Autofocus not working. (18-55mm lens)

[marcosochoa]

Hello,

The autofocus on my Canon 18-55mm is malfunctioning and I'm afraid it may be broken.

All the internet research I've done points to issues electronic, but I believe this to be mechanical simply because of the noise it makes. With the lens set to AF, it does nothing, but makes a slight whirring sounds as if the camera is trying to, but can't focus the lens. In MF, turning the focus ring makes soft clicking sounds.

The autofocus works fine on the other lens I have.

The lens has not been dropped. I take really, REALY good care of my stuff!  Any other recommendations or bits of advice are much appreciated!

[Waddizzle]

The best course of action over the long run just might turn to be buying a new lens.  

How old is the lens?  Is it a newer “STM” version of the 18-55mm lens family?  Before you took it apart, did it make a noise when you shake it?

Have you reassembled the lens, and does the problem persist?  Did you find the post early in this thread by Canon Product Expert Julius?  Julius describes a technique of twisting the lens, which re-aligns the focusing motors without taking it apart.  But, his solution only works for the older “non-STM” versions of the lens.

The basic problem seems to be that people might be turning the focusing ring, instead of the zoom ring.  On the older lens designs, this can cause the focusing motors to become misaligned, and stuck in one position.

[mc4]

My lens was bought in second hand a few years ago, but it worked well till now and it did not make any noise shaking it...

I reassemble the lens and the problem is the same, autofocus only in one direction and I think t is a non STM version, maybe an older one.

As I described it is not a problem of re-align the motor with the lens as it works well in one direction, retracting the lens, but not extending it.

Thanks

[Roi-canon]

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@mc4 wrote:

Hi,

I have the same problem, a Canon EFS 18-55 IS lens and the autofocus does not work correctly, but in my case only in one way. It retracts but does not extend. If I extend manually the lens, the autofocus retracts it till in focus, but if I retract it manually it does not extend till in focus, I can ear and feel something but no movement...

I disassemble the lens, took out the autofocus motor and with a 1.5v battery I managed to verify that the autofocus motor and the gears work well in one direction and in the other, so it seems that it is not a problem with this autofocus motor, don't you think?

If it is not that the problem what could it be?

I tried my camera (EOS 50D) wih other Canon lenses and all work well, so it is not a camera problem..

Thanks for any help.

Mike

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Hi Mike,

I have exctly the same problem with my Canon EFS 18-55 IS II lens, and at least two other pepole in this post describe exctly the same problem.
I could not find any explenation online on how to solve this problem.
I opened the lens to check the gears and they look fine.

Does anyone have any other suggestions on what can cause this problem and how to fix it?

Thanks for helping

[finmccoll]

honestly thank you so much my camera now works perfectly i was getting so worried!

[Amrutter]

Thank you! Tried a couple things with no luck. Did this and it fixed it instantly!

[a_villasanta]

I have an 18-55 IS II. It won't autofocus at all. I can't hear the gears running, as if the lens doesn't know that it's on autofocus mode. I've also tried this on the 55-250, and the 50mm f1.8, but those lenses are able to autofocus well. I've opened my lens and checked the gears, but all the gears seem to be well in place. No gears have missing teeth.

[RobertTheFat]

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@a_villasanta wrote:

I have an 18-55 IS II. It won't autofocus at all. I can't hear the gears running, as if the lens doesn't know that it's on autofocus mode. I've also tried this on the 55-250, and the 50mm f1.8, but those lenses are able to autofocus well. I've opened my lens and checked the gears, but all the gears seem to be well in place. No gears have missing teeth.

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I don't mean to insult you; but because you're new to the forum, I have to ask: Are you sure the lens itself (not just the camera) is set to AF mode? It's a fairly common mistake that we've seen newbies make.

BTW, opening up a lens is not a smart idea unless you really know what you're doing.

[a_villasanta]

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@RobertTheFat wrote:

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@a_villasanta wrote:

I have an 18-55 IS II. It won't autofocus at all. I can't hear the gears running, as if the lens doesn't know that it's on autofocus mode. I've also tried this on the 55-250, and the 50mm f1.8, but those lenses are able to autofocus well. I've opened my lens and checked the gears, but all the gears seem to be well in place. No gears have missing teeth.

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I don't mean to insult you; but because you're new to the forum, I have to ask: Are you sure the lens itself (not just the camera) is set to AF mode? It's a fairly common mistake that we've seen newbies make.

BTW, opening up a lens is not a smart idea unless you really know what you're doing.

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Yep, both the lens and camera are set to AF.

I actually have development on this, the AF works if I do the following sequence:
1. Set the lens to Manual Focus

2. Set the focus ring to the farthest it can go

3. Switch it back to AF

4. Half press the shutter

The focus ring can retract, but not extend, when I have the lens on AF. 

[RobertTheFat]

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@a_villasanta wrote:

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@RobertTheFat wrote:

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@a_villasanta wrote:

I have an 18-55 IS II. It won't autofocus at all. I can't hear the gears running, as if the lens doesn't know that it's on autofocus mode. I've also tried this on the 55-250, and the 50mm f1.8, but those lenses are able to autofocus well. I've opened my lens and checked the gears, but all the gears seem to be well in place. No gears have missing teeth.

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I don't mean to insult you; but because you're new to the forum, I have to ask: Are you sure the lens itself (not just the camera) is set to AF mode? It's a fairly common mistake that we've seen newbies make.

BTW, opening up a lens is not a smart idea unless you really know what you're doing.

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Yep, both the lens and camera are set to AF.

I actually have development on this, the AF works if I do the following sequence:
1. Set the lens to Manual Focus

2. Set the focus ring to the farthest it can go

3. Switch it back to AF

4. Half press the shutter

The focus ring can retract, but not extend, when I have the lens on AF. 

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That usually means that someone has tried to manually focus the lens while it was in autofocus mode. Most versions of the 18-55 don't like to be treated that way, and the AF mechanism can get jammed. Try Ernie Biggs's suggestion; it's the approved method of trying to un-jam the lens. If that doesn't work, you may have to write it off. The low-end lenses usually aren't worth professional repair.