Autofocus problem with EFS 18-55mm lens

[etadams]

Hi! I'm hoping someone can help me make some sense of this problem I am having with my camera. I use a EOS Rebel T5 with an 18-55mm lens and a 75-300mm lens for work. In the last week I have noticed the autofous when using the 18-55mm, works sparatically. NOTE* The 75-300mm lens has zero issues! Some back story on my work with the camera:

The camera is 3 years old and has been used consistently. I use the camera 5 days a week, and on average, I take about 800 pictures a day. Sometimes it can upwards of 1,000 in just one day. The primary lens used is the 18-55mm one. I photograph dogs and they are constantly moving, so autofocus is crucial. 

Okay, back to the problem. One moment I'll have the camera ready to go and it's snapping pictures, and then I turn and it goes silent and stops focusing/taking pictures at all. It won't make a sound or anything, it just stops working. Sometimes I can get it to focus again, by changing the subject matter to a pattern or an inanimate object. Then, sometimes I am able to turn back to the dogs and try to get a few pictures. Other times when it stops working, I'll have to turn the camera off an on again to try to get it to work. I have cleaned it, tried a method I saw on here where you gently pull the focus ring a little bit, but I've had no luck. I can't seem to narrow down why it doesn't work one minute and I'll literally turn around and it'll work again. I can't find a common factor with the issue. 

Can the autofocus stop working after constant use? Would it be worth it to take it to a camera shop to be looked at? Thanks in advance!!

[Waddizzle]

You didn't state the full model number of the 18-55mm lens [Canon has made a few versions over the years for Rebel camera kits], but it sounds like you have two of the standard kit lenses.  The 18-55mm lens that came win camera kits with the T5 were very good starter lenses, neither of which were known for exceptional image quality.  

Given sufficient light, camera kit lenses can capture images that far excel any photos taken by a cell phone or point & shoot cameras.  However, camera kit lenses are not very well built.  If you have been taking hundreds of pictures per week for three years, then it is likely the lens has passed itself useful life expectancy.

The cost to repair most of Canon's 18-55mm camera kit lenses exceed the cost to buy a new one by at least a factor of to or three, including shipping, insurance, and taxes.  I would suggest buying a new lens.  The latest version of the lens is the EF-S 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 IS STM lens.  Notice the "STM" at the end of the full model number.  The "STM" lenses use Canon's latest auto focusing motor technology, which is much faster and more accurate than your current 18-55mm lens.

The failure of your lens is a likely foreshadowing of problems with the camera body in the near future.  Then again, maybe not.   Like the lens, the T5 is not built for the rigors and demands of professional use.  It's shutter is only rated for about 50,000 operations, I believe.

[ebiggs1]

"The camera is 3 years old ... I use the camera 5 days a week, and on average, I take about 800 pictures. ...in just one day"

You are one lucky fellow!  That  is well over half a million shots for a camera that has a life span estimated at 75,000.  I'd say it it time to retire that work horse and get a new outfit.  Anything that is as important as it has been, needs to be totally reliable.

Go get a new Rebel T6i kit or even the newest T7i.