Alright, so, picture this: I’m chilling at home, got my trusty Nikon Z50 in hand, ready to snap some pics of my cat being his usual adorable self. But then, bam! My autofocus just stops working. Like, it’s completely dead.
First thing I did? I checked the battery, naturally. It was a bit low, so I thought, “Okay, maybe that’s it.” Swapped it out for a fully charged one, but nope, still nothing. Autofocus motor was silent as a mouse.
Next, I dove into the camera settings. I mean, I’m no pro, but I know my way around a menu or two. I made sure the autofocus was actually turned on. It was. Then I went to the custom settings menu (you know, the one with the little pencil icon), found the “beep” setting (d8, for those keeping track), and made sure that was on too. Still nothing. The camera wasn’t even trying to focus.
At this point, I was starting to feel a little panicked. I rely on this camera for, like, 90% of my blog content. I even compared it with a Fuji X-T200 and I decided that I prefer Z50 more. So, I did what any sane person would do: I turned to the internet. I found some folks talking about back button focus and how it can sometimes mess things up. Now, I don’t use back button focus, but I figured it was worth a shot. I reset all my camera settings to their defaults, just to be safe. And guess what? Still nothing.
Feeling defeated, I remembered I had an old Nikon AF VR Zoom-NIKKOR 80-400mm lens lying around, along with the FTZ adapter. I thought, “Why not?” I attached the lens, made sure everything was snug, and tried again. Still no autofocus. At this point, I was pretty sure it was the camera body, not the lens.
I even read the darn manual, which was about as helpful as a chocolate teapot. I was starting to think I’d have to send my camera in for repairs, which is a huge hassle.
But then, I had a thought. I remembered someone mentioning that sometimes the contacts between the lens and the camera body can get dirty and cause problems. So, I grabbed a soft cloth and carefully cleaned the contacts on both the camera and the lens. I put the kit lens back on, held my breath, and pressed the shutter button halfway.
And there it is! A little whirring sound. The autofocus motor was back in action! I could have cried. My beloved Z50 was working again. All it took was a little cleaning. I took some test shots, and everything was back to normal.
So, yeah, that was my little adventure with my Z50’s autofocus. It was a rollercoaster of emotions, but I learned a valuable lesson: sometimes, the simplest solutions are the best. And always, always, check those lens contacts!
- Tried swapping batteries.
- Checked camera settings.
- Reset camera to default settings.
- Tried a different lens.
- Cleaned the lens contacts.
- Rejoiced when the autofocus worked again.
Moral of the story?
Don’t panic, and start with the basics. You might just save yourself a trip to the repair shop.
