Help with Sony Alpha A500

[Brisch]

I received a Sony Alpha A500 2 years ago as a Christmas gift. Shorty after having (about 2 months) the camera would no longer take a picture in auto focus. It will focus itself and prepare to take a picture but the shutter just wont take the picture. I sent the camera back to Sony, they had it for more then a year, when they sent it back to me they had no fixed the problem. I am fairly new to the world of DSLR, but I have taken thousands of photos with my Monolta SLR. Maybe I am simply missing something or changed a setting, but I have tried setting it back to factory and that doesn't seem to matter. If anyone has this camera or any of the A-series or knows DLSR's PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE help me. I hate having a $1000 camera that should be able to be used in auto and only be able to use it in manual, if Id know that was the case I would have gotten more lenses for my manual Monolta.

[cowis]

I know on the Nikon on the side of the lens u can switch auto focus on and off. So if switched off and your trying to shoot in auto focus u have to still manuel focus the lens. (i hope that makes sence)

[Brisch]

yes thank you, I have changed them all still just focuses over and over wont actually take a picture

[cowis]

is there a way to rest the cam? id try that and see if that works. or is the lens senser dirty?

[Brisch]

whats a lenses sensor lol

[cowis]

its the thing inside the camera body its like a small mirror

[effox]

After 90 days of service you could have claimed for credit\exchange.

[Arcteryx]

I received a Sony Alpha A500 2 years ago as a Christmas gift. Shorty after having (about 2 months) the camera would no longer take a picture in auto focus. It will focus itself and prepare to take a picture but the shutter just wont take the picture. I sent the camera back to Sony, they had it for more then a year, when they sent it back to me they had no fixed the problem. I am fairly new to the world of DSLR, but I have taken thousands of photos with my Monolta SLR. Maybe I am simply missing something or changed a setting, but I have tried setting it back to factory and that doesn't seem to matter. If anyone has this camera or any of the A-series or knows DLSR's PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE help me. I hate having a $1000 camera that should be able to be used in auto and only be able to use it in manual, if Id know that was the case I would have gotten more lenses for my manual Monolta.

The folks here: Steve's Digicams Forums are a helpful bunch.

I don't know much about the Sony - I have their NEX5, but it's a different beast - but you've checked the lens AF on/off.

Some cameras have custom functions that can turn this on or off, but you've already reset to factory.

Does it do this in all modes i.e. aperture priority, time priority, program/green box?

Sounds like a really bizarre problem. Do you just have the one lens for it? Would be good to test with another lens to isolate the problem to either the camera or the lens.

[Arcteryx]

Try to test it in all its modes. I just did a quick read and it has Liveview as well - see if autofocus doesn't work in that mode either vs just the optical viewfinder.

You should be able to manually select focus points, or choose between a few different AF modes: Single-shot AF (AF-S), Automatic AF (AF-A), and Continuous AF (AF-C) settings. Try them all.

It's a pretty fundamental function, strange to think it would be sent back to you in non-working condition (and a year too, that's just weird)

[Brisch]

I never thought if trying a different lens I will do that then try the other things you have suggested, thank you for all the suggestions. Chris where were you when they had the camera lol....I would have got a new one