Help Help - in a penelope pitstop style!

I Used my D600 fine last weekend, got it out today to do a super car shoot and the auto focus doesn't seem to be working. The Auto / manual focus button is set to AF and so is the lens, ive tried a different lens and its the same so its a camera issue.
Ive tried pushing the focus mode selector button on the side of the body whilst spinning the front pin wheel and tried to change focus settings with no joy it just wont switch or change.
Ive done a master reset and cleaned the contacts where the lens attaches fully charged a battery, still with no joy - am i missing an obvious in camera menu setting ? Im so lost on this
Any help really appreciated
Jeni

I can ask this from an experience sort of perspective. You didn't by chance change the focus function to a button other than the shutter-release and then maybe forget?

Hi,
Not that i'm aware of, Ive also done a master reset on the camera which i hoped would revert it back to factory settings. Unless my cat has walked across the buttons on the camera - is there any way i could find out if ive re-assigned a button ?

Thnk it would be hard to change accidentally. AF can be finicky. Have you tried focusing on several subjects?

Yes ive tried a number of lenses, cleaning contacts etc. its like someone has switched the auto focus off :-( and the focus select button seems to wake the camera up so to speak but wont allow me to change the focus settings.

Did you accidentally flip the little switch around the OK button to the "L" position?



...

Nope its on the setting with the dot.
Sadly this is what i was shooting today, but most of my rolling shots failed as im not quick enough on manual focus.

Did you accidentally bump the camera? Maybe something just quit on you... Hopefully not, but it seems you did all I would have done before sending it in for a checkup. I hope you had a backup.

No I treat my camera with huge respect its not done loads of work really, it went back after oiling appeared on the sensor and its been fine since then. I didn't have a back-up sadly can only afford one full frame for now :-/

If you are familiar with the rangefinder, does it seem to function as it should? The rangefinder should use the same focus point(s) that the AF is set to.

If not familiar with it, you might look for this in the manual.

Checking this won't solve the issue, but may add to the info on the problem.

Ive had a look at the range finder yes, but still nothing. Ive set the camera so it'll only take while in focus on shutter release and it happily takes a photo out of focus - i just feel im missing something stupid.

yawning_cat said:

Ive had a look at the range finder yes, but still nothing. Ive set the camera so it'll only take while in focus on shutter release and it happily takes a photo out of focus - i just feel im missing something stupid.

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Well, just to recap... You've checked the AF/M body switch. You've not "L"ocked focus. You've checked the AF/M switch on the lenses. You've cleaned the contacts and reset the menus...

The only other thing I can think of is AE-L/AF-L button but you've reset the menus and such which I'm sure would have disabled that, had you inadvertently set AF-L somehow. So yeah... I dunno. I'm all of ideas at this point. If it is something totally stupid, I'd say at least you're in good company. I'd probably repeatedly push/reset everything numerous times and/or try using foul language. Can't hurt to try either.

....

Teeeheeeheee, i know its something daft - bloomin frustrating, hoping I can figure it by saturday for the next shoot. Im off to bang my head against a wall - still open to ideas

I'm likely the dumbest one on this thread, so please don't be offended. But have you checked the mode your in? It's likely stupid question, but I didn't see it asked yet.

What do you mean by mode, ive tried fully manual through to full auto on the top dial selector - is that what you mean?

Yes. I thought a glitch in one of the modes might be the issue. Sorry, it was just a thought.

yawning_cat said:

What do you mean by mode, ive tried fully manual through to full auto on the top dial selector - is that what you mean?

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yawning_cat said:

Ive tried pushing the focus mode selector button on the side of the body whilst spinning the front pin wheel and tried to change focus settings with no joy it just wont switch or change.
Jeni

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Take a look at this video. If you forward to about 1:30, it tells how to use the info button on the back then you can use the rear wheel to scroll through the 3 AF modes. Maybe you can see if it will switch that way?

If the AF is moving the lens elements, but the shutter is releasing in an AF mode before achieving focus, there is a setting that switches the priority from the focus to the shutter release. In other words the setting allows the shutter to release regardless of focus. Not sure if a reset will reset this either.

Check the manual for AF-S Priority Selection or AF-C Priority Selection.

yawning_cat said:

Ive had a look at the range finder yes, but still nothing. Ive set the camera so it'll only take while in focus on shutter release and it happily takes a photo out of focus - i just feel im missing something stupid.

Click to expand...

Eyelight said:

If the AF is moving the lens elements, but the shutter is releasing in an AF mode before achieving focus, there is a setting that switches the priority from the focus to the shutter release. In other words the setting allows the shutter to release regardless of focus. Not sure if a reset will reset this either.

Check the manual for AF-S Priority Selection or AF-C Priority Selection.

Click to expand...

I may have misinterpreted your comment. If set to release priority, the camera will take the OOF shot, ignoring the focus condition. If set to focus priority it should not release the shutter unless it thinks it has focus.

Have you tested it in all AF modes, and with multiple/single AF points? AF-S, AF-C, AF-A, and single, 3d, Auto, D9, D21, etc? Have you tried AF-S and also tried moving the single AF point to a different spot?