Sony a6000 - “Cannot recognise lens. Attach it properly.” issue

[a.ysa.m]

hi,

ive kept my camera in pristine condition and always cleaned it after use and made sure that it stays fully functional, however yesterday there was an issue with the lens. 

I opened  my camera as I was going hiking and as I turned it on it was not focusing properly an gave me an error message saying “Cannot recognise lens. Attach it properly.”

So i reattached it yet the issue persisted however what I find interesting is that there is no issue with any of the contacts or joining pins. And the lens fits perfectly except for the fact that it does not extend when the camera turns on. 

I have a SELP1650 interchangeable lens. Attached with an a6000 24.3 megapixel sony camera.

i would appreciate any help tips or anything that anyone can give to help as I’m currently in the USA for vacation and I don’t want that my camera isn’t working for the whole duration of the trip!

Thank you!! 

[Mick_D · Accepted solution]

Hi @a.ysa.m, welcome to the Community.

Sometimes these lenses need a bit of a manual 'reset'. Often due to very slight trauma such as pushing the lens cap on while the barrel is extended, the zoom gearing inside the lens becomes dislocated and doesn't return to the correct position when you power off, so the electronic contacts no longer meet.

The solution is to physically 'jump' the gears to the correct starting position, so that it switches off/on properly. If you're on vacation, I'd wait until you return home before attempting this. There's some good advice on the Sony Alpha forums of the best way to go about it. Or you could just have the lens professionally serviced.

There is a temporary workaround you can use that will let you keep shooting until you can find a fix. In the Setup menu, toggle 'Release w/o lens' to 'Enable'. This function is designed to let the camera fire without a lens, or with a non-supported lens, so it will effectively override the error you are seeing and let you shoot normally.

Hope that works and you enjoy the rest of your vacation. 

Cheers

Mick

[a.ysa.m]

Thanks, I will attempt the ‘manual reset’! 

[a.ysa.m]

Thanks so much for the help. On looking closely I realised that the inner lens was very slightly poking out from one edge, hence the extension issue. I therefore just pushed it in very lightly and it worked like a charm! 

The help is much appreciated, now I can use my camera on vacation !! 

[Mick_D]

That's great news, thanks for the update! 

Mick

[hrickard]

how do you manually reset it?

[Mcgarofalo]

Cannot find the “ release w/o lens setting “ thanks

[HannahEd01]

Hey, if you have the a6000, you can find the release w/o option here: Help Guide

Let me know if you still need anything else.