topic Re: 18-135 USM Focus Ring Not Working in EF & RF Lenses

18-135 USM Focus Ring Not Working

Mike_Brooks14 — Mon, 08 Oct 2018 14:46:09 GMT

Hey guys, I've had this lens since August and it's been pretty decent. I went out to shoot the stars last night and when I got everything setup, I switched to manual focus to get the stars in focus. I began to turn the focus ring and nothing happened. I fiddled with it for about 20 minutes and had no luck. My autofocus worked fine, but manual focus would not adjust anything. I tried turning the camera off, took the lens off andreatttached, tried to manually adjusting around mode. No luck. Any ideas as to why this just quit working all the sudden?

Re: 18-135 USM Focus Ring Not Working

kvbarkley — Mon, 08 Oct 2018 15:21:02 GMT

It is a focus by wire system, so it appears that something is broken inside.

Sometimes it seems that it takes a while to wake up the focus system, in other words, it might take a few turns to get any movement at all. Did you try that?

Are you trying when the camera is in focus/exposure mode just after you half press the shutter button?

Re: 18-135 USM Focus Ring Not Working

Mike_Brooks14 — Mon, 08 Oct 2018 15:26:49 GMT

I tried everything I could think of for about 20 minutes to no avail. I thought the STM was the only lens that required the half press, but I did try that too for good measure. I’m not sure what could’ve happened here, but it seems really strange for a lens that’s only a couple of months old. The other strange thing is that the auto focus works fine...but when I switch to manual, I can turn the focus ring but nothing happens. I tried through the viewfinder and in live view with no luck. It worked fine less than a week ago too and has been kept in a camera bag in the meantime.

Re: 18-135 USM Focus Ring Not Working

kvbarkley — Mon, 08 Oct 2018 16:26:51 GMT

If it is only a few months old, call Canon and send it back. It appears that the encoder is broken.

Re: 18-135 USM Focus Ring Not Working

Mike_Brooks14 — Mon, 08 Oct 2018 16:28:09 GMT

Good deal. Thanks.

Re: 18-135 USM Focus Ring Not Working

RobertTheFat — Fri, 12 Oct 2018 13:10:15 GMT

@kvbarkley wrote:
If it is only a few months old, call Canon and send it back. It appears that the encoder is broken.

Like the OP, I thought that only STM lenses were focus-by-wire in manual mode. Is that not the case?

Re: 18-135 USM Focus Ring Not Working

Mike_Brooks14 — Fri, 12 Oct 2018 13:22:21 GMT

This is the newer nanoUSM version of their 18-135mm. Here’s a link to the exact lense. It does still use some of the STM technology.

https://shop.usa.canon.com/shop/en/catalog/ef-s-18-135mm-f-35-56-is-usm?utm_source=google&utm_medium=Product_Search&utm_campaign=Google_Product_Feed&cm_mmc=GA-_-ef_s_18_135mm_f_35_56_is_usm-_-G_Canon_Product+Listing+Ads-_-38818&gclid=CjwKCAjwjIHeBRAnEiwAhYT2hwjCydbASFiXzi9zO__RlwSkaL_Gkx15ipXDAlgo3wsPmXitYS2JnRoCYzsQAvD_BwE

Re: 18-135 USM Focus Ring Not Working

donpierson3 — Thu, 24 Sep 2020 18:08:14 GMT

I had the same problem with my 18-135 IS STM. The lens acted like it was still in AF when I switched the button from AF to M. I changed AF methods in the menu from FlexiZone to Quick Mode, and the problem went away. Oddly, when I then switched back to FlexiZone the lens continued to work in both manual and auto focus.

Re: 18-135 USM Focus Ring Not Working

Pennington — Sat, 30 Jul 2022 19:56:00 GMT

The switch on the side of my 24-105 lens is focus/control. Manual focus does not work with either.

Re: 18-135 USM Focus Ring Not Working

ebiggs1 — Sun, 31 Jul 2022 16:17:52 GMT

This is a very old thread. You might want to start yourself a new one that addresses your concern.

Re: 18-135 USM Focus Ring Not Working

DenWa — Tue, 15 Nov 2022 21:07:07 GMT

I grabbed my 135 f2 L lens and manual and auto just quit working! No explanation why. My favorite lens!

I sent it in and the wanted $600 to repair it. OMG. I have a 100mm f2.8 that just the auto focus quit working. They want $325 to repair it. What is going on with canon lenses???