New SL and 24-90 Lens - AF is not working at all

[Guest]

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Hi, picked up my new SL yesterday. Went through the manual to figure out to get the AF to work for almost an hour now. But it won't work. The focus ring on the lens has simply no effect at all, I tried all possible combinations, the lens will not focus. Pressing the shutter half way down has no effect either. Any idea? Had anybody similar issues? Firmware is 1.1 

[dgktkr]

Hi, picked up my new SL yesterday. Went through the manual to figure out to get the AF to work for almost an hour now. But it won't work. The focus ring on the lens has simply no effect at all, I tried all possible combinations, the lens will not focus. Pressing the shutter half way down has no effect either. Any idea? Had anybody similar issues? Firmware is 1.1 

 

 From your description, it seems that the focus motor in the lens is not working properly.

 

In any AF modes, the front focus ring normally has no effect unless the shutter button is half down (or you programmed the joystick to do AF lock and it is pressed while you rotate the focus ring).

 

In MF, the focus ring should have the expected effect if no buttons are being pressed.

 

For the 24-90 lens, the focus ring actuates "focus by wire" and will only change the focus for certain conditions.

 

Does focussing work when you are in MF mode?

 

dgktkr

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[digitalfx]

Im going to guess its operator error...are you sure you have AF activated? Are you sure the correct type is selected?

Have you tried removing the lens and firmly reattaching it?

 

make sure its not set to the touch screen. There are multiple AF settings located in Camera and Setup sections. You can also assign AF to a long hold button for easy access.

Edited December 13, 2015 by digitalfx

[Guest]

The lens does not focus in any mode, not in MF nor in any AF modes. The display always shows MF top left, regardless if I select an AF mode. This from the first moment on I have attached it to the SL and did not change any setting. I detached and attached several times, checked pretty much every setting, spent more than hour already -  the touch AF I have to check  maybe again as I do not remember to have seen this setting. Feeling very frustrated :-/

[earleygallery]

Sounds like a dud lens. Don't stress just return it for another.

[digitalfx]

trying pulling the battery and reseting the camera.

[Budfox]

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Sounds like it is stuck in MF.

 

One suggestion just in case - if you are using the top left button 'long press' shortcut to access the auto-focus settings, I have found that if you push the top left button after selecting the either AF-C or AF-S on the touch screen, it reverts back to the prior setting - which is manual focus in your situation. If this is the problem, try half pushing the shutter after you have elected AF-S or AF-C with the touch screen and see if the new setting sticks. Similar when selecting via the menu, you need to push in on the joystick to select the new focus setting rather than pushing the top left 'return' button.

[dgktkr]

The lens does not focus in any mode, not in MF nor in any AF modes. The display always shows MF top left, regardless if I select an AF mode. This from the first moment on I have attached it to the SL and did not change any setting. I detached and attached several times, checked pretty much every setting, spent more than hour already -  the touch AF I have to check  maybe again as I do not remember to have seen this setting. Feeling very frustrated :-/

 

 

Please keep us posted. We'd like to know how it turns out for you.

 

dgktkr

[thighslapper]

Sounds to me like the camera is not recognising the 24-90 as an AF lens - try cleaning the contacts on both lens and camera and ensure it is fully rotated and clicked into position.

 

If no luck try a full re-set.

 

If still no joy you either have a dud camera or lens ..... either way a replacement should be provided.

[Guest]

Little update: I tried out all recommendations above, no success here unfortunately.

1. Then I tried a M-lens with the T-Adapter - (Nocti 0.95) - only black screen, all you could see were the menus and review screen.
2. Then I changed back to the 24-90 lens. Same situation as in the beginning.
3. Then I started pressing the menu buttons longer: with the TL button I moved to the ISO settings - 100 was set - and simply tried to set it to AUTO. Don't ask me why. But the the AF started to move :-)
4. Then I mounted the Noctilux again, no black screen any longer. That worked as well.
5. When I had the 24-90 on the SL the AF was locked again. It refused to unlock, I pressed TL, then TR, I guess then TL again and then the 24-90 started to move again. Before it starts, the screen blacks out for a second actually.
6. So this is the situation - whenever I want to start with the 24-90, I have to unlock it by pressing TL and / or TR which I haven't figured out yet completely.
7. This happened even after switching off an on the SL again.
8. I haven't found anything in the manual about that behaviour - seems like a software issue to me.
9. After four or five times changing lenses and pressing TR the SL now seems to work.

​I cannot explain but I'm looking forward to the new firmware that was announced for tomorrow I guess.

[digitalfx]

Sounds like you have a corrupt profile or the camera is in a mode that is not intended. Not sure you should assume new FW will solve this, you have something going on thats not normal or you aren't using the settings properly. I would suggest a factory reset and start over. Also you should get familiar with the menu structure...it sounds like you don't quite comprehend how the functions work.

 

If you have the LCD on just pressing the TR or TL button once isn't going to do anything. You have to press the TL button twice, then select one of the options (camera, image, favorites or setup), then you can use the joystick to select the options.

 

 

I have experienced the black screen issue you described once. But a simple battery pull solved this.

 

Regarding #5 and #6- what do you mean AF is "locked" and you have to unlock it?

Edited December 14, 2015 by digitalfx

[digitalfx]

one more thing...make sure you aren't in video mode, The silver button below the shutter knob cycles thru live view mode. You might have the camera in video mode which would explain your behavior.

[Guest]

Thank you all for the tips and hints so far. Factory reset didn't help at all.  The TL / TR buttons do work when the screen is in live view, you don't have to press them twice but long, then you can select options. I haven't configured any options or buttons and I was not in video mode. The menus itself I find not that complicated, but there is room for improvement I think. I have a M and a Q and never facing any issues like this here where I have the problem that it's not 100% reproducible. Will talk to the dealer or directly with Leica CS the next days. And of course will work through some pages of the manual again - which is actually not very Leica-like I must admit. Any other camera from Wetzlar I had was working out of the box - this one doesn't.

[Guest]

Regarding #5 and #6- what do you mean AF is "locked" and you have to unlock it?

With this I meant that the lens is no working right away. You have to  press several button or in some cases just wait 10 seconds or so. The lens seems to be locked in some "parking" mode, no focus is possible then.

 

All other symptoms I have described above as best as I could, but as I wrote, the behaviour of the camera and/or lens is also not 100% reproducible. I probably have to spend some more hours to figure out possible interdependencies of certain setting, the switching between M and SL lenses and so on.

I opened this thread to get a quick feedback on the issue I encountered and to see if there is a fault in the lens, the camera, the firmware or my operation. It could be a combination of all four, I haven't yet figured out 100%. The black screen issue obviously has appeared several times, I have had it twice.

[digitalfx]

Thank you all for the tips and hints so far. Factory reset didn't help at all.  The TL / TR buttons do work when the screen is in live view, you don't have to press them twice but long, then you can select options. I haven't configured any options or buttons and I was not in video mode. The menus itself I find not that complicated, but there is room for improvement I think. I have a M and a Q and never facing any issues like this here where I have the problem that it's not 100% reproducible. Will talk to the dealer or directly with Leica CS the next days. And of course will work through some pages of the manual again - which is actually not very Leica-like I must admit. Any other camera from Wetzlar I had was working out of the box - this one doesn't.

 

You are misunderstanding the basic functions of the menu structure. You should review the manual. Long pressing the button is not the same thing as simply selecting the basic menu settings.

 

Yes, when the LCD is active you MUST press the TL button twice. Then all the main menu buttons become active. You might find it easier to select EVF only view, then you are only required to press the button once.

 

LONG PRESSING is reserved for assigned functions. If you are long pressing the buttons you are missing all the cameras settings.

Edited December 14, 2015 by digitalfx

[digitalfx]

With this I meant that the lens is no working right away. You have to  press several button or in some cases just wait 10 seconds or so. The lens seems to be locked in some "parking" mode, no focus is possible then.

 

There is no "parking mode". I think you are missing the first level of the menu and are going straight to the quick functions.

Edited December 14, 2015 by digitalfx

[digitalfx]

A few questions:

1- Have you formatted your SD card in the camera (using the camera to format the card)?

2- what type of SD card are you using?

3- are you using 1 or 2 SD cards?

[Guest]

I can reproduce the issue now - at least a way to trace it. The issue is not me nor any misunderstanding of menus and not SD-Card related (using Panasonic and SanDisk Cards). Sometimes the lens works after switching the camera on and off several times. Sometimes it is not working at all. The camera is set to AF in the menu. The displays shows ALWAYS MF when switched  on. It has probably to do with the power from the camera to the lens. When you take the battery out and put it back in, the display shows the AF fields for a fraction of a second. If you then switch it off and on again, the AF fields a not shown. And if I'm lucky the AF fields stay and the lens works with the camera.

 

So there is probably an initializing error between hard- and software or both, either in the camera or the lens. I will upgrade the camera to firmware 1.2 now and see if the issue is still there. My dealer has offered to change the lens as to him it sound like a lens defect. I keep you posted.

 

In any case, regardless what the reason is: big disappointment on my side regarding the final control quality of some items leaving the Wetzlar factory. Sorry to say that, but for a 11.500 EUR set I expect this to work out of the box. This is not a far eastern made mass market product.

[ramarren]

I can reproduce the issue now - at least a way to trace it. The issue is not me nor any misunderstanding of menus and not SD-Card related (using Panasonic and SanDisk Cards). Sometimes the lens works after switching the camera on and off several times. Sometimes it is not working at all. The camera is set to AF in the menu. The displays shows ALWAYS MF when switched  on. It has probably to do with the power from the camera to the lens. When you take the battery out and put it back in, the display shows the AF fields for a fraction of a second. If you then switch it off and on again, the AF fields a not shown. And if I'm lucky the AF fields stay and the lens works with the camera.

 

So there is probably an initializing error between hard- and software or both, either in the camera or the lens. I will upgrade the camera to firmware 1.2 now and see if the issue is still there. My dealer has offered to change the lens as to him it sound like a lens defect. I keep you posted.

 

In any case, regardless what the reason is: big disappointment on my side regarding the final control quality of some items leaving the Wetzlar factory. Sorry to say that, but for a 11.500 EUR set I expect this to work out of the box. This is not a far eastern made mass market product.

 

While it might be a disappointment that it's not perfect right out of the box, remember that there's no such thing as a perfect run of manufactured goods. Manufacturing defects show up, no matter what the price. As long as the dealer and/or Leica takes care of the problem for you, I'd call it okay. 

 

To me, this problem is certainly just a defect in a particular lens or body. I'd suspect the lens first.

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[Guest]

Now, 1.2 is on the camera. After the upgrade I switched it on: same as before. I switched it off and on again three times, and since then it seems to work.

 

At least I can try to use and explore the SL with the lens now. This might be a problem than fixed with the firmware. Which would on the other hand seem a little strange to me. There are obviously not that many lenses or cameras affected.

Will see how this develops the next days, my trust is not 100% restored yet, but at least it's up and running and there is at least a little smile on my face now ;-) 

And of course manufacturing defects can show up with any goods - and the dealer or Leica would have or will take care of it, no doubt. But it is simply not expected with a camera like this. And if you are travelling a lot then it's not that easy stopping by your dealer or picking up boxes when you are in the wrong location for a week or so.