Switching len's: I was using my 55-200 lens for action shots during a soccer game. The game ended with our team taking the Championship. Team photos were being taken, I could not get...

WasecaFlash

I was using my 55-200 lens for action shots during a soccer game. The game ended with our team taking the Championship.
Team photos were being taken, I could not get the team in the photo so switched to my 18-55 lens. Pushed the button to take the picture - no picture - camera would not fire. What did I do wrong? It worked later. I'm not sure if I turned it off and it rebooted or what happened. I missed the Championship team photo!!

TucsonCoyote Loc: Tucson AZ

WasecaFlash wrote:

I was using my 55-200 lens for action shots during a soccer game. The game ended with our team taking the Championship.
Team photos were being taken, I could not get the team in the photo so switched to my 18-55 lens. Pushed the button to take the picture - no picture - camera would not fire. What did I do wrong? It worked later. I'm not sure if I turned it off and it rebooted or what happened. I missed the Championship team photo!!

I think you should add Make and model of camera.?

Wall-E Loc: Phoenix, AZ

WasecaFlash wrote:

I was using my 55-200 lens for action shots during a soccer game. The game ended with our team taking the Championship.
Team photos were being taken, I could not get the team in the photo so switched to my 18-55 lens. Pushed the button to take the picture - no picture - camera would not fire. What did I do wrong? It worked later. I'm not sure if I turned it off and it rebooted or what happened. I missed the Championship team photo!!

Next time, make sure you turn the camera OFF before you change lenses.
If it doesn't fire right away, try taking the lens off [turning the camera off first] and putting it on a couple of times to clean the contacts.

mwsilvers Loc: Central New Jersey

Wall-E wrote:

Next time, make sure you turn the camera OFF before you change lenses.
If it doesn't fire right away, try taking the lens off [turning the camera off first] and putting it on a couple of times to clean the contacts.

Been using various Canon dSLRs for years. I have never bothered to turn the camera off while changing lenses and have never had a problem. Most pros and advanced amateurs do the same.

dooragdragon Loc: Alma , Arkansas

Possible the new lens was set to auto focus and there wasn't enough light for it to function properly,have had that happen to me while using a lens .

OddJobber Loc: Portland, OR

dooragdragon wrote:

Possible the new lens was set to auto focus and there wasn't enough light for it to function properly,have had that happen to me while using a lens .

Yeah, what he/she said. Happens to me frequently in low light. If you're set on auto focus and the lens doesn't focus, there's no shootin'.

olcoach Loc: Oregon

First, welcome to UHH. There are several possibilities for what caused camera to not fire. I would try to re-enact the original scenario rather than guessing and see if I could get the same problem. Good luck.

MT Shooter Loc: Montana

WasecaFlash wrote:

I was using my 55-200 lens for action shots during a soccer game. The game ended with our team taking the Championship.
Team photos were being taken, I could not get the team in the photo so switched to my 18-55 lens. Pushed the button to take the picture - no picture - camera would not fire. What did I do wrong? It worked later. I'm not sure if I turned it off and it rebooted or what happened. I missed the Championship team photo!!

I would have to suspect you changed the lens without turning the cameras power off. If this happens again, just remove the battery for 10 seconds and it should work properly after re-inserting the battery. (I am guessing you are shooting Nikon due to the two lenses mentioned, I don't know if the battery removal option would help a Canon or not.)

dooragdragon Loc: Alma , Arkansas

I read a post earlier today from someone asking about disabling ? the no focus no shot feature on 1 brand of camera not sure of brand or particular model of camera, just sorta gave it a quick once over n moved on .

WasecaFlash

My camera is a Nikon 3100 and the lenses are also Nikon. Thanks for all the feedback.

TucsonCoyote Loc: Tucson AZ

WasecaFlash wrote:

My camera is a Nikon 3100 and the lenses are also Nikon. Thanks for all the feedback.

I don't know what the book says about switching lenses while power is on ....I just hate to read since this electronic age with "user friendly" stuff came about.....maybe I'm just a lazy old fart ! lol

bunuweld Loc: Arizona

WasecaFlash wrote:

I was using my 55-200 lens for action shots during a soccer game. The game ended with our team taking the Championship.
Team photos were being taken, I could not get the team in the photo so switched to my 18-55 lens. Pushed the button to take the picture - no picture - camera would not fire. What did I do wrong? It worked later. I'm not sure if I turned it off and it rebooted or what happened. I missed the Championship team photo!!

In that kind of activity, I would take my DSLR with the zoom lens on and a point-and-shoot in my pocket for the other eventualities. Faster and lighter than another lens. Trying to change lenses in a hurry can lead to bad consequences. This is not a criticism; I have had the same trouble as yours on a couple of occasions.

A good alternative would be one of the more portable cameras, like the Canon SX50, with a great range of focal lengths eliminating the need for lens change in unpredictable situations.

speters Loc: Grangeville/Idaho

WasecaFlash wrote:

I was using my 55-200 lens for action shots during a soccer game. The game ended with our team taking the Championship.
Team photos were being taken, I could not get the team in the photo so switched to my 18-55 lens. Pushed the button to take the picture - no picture - camera would not fire. What did I do wrong? It worked later. I'm not sure if I turned it off and it rebooted or what happened. I missed the Championship team photo!!

Did you turn off the camera, before switching the lens? If not, that might be the culprit.

Wall-E Loc: Phoenix, AZ

speters wrote:

Did you turn off the camera, before switching the lens? If not, that might be the culprit.

Which is EXACTLY what I said in the third post!

speters Loc: Grangeville/Idaho

I did not read any post's when I replied, I saw the question and answered.