topic Re: T3i not able to communicate with lens in EOS DSLR & Mirrorless Cameras

T3i not able to communicate with lens

romlein — Sat, 29 Oct 2016 16:41:25 GMT

My several-years-old T3i is unable to communicate with any lens I attatch to it. This problem started, then went away a week or so later, and now a week later is back. Lens won't autofocus, and aperture box reads "00" and can't be changed.

I've tried:

Firmware (up to date)
Resetting to factory defaults
Cleaning both lens and body contacts with alcohol and swab, and
(against a few recommendations) the rubber eraser trick.

No luck.

Re: T3i not able to communicate with lens

jrhoffman75 — Sat, 29 Oct 2016 18:26:09 GMT

Do you have access to a second lens? Could be camera or ribbon cable inside lens. Need to have a diffeent camera or lens to test which is malfunctioning.

Re: T3i not able to communicate with lens

romlein — Sat, 29 Oct 2016 19:40:27 GMT

Hi John,
Yeah I've tested it with three lenses now, so I'm fairly confident the problem is with the body.

Re: T3i not able to communicate with lens

ebiggs1 — Sun, 30 Oct 2016 06:46:10 GMT

You ned Canon service as your T3i is faulty. Maybe a good time to upgrade?

Re: T3i not able to communicate with lens

TTMartin — Sun, 30 Oct 2016 11:21:23 GMT

@romlein wrote:

(against [Canon's] recommendation) the rubber eraser [mistake].

Canon EOS Error Messages: An explanation and understanding

'Warning: do not clean lens contacts on either a Canon lens or the camera body with an eraser! It’s incredibly easy to rub off the gold plating on these contacts, and end up with data communication problems, even if that wasn’t the original source of the problem! It’s obviously a good idea to clean the contacts if a lens communication error is reported, but our strong recommendation is to use a soft, clean cloth, perhaps moistened with isopropyl alcohol if you feel the contacts are smudged with fingerprint oil or similar debris and really need a cleaning agent. Again, do not use anything abrasive, and to repeat: do not use an eraser!' ~ Canon

Re: T3i not able to communicate with lens

ebiggs1 — Sun, 30 Oct 2016 13:53:55 GMT

" It’s obviously a good idea to clean the contacts if a lens communication error is reported, ..."

I can't remember this ever working. Maybe it does but I have not seen it.