Canon T3 not working with 18-55

Hello. My wife is traveling with the camera and called to say the camera is not working with the 18-55 stock lens, but works OK with the 55-250. Any tips to troubleshoot while she is away?

Check the contacts on the lens? Check the AF & IS switches?

Did she tell you what isn't working on the camera?

What does she mean not work? Does it not do anything or not focus, or not able to take a picture?

Take Care,
Cheers, Patrick

We need to know what specifically is not working.

• Is the camera turning on?
  
• Is it taking a picture?
  
• Is it not focusing?
  

Thank you for the quick replies. I'm on chat with her trying to get more info. Camera turns on OK. It will shoot OK on manual focus. It will not take a picture on auto-focus (with the 18-55) although the flash fires.

estebanj wrote in post #14827897
Thank you for the quick replies. I'm on chat with her trying to get more info. Camera turns on OK. It will shoot OK on manual focus. It will not take a picture on auto-focus (with the 18-55) although the flash fires.

Is the lens trying to autofocus? Is it moving in and out in a searching manner? I suspect its not getting a focus lock thus not taking a shot.

She can hear the lens trying to AF. It will flip the flash on as needed. But it won't take a shot.

Is she in a poorly lit room?

Normal light in the room. The 55-200 works OK on AF. Could then 18-55 lens just have gone bad? I'm guessing unlikely but possible?

Based on what you've described, I suspect that for some reason the body does not have enough light for autofocus to lock on to something. Bodies are typically set to "focus priority" where they have to have a focus lock before they will allow a picture to be taken. There is a custom function that changes the camera from "focus priority" to "shutter priority." I don't have a T3 so I can't tell you where that is, but hopefully I've given you something else to go on. Someone else can chime in on the specifics, or to disagree with me. I doubt the lens has gone bad. I've dropped my 18-55 and it still focuses fine, although it always has had trouble focusing indoors.

Thank you. I will have her try again tomorrow outdoors. If problem persists, she can use it in MF until she comes back on Monday and I can further troubleshoot at that time.

If the lens can not AF on the subject it will not take a picture.

Take Care,
Cheers, Patrick

I'm leaning toward agreeing with Ben. A question: is the flash firing just the one flahs or is it pulsing? May be that it's firing off an autofocus assist?

The human eye can't really establish "normal" because it has a tremendous range of perceptible light levels. As others have said, low light level is likely the cause. If stuck to the indoors, then as a test point the camera at a light source and see if it now focuses.

Try the automatic mode and see if it helps. Make sure the lens IS is on and the AF is on. If the flash pops up; strobes and takes a picture. You know all working properly. Just need to figure out what is being done wrong in the mode it's in.