing contrast (light to dark), or is it one flat uniform surface? Try to focus on something with a definite edge.</p>

<p>Are you certain that the lenses are mounted properly?</p>

<p>3 to 4 feet is too probably too close for a 70-200 mm lens.</p>

[akshar_yogi]

<p>Hi Peter, 1. The timer is off. 2. I have cleared all the custom functions. 3. The camera is in "M" mode, the lens is in AF mode. 4. I have tried removing the battery and this problem still occurs.<br>

Hi Elliot, I am not playing back a photo or have a menu open. Even when you are playing back a photo or have a menu open, as soon as you press the shutter button this overrides and the camera is now in shooting mode.<br>

Hi Dan, 1. The MF/AF switch is set to AF ( auto focus ).<br>

2. Last time this happened was just yesterday when I was shooting in bright sunny conditions. It also happens indoors in good light.<br>

3. I try to focus on many different parts but the red AF point does not light, and there is no focus beep. I then continue to press the shutter button fully and take the shot. Then after a randon few seconds ( 3 to 10 seconds maybe ) I take another shot at something else it works perfectly, i.e. AF point lights, focus confirmation dot lights, and the beep comes on to confirm that the subject is focused.<br>

4. The lenses are definetely mounted properly because I have already taken out the lens and screwed it back on when this problem occured. I haved checked the contacts on both the lenses and the camera and they appear fine. The same problem occurs on different lenses so I don't think it's the lenses.<br>

5. 3 to 4 fet on 70-200mm lens is too close and you are right. However, when I do use the zoom lenses the distance is more than 6 feet. With wide angle lenses the problem occurs when the subject is between say 3-5 feet.<br>

I have gone through the manual and done everything to my knowledge but problem still occurs. Maybe the camera is faulty but the problem is intermittent and does not occur on every shot.</p>

<p> </p>

[mrmel]

<p>I have this problem with the 40D. I have no idea why it happens but I switch shooting mode and then back which gets the AF working again. Also even though I have it in AF mode I am still able to focus manually to keep things moving along. Good luck.</p>

[model mayhem gallery]

<p>This sounds like your camera is swithing to server mode because something moved inthe frame. I think if you set the camera to portrait and oneshot mode this will fix the problem. When the camera is in sports mode the red lights don't light up but will continue to adjust as teh object moves and will take the picture even though no focus confirmation has been made. In portrait or one shot mode the camera will not fire until a focus has been confirmed unless the lens is set to manual focus. I am not sure which but one of the drive modes will automatically make the decision which mode depending on movement in the frame. </p>

[ronnierenaldi]

<p>I got the same exact annoying problem with my 5D Mark II.<br>

I always shooting in Manual mode, definitely not caused by the lens.<br>

I shipped the camera to Canon in Irvine couple months ago but they said everything is OK.</p>

[akshar_yogi]

<p>In my view, Canon would say everything is o.k. because they did not test it properly.<br>

I have updated the firmware to ver 2.0.4, and now it seems to be o.k. Will post again if the problem occurs.</p>

[jon_stra]

I have exatctly the same AF focus problem as @akshar yogi. Even after having replaced the camera body for a complete

new model! Also I have the problem with various lenses. VERY annoying. Anyone knows how this can be solved?

[j_lee8]

<p>to M.P. </p>

<p>Thank you very much. I had this problem and didn't realise it was this silly mistake. I changed the focus mode back to "one shot" and my 17-40 and 50 f1.4 are working just fine with focus confirmation. <br>

I registered specifically to express my gratitude and let others be aware of this silly mistake.</p>