topic Re: No autofocus available in the menu in Alpha & NEX interchangeable lens cameras

No autofocus available in the menu

UPSAJAE — Sun, 29 Sep 2013 16:30:52 GMT

I've recently bought a used camera, A55V. It came with a Sony macro lens SAL30M28 and lens SAL1855. The strange thing is that the autofocus is not available in the camera menu when I use SAL30M28. The menu selection is not even to choose, the camera skips it simply when scrolling in the menu. It does not matter in which position the switch on the lens is in. The SAL1855 lens autofocus works perfectly on A55V body. (Very fast and accurate!)

Have I bought a defective lens or have I overlooked any restriction / combination / setting in the camera menu?
The camera has the latest firmware 2.0.

Thanks in advance!

Re: No autofocus available in the menu

Bieomax — Mon, 30 Sep 2013 11:26:55 GMT

Hmmmm when you say Autofocus in the menu, do you mean the selection between the different modes of Autofocus(AF-S/AF-C)? or actual autofocus? as the lens will have a switch on the outside for AF/MF, so as long as the Lens is on Af and the Camera body switch is on AF you should have autofocus.

i dont have the same lens/camera combo as you but i've the A33 which is probably the same family and the 50/1.8 and 85/2.8 which share the same body as your 30/2.8 i'll have a look at the menu size of things and see if anything similar happens.

Kind Regards

Mark.

Re: No autofocus available in the menu

UPSAJAE — Mon, 30 Sep 2013 18:17:39 GMT

Thanks for the reply! Yes, the menu to select AF method is inactive, it is gray and can not be selected at all. It's like the camera does not detect that it is an AF lens attached. Could well be added that there is no strange sound coming from the built-in focus motor on the lens. I have otherwise had a few lenses with mechanical failure, when the motor trying to work but nothing happens. It is, as we know, a fairly loud noise coming from the lens. But here it is quiet, no engine working.
-The camera works with other lenses, both with and without built-in focus motor.
-The switches on the lens and camera in the correct position.

-No visible damage to the lens or the contact surfaces. The lens works perfectly with manual focus.
The only thing I can think of is that the lens is defective or, what I most want to hear, I've missed a setting in the camera!

Regards

J. Eriksson

Re: No autofocus available in the menu

Bieomax — Tue, 01 Oct 2013 10:28:17 GMT

hmmm it is a strange one, as i would have expected that the AF method to be still be available even if the internal mechanics are broken, which to me points to the electrical connections, Do the contacts on the lens mount look ok? give them abit of a wipe incease of some grease of something causing a bad connection (does the camera detect the lens at all? eg does it show/change the aperture F information in M shooting mode?) if still no joy i suspect you've been flogged a dodgy lens, was it a private sale or a shop which sold you this?

you can probably send it in to Sony for repair who should give you a quote on whats wrong with it (and maybe a free repair if its a manufacture defect and not user damage) but if its a user damage case and the repair cost is sub £100 it maybe worth them fixing it, if its more than that then potentially its not worth it since the lens can be picked up for about £150.

Do you know anyone else with a Sony body you can try the lens on?

Re: No autofocus available in the menu

UPSAJAE — Tue, 01 Oct 2013 18:39:37 GMT

Unfortunately, I have no one around who has a Sony camera so I can test the lens on it. Contacts between the camera and the lens looks great and has been cleaned. It could be the switch on the lens is defective. I'll try to "wiggle" a little on the switch and see what happens.
To send the lens to a Sony repair shop is probably not worth the money if I may guess. I can still take great pictures with the lens in manual mode. I'll probably have to get used to the idea that the lens does not work 100%

I might add that it was a private seller but in this case I am pretty sure that she did not set me up with intentional.

Re: No autofocus available in the menu

UPSAJAE — Sun, 13 Oct 2013 10:54:36 GMT

Update.

My conclusion is that there is something wrong with the AF/MF switch. It does not have the same feel as the second lens I have. One can feel a difference between the two lenses. A small difference but still a difference.