AF will not work, manual shots do not show up on CF card

Did you switch the Focus-mode selector to MF?
It is the switch with number 8. Perhaps you are used to switching on the lens, but on the body is also a switch. Normaly used for the older AF lenses.

A couple of possible reasons:
You are trying to take the shot with the lens too close to the subject. If you attempt to take a shot with AF on while too close then the camera won't take the photo. Try backing up from the subject a bit.
Which camera mode are you in? If you are using the green box (automatic) mode then in very low-light settings the camera may refuse to take the photo.
The AF on your lens might be broken. Try using a different lens (if you have one available). Do other lenses have the same problem?

Hello,

I had a similar focus problem with a Tamron 70-300 for canon. What can i tell you is that if you o not have experience in this domain you should NOT disassemble the lens because you will have a very hard time to put it back together. Also, it's very hard to allign all the glass lens inside and you may end up in making it worse.
As I see this, you have 2 options:
Either you learn using the camera in Manual Focus mode, which is not a bad idea, in time you cn become faster than the AF :)
or
you can try to find a shop that sells cameras, they may direct you to a service, it does not have to be canon but must be a person with a technical background in cameras and such.

Regards,
katharsys_i

Hi, check af mode settings in upper display ;set afs,central af area clean contacts of lens cpu and in body too. Set the manual focus mode and check in viewfinder if the focus indicator LED light no flashing.Can make focus your camera dont have problem ,the lens may need maintenance (clean) or repair.
Greethings!

Is this a problem with this lens only ? Try this lens on a friend's XSI/450D or try another lens on your camera body. Try all 3 AF modes.

You may need to have your camera driver and software reinstalled. It seems that the internal writer capabilities are corrupted.

This is evident if each card you use ends up corrupted or unreadable, but the rest of the camera operates normal.

For daytime, make sure the ISO is kept low, say 100, or 200 if a little dull. For nighttime or indoor, you may need to increase the ISO up to the max of 1600.
Check also the AV+/- setting isn't set too high - are the shots brighter than normal? If so, hold the AV+/- button and use the scroll wheel to bring the setting back down.
One other thing to check is your CF card - have you changed cards recently? I have two 2Gb UltraII cards from Sandisk - one is really fast, about 1-2 pictures per second, the other is really slow, about 3-4 seconds per picture. They should be the same but are not.
Also try shooting in AV mode to keep the lens wide open and get the fastest shot possible.
Hope this helps!

lens is defective, try to use another lens to confirm it.

Is the lens moving/focusing?
If you switch to manual focus, can you make a shot?

Is it possible that "remote control" mode is selected (the button on top, right, in front of AF button) - in this mode the camera focuses but waits for the remote to shoot - just press the mode button until the LCD shows [S]

Problem #1
this is not a problem.. if you leave the camera in the ON setting for long enough.. it goes to sleep ... in order to conserve battery life.. you need to keep some of the buttons pressed for a bit for it to wake up... e.g. keep the picture taking button depressed for 5 secs.

Problem #2
If you were checking the pictures after just shooting them then its probably a CF card problem. You can also get the same error .. i.e. corrupted files from the cameras perspective.. if you use a CF card reader and try to change the pictures on the card.
You should try to connect the CF card that has those pictures to a computer it might be able to open them.. .

Otherwise try another CF card.