20D and Autofocus

[trustwoody]

I was shooting today and the autofocus just quit working then later it came back. It may be that I was outside and I live in Minnesota so it was a bit chilly but I have had some other issues with AF when the lens just looks but never finds something to focus on. Actually the whole camera locked up for a while today. I had to remove the battery to get it to turn off. Then when I reinstalled the battery everything worked again. I was shooting at a family members funeral at the graveside service and I got the camera back just as one family members released a white dove and I was fortunate enough to get a good shot of it flying away. But I am hoping that I can find out what made the focus lock up. Any ideas that would help me?

Thank you.

T

[CyberDyneSystems]

How old is your 20D?

Make sure you have the latest frimware.
You can find a link to Canon's firmware page in the "EOS Sticky" thread at the top of this forum. The earliest formware versions for the 20D had occasional lockups like you describe.

It could be the cold as well,. it can literally drain the battery to near dead on the spot when it gets too cold.

[scottbergerphoto]

Have you checked the AF/MF switch on the lens and made sure the lens contacts are OK?
If it's a 70-200 2.8 IS, it could be a bad IS mechanism.
Scott

[trustwoody]

The camera is about 3 or 4 months old. Not many clicks (a few hundred maybe). The lens is a kit lens 18-55. I just did an update to the firmware which was 1.0.5 or something. I now have the latest version. I have not taken it out and done much more with it since the update. I read the EOS sticky thing about best Custom Function settings and I will try to begin to apply some of those settings which apply to AF and try to work more on those skills and getting the camera to focus as I want it to. I did miss some shots the other day and that is a bummer. I just want to learn what is operator error and what is a problem with camera and how either can be corrected. It seems like I have read other posts about the AF sticking on the 20D. Thanks again for your reply.

[musthavemuzk]

where abouts in MN are ya?
i am way up north in Thief River Falls

Monty

[Sheermadness]

Hi, Trustwoody. Did the firmware update seem to help the focus problem. I have a 20d, one of the first out and haven't updated yet. I've had the focus lock up maybe 3 or 4 times even though all other functions seem to work. Now it seems to have quit for good. I've tried removing and reinstalling the batteries, changing lenses, checking settings, etc. Nothing seems to be able to get it moving again. The camera store is suggesting we send it in to Canon. I sure hate to part with it if there is a simple fix. Any help out there?
Meredith

[johneric8]

If you focus with the center af spot make sure that the af point is lit up red in center. I have had a problems simialar that were my fault because I had the af point lit up off center. So the camera was focusing on a white wall in low light instead of my subject. Needless to say, it didnt want to focus until I set the af point to the center where I was trying to focus.


Blessings

[Sheermadness]

I was focussing on tree bark and it was pretty even all around but I tried moving the focus spot around and the autofocus still didn't work. What seemed to get it going again was changing the metering mode from center weighted to evaluative. All of a sudden the autofocus kicked back on. I don't remember if I also changed the focus spot after that or not. As soon as my batteries are charged I'll experiment a little more. When this happened the first few times just turning the camera off and back on again or opening the battery compartment seemed to get it going. This time is the first I've actually put it away and still not had autofocus the next day. At least not until I changed the metering mode. Maybe it was just a coincidence. I'll see if I can recreate the situation and then correct it. Thanks.