8 replies to this topic

[shrimp22]

Good morning all,

Prior to having to send the camera in for some professional repairs; I thought I'd test the waters with some troubleshooting here.

 I own a D500 and my two AF-S lenses have lately failed to engage autofocus. This is quite odd as an older AF prime I own will autofocus no problem. I have tried two other AF-S lenses belonging to a friend also to no avail. Which leads me to believe it is a camera issue. (Manual focus works fine and will take photos)

 

To add some context then; a few days ago the camera, despite my best (albeit evnidently poor) efforts to keep it dry in the rain, must have succumbed to some moisture ingress, which I imagine is the root cause of this issue.

 

It is currently sat in a sealed box with a bunch of silica gel packets in the hope this will help remedy the situation.

 

I have tried the usual troubleshooting tips found online:

 

Cleaning the connection pins on both camera and lens with lint free cloth, q-tip and cleaning solution;

 

Hard reset & firmware is up to date;

 

If anyone is aware to perhaps the technical reasoning behind the failure and even the average cost of a repair/service job from a Nikon or certified professional this would also be of great help.

 

Kind regards,

Sam

 

 

[Nikon Shooter]

Stupid questions maybe… did you

1, check the switches on the lens?

2, make sure your cameras are not locked?

3, verify that no conflict is present in your setup?

 

[shrimp22]

Hi pal,

Cheers for the response. I've toggled the switches on the lenses to no avail. I do get an ERR message on the LCD after I try to depress the shutter in autofocus mode, which I actually forgot to mention which obviously suggests there is a connection issue between the lens and body. Although it does recognise the lenses initially, as it will register the automatic change in max aperture when zooming in and out (if that makes sense?).

It's most likely going to have to be sent off for some servicing but I thought I'd test the water if anyone had had a similar issue with a fairly straightforward fix!

[Nikon Shooter]

ERR???
 

Another stupid question…

Is there a card in the body?

[shrimp22]

sorry 'Err' is the reading on the LCD. Its usually an indication that the camera's internal performance monitor has detected a problem. I've tried different cards.

 

The camera shoots fine in manual focus and does operate autofocus with an older 'AF' model lens I have. It seems to be an issue with the connection to the AF-S lenses. I suspect something electronic has been compromised inside due to the moisture unfortunately.

 

[Nikon Shooter]

I'm a real believer in the RFM strategy and that got me a trouble
free experience with ALL my Nikon … plenty of it that is.

I don't mind asking stupid questions if one might help you!

[krag96]

Possibly clean the contacts on the camera? 

[Merco_61]

Have you checked that the contact block isn't loose? The same for the lens mount in the camera.

 

What cleaning solution did you use? Nothing beats DeoxIT GOLD for cleaning the contacts from oxide and oil.

 

The cost can vary lots depending on if there is water damage in the contact block or in the PCB or maybe something unrelated to the water.

[shrimp22]

Thank you for you input folks.

I've given the contacts on both a clean with some solution I had knocking around for cleaning the sensor. Visually the contacts look fine, no visible debris or dirt.

 

 

I'm going to go ahead and check it in with a local camera shop at this stage for them to take a look. Fingers crossed! I had JUST forked out for a new water housing which is currently in transit too