Canon EF f1.4 won't focus, despite my singing

If this is the 50mm f1.4, it's sadly known to be prone to AF failures due to a weak design point.

Scarlet Pimpernel wrote:

It appears that my Canon EF f1.4 won't focus: however much I sing gently to it, it simply refuses to focus on anything below 3 metres. ideas?

At the risk of stating the obvious:

AF won't move the focus mechanism closer than 3m? That would mean it's broken, have it serviced.

Is it just misfocusing by some amount when the subject is less than 3m away? Try in-camera MFA (if available) or have the lens calibrated.

Hmmm,

Thanks you for this answer. Will a service fix the problem?

It happened after about 6 months after I bought it also, fixed under warranty then.

No, it won't even move below 3 m - even if I place it on Manual focus and move the lens by hand ;-(

Ho hum.

SP

Can anybody recommend a repair service in South Devon Totnes/Exeter/Plymouth area?

Can anybody recommend a repair service in South Devon Totnes/Exeter/Plymouth area?

http://lmgtfy.com/?q=canon+lens+repair+uk

For info on a warranty repair click on the top link returned

If it's under warranty then obviously that's the way to go, but if not then I'd recommend fixing it yourself. Mine sat around for 2 years broken and I replaced it with a sigma, but then I stumbled across a few YouTube videos and fixed it in one evening over just a couple hours going intentionally slowly. Search YouTube for relevant topics and you'll find several helpful videos. It only requires some precision screwdrivers, which you ought to own anyway out of principle and a bit of effort. The "fix" is to remove and remold a cylinder with a helical cut in it that gets mildly bent and results in too much friction on the focus mechanism. It's really worth your effort. Mine was flawless after the fix.