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  1. #1
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    dsc-h5 autofocus problem

    Hi,

    This is my first digital camera. I have already read all the manual but it seems impossible to press the shutter halfway down. It does not work. I have tried to press very slowly or very fast and it does not work.

    The manual says to press the shutter halfway down to lock the focus and then press again the shutter to take the shot. But I just can't make it work this way. When I press shutter it automatically takes the shot.

    Am doing something wrong? I'm using the default settings, didn't change anything...

    Thanks a lot for the help!

    Luiz

  2. #2
    Captain of the Ship Photo-John's Avatar
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    Re: dsc-h5 autofocus problem

    Luiz-
    This is a tough question to answer without the camera in my hands. The manual is correct - you should be able to lock the exposure and the focus by depressing the shutter halfway. It's likely that you're pressing the button too hard. But without watching you and trying for myself, I can't know for sure. If this is the first time you've had a camera that works like this, you may have to learn to be sensitive to the spot where the focus locks. Usually there's a slight resistance at the focus lock point, so that you know not to push any farther. Try experimenting with it some more to see if you can get it to work. I would be surprised if it doesn't. It's much more likely that you just haven't become sensitive to yet and are pushing too hard.
    Photo-John

    Your reviews are the foundation of this site - Write A Review!

  3. #3
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    Re: dsc-h5 autofocus problem

    well thanks for the reply. I'm from Brazil and I have also posted the same question in a forum here in Brazil. For my surprise some other guys are having the same problem with their H5. I have used another digital camera (fuji finepix) and I can hold the button halfway to get the correct focus without problems. I know that it seems to be a very weird problem but since I have got other reports like my problem, I'm suspecting that it is a real problem. I have also tried an H2 in a store yesterday and I could hold down the button without any problems... I'm trying to contact the store where I bought my camera to get a new one. Hope I don't have any problems again.

  4. #4
    Captain of the Ship Photo-John's Avatar
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    Re: dsc-h5 autofocus problem

    Very interesting. It sounds like they've got a batch of cameras with bad buttons. That's not something I've ever heard of. But there's a first time for everything.

    Please do us a favor and post a review for your camera. We need more reviews for the Sony H5:

    Read and write reviews for the Sony Cyber-shot DSC-H5 >>

    Thanks for the follow-up reply. I'm glad you posted again as I've never heard of this problem. I assumed it was user error. But it sounds like it's definitely a camera problem.
    Photo-John

    Your reviews are the foundation of this site - Write A Review!

  5. #5
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    Re: dsc-h5 autofocus problem

    Hi Luiz.

    I'm from Argentina and I have the same problem with my DSC-H5 camera. From one moment to other the autofocus (halfway shutter action) stop working.
    Tried it in different modes and nothing new.. also resetted it, discharged the batteries, and everything you could imagine.. and nothing, the problem is still there.

    Just chatted with Sony's customer support and they asked me to send the camera to Sony Factory Service (in Texas).

    I bought this camera last month (less than 30 days) at Amazon and sent it to my sister's apartment at the US. I'm lucky and my sister is going back to Houston so she will send the camera to the Service.

    I'll let you know if there are any news.

    Greets!

    Diego

  6. #6
    Captain of the Ship Photo-John's Avatar
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    Re: dsc-h5 autofocus problem

    Quote Originally Posted by 3eleven
    I'm from Argentina and I have the same problem with my DSC-H5 camera. From one moment to other the autofocus (halfway shutter action) stop working.
    Tried it in different modes and nothing new.. also resetted it, discharged the batteries, and everything you could imagine.. and nothing, the problem is still there.
    Thanks for posting, Diego! This is exactly why the Internet is so great!

    Hope Sony takes care of you. Please let us know what happens and post a review for your H5 when everything is all done with.
    Photo-John

    Your reviews are the foundation of this site - Write A Review!

  7. #7
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    Re: dsc-h5 autofocus problem

    I am having the exact same problem. Bought my H5 on Nov. 3rd and just before Christmas noticed that the camera would not let me lock in and focus when depressing the shutter button half way down. Bought the camera from Best Buy with a service plan. Brought it in to them to take a look at, but they basically just told me it was a setting on the camera. But, after reading this I think my instincts were right and it's definitely a camera problem. It's funny too because he took me to the floor model to compare and the floor model had the exact same problem. That's why I second guessed myself. Guess I'll go back to Best Buy first to see if they will replace it, or send it off to Sony.

  8. #8
    Captain of the Ship Photo-John's Avatar
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    Print This

    I would recommend printing out this thread and taking it with you - just in case they try to tell you it's not a camera problem, again.
    Photo-John

    Your reviews are the foundation of this site - Write A Review!

  9. #9
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    Re: dsc-h5 autofocus problem

    Quote Originally Posted by Photo-John
    Thanks for posting, Diego! This is exactly why the Internet is so great!

    Hope Sony takes care of you. Please let us know what happens and post a review for your H5 when everything is all done with.

    Thanks John! I will when I get my camera back.

    Tell me, is there a way to get notified by email when this thread have new replies? Just to know when to check if there's anyone else with the same problem.


    Thanks again.


    Diego

  10. #10
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    Re: dsc-h5 autofocus problem

    Went back to best buy and they exchanged the camera with a brand new one without any problem. I guess anything bought after Nov. 1 2006 had an extended replacement policy, otherwise they would have to send it back to Sony for repair. I wasn't looking forward to being without a camera for an extended period of time. Hopefully the same issue won't come up with the new camera.

  11. #11
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    Re: dsc-h5 autofocus problem

    Hi there,

    I have had the same problem with my H5 so I thought I'd chip in my own experience.

    I bought the H5 about two weeks ago and the auto-focus worked for about one week. I'd press half-way down, it would focus, beep and take the perfect pic, no problem. Then it stopped for no apparent reason, and I did everything I could to try to fix it, short of taking it apart. But I couldn't get it back to normal, so I figured I bought a lemon.

    I'm glad to find this forum where people have discovered similar problems, as I now know that it's definitely not just me. What a hassle, though, to have to ship it back to Sony!

    I'll let you know how it all plays out in the coming weeks. Good luck, everyone.

    Mike in Singapore

  12. #12
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    Re: dsc-h5 autofocus problem

    Hi everyone,

    I found this forum looking for people having this problem on their dsc-h5. I just had the same problem: autofocus worked fine for a month until yesterday, then suddenly stopped to work.

    It could be useful for me to know if someone already had his problem fixed, to know what kind of problem was.

    Thanks

    Greetings from Roma
    Rob

  13. #13
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    Unhappy Re: dsc-h5 autofocus problem

    I see this is becoming a very common issue. We bought our Sony H5 on December 29, 2006, and today, we ran into the same problem with the autofocus. I'm soooo dissapointed !! The camera has been great so far, but to run into such a serious issue in such a short time is frustraiting beyond belief.

    We are contacting futureshop here tomorrow, hoping they will replace it for us. If anyone has gotten a response from Sony on the matter, be great to hear it

  14. #14
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    Re: dsc-h5 autofocus problem

    It's terrible that all of you are having issues with the focus button assembly, I hope that sony fixes that for you. Do keep in mind that there are thousands of H series cameras out there, and only five or six people here who have problems - I've found five or six on each additional board I frequent, but i'd imagine that fewer than 1% of H cameras are having this issue. That is a big issue, but don't let that spoil your enjoyment of the camera once it is repaired.


    I don't mean to be an apologist for sony, but I am really happy with mine, and I'm sure that if this doesn't poison you to the camera, you will be very happy with your (working) H5 also.
    Erik Williams

    Olympus E3, E510
    12-60 SWD, 50-200 SWD, 50 f/2 macro, EX25, FL36's and an FL50r.

  15. #15
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    Re: dsc-h5 autofocus problem

    Same problem here..... I`m from Brazil and I got my h5 in december 16.
    The half way focus never worked.....
    At the begining I thought that that was the way the camera worked... and I was very disapointed with that because without the half way focus the camera try to focus for itself when you press the button fully down and that results in an long wait for the camera take the pic.
    I made contact with sony here in Brazil but they said that they couldn`t do nothing for me since my camera is made in japan not made in brazil..... nice to know that sony do not give any warranty over products that are not made in Brazil (read PSP, Playstation (1,2 and 3), some tvs, vaio laptops...)..... that just sounds wrong.....
    As a result to that..... Ill probably have to get it fixed for myself and spend more money in my brand new 1 month old expensive sony camera..... or stick with a lemon that indeed take very nice pictures but takes around 2 seconds to do that after I pressed the shutter.....
    That is my second problem with sony.... (had a vaio laptop grz-530 that left a lot of people, including me, with a dead memory slot after 6 months of usage).
    Got the camera because of the zeiss.... but I guess is the last sony product that Ill buy... unless I move to a country here sony really cares for their costumers....
    Anyone knows how much ill expend to fix the problem myself?

  16. #16
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    Cool Re: dsc-h5 autofocus problem

    Quote Originally Posted by Sushigaijin
    It's terrible that all of you are having issues with the focus button assembly, I hope that sony fixes that for you. Do keep in mind that there are thousands of H series cameras out there, and only five or six people here who have problems - I've found five or six on each additional board I frequent, but i'd imagine that fewer than 1% of H cameras are having this issue. That is a big issue, but don't let that spoil your enjoyment of the camera once it is repaired.


    I don't mean to be an apologist for sony, but I am really happy with mine, and I'm sure that if this doesn't poison you to the camera, you will be very happy with your (working) H5 also.
    You're prob right. have seen a lot of great feedback on the camera, it's what made us consider it in the 1st place. After we tested in the store that was it, had to have it.

    We managed to get futureshop to replace ours. New one is working fine. One big thing I notice is the new camera is much quieter when focusing than the old one. Possible the old one may have had other issues besides the button itself...

    hope Sony gets this sorted out for the rest of u

  17. #17
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    Re: dsc-h5 autofocus problem

    Seems like a really big issue for sony, there are many people complaining about this problem.

    My camera is still on the Sony Service Center at Laredo TX since Jan 9th. The technicians are working on it to get it repaired.

    What I ask... I bought this camera on Nov 30 and stopped working on Dic 30 (happy new year), shouldn't them REPLACE the camera instead of repair it?

    And about the customer service, very poor. I've been checking their eservice page with my event number and the message never changed until today, which says the same but with different words:

    The Sony product that you have inquired about is currently being repaired.
    Please allow 5 additional business days for the repair to be completed.


    Also, about the cameras made outside of your residence country: I was hoping Sony Argentina take care of this issue, but when I tell them that this camera was bought in the USA (most exactly via Amazon) they told me to take the camera for any of the service offices to get a quote of the job. The US product warranty doesn't works on Argentina.

    I'm so pissed off, but all I can do is wait for them to finish the work and return the camera safe and without any scratches!

    Greets

    Diego from Argentina

  18. #18
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    Re: dsc-h5 autofocus problem

    I got My Cam On DEC 24 , And It Got Busted after a week , the only problem is that i bought it from dubai , and im currently in lebanon , so i really donno what to do to fix this shutter button

  19. #19
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    Re: dsc-h5 autofocus problem

    I'm new to the board & have run into the same problem with my H5. Has anyone been able to get one "fixed" yet or better yet a new camera from Sony? This is apparently a widespread problem. I learned from a source at Wolf Camera that numerous H5s have come back with the problem. Now it's making sense as to why so many retail outlets have not received these cameras. (Best Buy, Sam's, Costco and so on...) I'll be sending mine back in the morning to:

    Sony Electronics
    Precision Camera Repair
    Enfield, CT

    Please update your own status as I will do the same. Thanks, Rick

  20. #20
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    Re: dsc-h5 autofocus problem

    Hi Rick.
    I sent mine to Laredo TX and they send it back to my sister's apartment at Houston.

    As I said before I'm at Argentina and didn't check the results yet. Will see if they solved the problem in about 3 weeks (hopefully yes).

    Greets!

  21. #21
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    Re: dsc-h5 autofocus problem

    I´m in Brazil, and I had the same problem in autofocus. I buy my H5 in october 2006 and the autofocus never worked.

  22. #22
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    Re: dsc-h5 autofocus problem

    I got my H5 on September 4, 06, and its auto focus died on October 14, 06.
    Sent to Pricison Camera, they even didn't bother to repair befor they ship it back to me.
    So, again, sent camera out to Lardo, TX, for repair, and camera came back, start functioning near correctly (even though sometimes AF responds very slow).
    March 2, 2007, same problem appeared again, I start to suspect H5's quality.
    An hour earlier, found this forum, decided to give sony a big buzz.

    Now, I'm planning to organize us to file a huge complaint about this, so that we can get our money back, or have our camera replaced, and make sure if this autofocus thing dies after warranty, Sony will fix it free of charge.

    Any one who's interested? Send me an email!

    Send emails to lucheng@luchenghome.com

  23. #23
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    Re: dsc-h5 autofocus problem

    Hi all there,

    I'm in the same boat. My H5 started showing up the same problem last week. I did send my camera to the Precision Camera repair, CT after I called Sony's customer support (useless fellows). There is a turn around time of 10 working days. I cannot wait that long without my camera :-( I will never ever buy a Sony Camera.

    Guys, your camera got fixed? Is it working? You guys had the same issue after the repair? Please post ur experience. If so, I dodn't want to wait for this junk camera to be returned after the repair. I will buy Canon S3.

    John

  24. #24
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    Re: dsc-h5 autofocus problem

    My camera is a veteran. It has been visited 2 places, and it stopped working last friday again! I'm going to let Sony give us all a acceptable resolution for its expensive and never working camera.
    Seriously, everytime when I want to take picture, my camera is not working, during the past 6 months, it had been in non working state for more than 2 months.

  25. #25
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    Re: dsc-h5 autofocus problem

    Got mine back fron CT. in 10 days. It's working great ..... so far. In fact they must have done some adjusting as it's focus is right on now. I'm getting some amazing pics. I really love this camera but will buy another new H5 as back up !!

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