My Nikon D5300 autofocus doesn't work, How to fix it?

Hi, I bought a Nikon 5300 last month and I noticed that the autofocus feature doesn't work. I have my lens switched to "A" and on the display to "Auto servo" and cleaned the metal contacts of the lens. The only way I could take a picture on "automatic" mode is to press AE-L/AF-L button on the back of the camera and it always looks blurry. By the way the lenses that I'm using are the Nikkor AF-S 18mm - 55mm that came with the camera. Oh to finish I noticed the problem now, because I always used the camera on manual mode since day 1

Hi, I bought a Nikon 5300 last month and I noticed that the autofocus feature doesn't work. I have my lens switched to "A" and on the display to "Auto servo" and cleaned the metal contacts of the lens. The only way I could take a picture on "automatic" mode is to press AE-L/AF-L button on the back of the camera and it always looks blurry. By the way the lenses that I'm using are the Nikkor AF-S 18mm - 55mm that came with the camera. Oh to finish I noticed the problem now, because I always used the camera on manual mode since day 1 Try another AF-S lens on your camera to check autofocus. Most probably, it's the lens that's broken. You can replace it with a cheap secondhand replacement just in case. I'm not familiar with that camera but It's possible you've got it set up for back button focusing - check that you haven't disabled focusing when the shutter release is half pressed. Open the Menu screen and look for Custom Settings, and Controls. Open Assign AE-L/AF-L button. Set it to AE/AF lock. That should be the default setting. Hope this helps. If the camera won't AF when you press the shutter button, but it will AF when you press the rear AF button, then your camera is working properly. Once most people first get their DSLR, one of the first things that they do is turn the AF off at the shutter button and on at the rear AF button. This allow you to focus once on your subject, recompose and then take the shot whenever you want without having to worry about the camera refocusing.

Otherwise, the lens is likely to be the problem. Take the camera and lens to a local camera shop. Once there, the salesperson can try your lens on a different body, and a different lens on your D5300.

I'm not familiar with that camera but It's possible you've got it set up for back button focusing - check that you haven't disabled focusing when the shutter release is half pressed.

Open the Menu screen and look for Custom Settings, and Controls. Open Assign AE-L/AF-L button. Set it to AE/AF lock. That should be the default setting. Hope this helps.

If the camera won't AF when you press the shutter button, but it will AF when you press the rear AF button, then your camera is working properly. Once most people first get their DSLR, one of the first things that they do is turn the AF off at the shutter button and on at the rear AF button. This allow you to focus once on your subject, recompose and then take the shot whenever you want without having to worry about the camera refocusing.

Otherwise, the lens is likely to be the problem. Take the camera and lens to a local camera shop. Once there, the salesperson can try your lens on a different body, and a different lens on your D5300.