my eos 500D wont take photos unless set to manual, and AI set to servo.. help!

[hannahlily]

hi all. my camera wont take pics any more in automatic mode, or in manual mode unless i have the AI set to servo. it will still shoot video, and take pics from within that mode. the problem is the same with all lenses. does anyone have any ideas??

[ebiggs1]

You tried all the simple stuff?   New battery, reset the camera, different lenses, made sure the lens are in AF, etc?

That is not a good sign. 

If you did, have a shop look at it.

[hannahlily]

thank you very very much for your reply, i greatly appreciate it 🙂

[TCampbell · Accepted solution]

Assuming you are testing in nice bright lighting, this is likely a lens failure, but there is a bit more testing needed to be sure.  When the camera is in "One Shot" mode (not "AI Servo" mode) the camera also uses something called "Focus Priority".  This means that when you press the shutter button to take the shot, the "priority" is on guaranteeing that the camera was focused BEFORE it will allow the camera to take the shot.  If you switch to "AI Servo" mode, the camera switches to something called "Release Priority" (more popular with sports and action).  Release priority says that when you fully press the shutter button... the most important thing is that the camera take the photo "right now" (whether the camera had time to focus or not.)

Again... you must have adequate light to test (outside on a bright day... that's great.)  Don't test it in dark situations -- especially on low-contrast subjects.

Please switch the camera to "live view" mode, with lens set to auto-focus (AF/MF switch set to the AF position). 

Does it focus and take a picture?

The reason I ask is because your camera actually has two independent auto-focus systems.  It uses one in normal mode (looking through the viewfinder to frame up the shot) and another in "liveview" mode (when you use the LCD screen on the back to frame up the shot.).

It is extremely unlikely that both focus systems could fail (because they are independent of each other.  The camera uses one or the other... never both at the same time.)  If the camera cannot focus with EITHER of these two focus methods, then the problem is more likely to be the lens.

The camera sends signals to the lens via the electronic contacts you see on the back of the lens.  But the motors are actually inside the lens itself.  If the lens electronics or motor has failed then the lens will refuse to focus and since you're in "One Shot" mode with "Focus Priority" active, the camera will refuse to take the shot because it cannot lock focus.  BTW... if you switch the lens to "MF" position, the camera will take the shot anyway because the camera is no longer trying to focus.

If you have more than one lens... try using a different lens.

[hannahlily]

wow, thank you so much!! after using this systematic method, trying the settings as you suggested, it seems the camera is fine, and the problem is just with that one lens. that is AWESOME!! i honestly cannot say thank you enough!! i think my camera might also need a good clean.. or the lens contacts.. as i was still sometimes getting a message 'communication between the camera and lens is faulty'.. so im now off to search the forums re how to do that 🙂 again,thank you for the thorough reply, i hope you have a brilliant day, you just totally made mine!!! cheers, Hannah