fixing a lens error on a digital camera _do it yourself digital camera repair

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Custom Search NOW WITH IMPROVED SEARCH ENGINE! Use the above search engine to focus your search on camera repair related results from within this blog and from fixya.com. I've tried it already, and it seems to work well. CR SATURDAY, DECEMBER 22, 2007 Fixing a Lens Error on a Digital Camera This has to be THE most common failure mode for a digital camera. Some common error messages that might show up on the LCD's of cameras with this problem include “E18 lens error” (older Canons), "ACCESS" error (Sony), "Zoom Error" (Fuji), "Lens Obstructed" (Kodak), “lens error, restart camera” or just "lens error" (nearly all camera makers lately use this variation). Some cameras might show SHARE THIS SITE 13 25 IF THIS BLOG HELPS... THE BEST WAY TO SHOW YOUR APPRECIATION is to share this resource with others who may be experiencing the same problem that Berbagi Laporkan Penyalahgunaan Blog Berikut» Buat Blog Masuk DO IT YOURSELF DIGITAL CAMERA REPAIR THIS BLOG IS DEDICATED TO THE HOME REPAIR OF DIGITAL CAMERAS. PLEASE POST/SHARE YOUR OWN EXPERIENCE AND KNOWLEDGE IN THIS SUBJECT. CAMERA REPAIR SEARCH ENGINE Bursa Mobil Bekas Cari Mobil Bekas, Cek Kondisi, Harga & Mesin. Lengkap di berniaga! www.berniaga.com Spectral Optics Waveplates, plate/cube polarizers, beam splitters w/molecular fusion www.spectraloptics.com Fire damage clean-up 24/7 Emergency response service Call 0800 195 6776 www.atlasrestoration.co.uk Send Like 576 people like Fixing a Lens Error on a Digital Camera |Do It Yourself Digital Camera Repair http://camerarepair.blogspot.com/2007/12/fixing-lens-error-on-digital... 1

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Page 1: Fixing a Lens Error on a Digital Camera _Do It Yourself Digital Camera Repair

Custom Search

N O W W I T H I M P R O V E D S E A R C H E N G I N E !

Use the above search engine to focus your search on camerarepair related results from within this blog and fromfixya.com. I've tried it already, and it seems to work well.CR

S A T U R D A Y , D E C E M B E R 2 2 , 2 0 0 7

Fixing a Lens Error on a Digital Camera

This has to be THE most common failure mode for a digital camera.

Some common error messages that might show up on the LCD's of

cameras with this problem include “E18 lens error” (older Canons),

"ACCESS" error (Sony), "Zoom Error" (Fuji), "Lens Obstructed"

(Kodak), “lens error, restart camera” or just "lens error" (nearly all

camera makers lately use this variation). Some cameras might show

S H A R E T H I S S I T E

13

25

I F T H I S B L O G H E L P S . . .

THE BEST WAY TO SHOWYOUR APPRECIATION is to sharethis resource with others who may beexperiencing the same problem that

Berbagi Laporkan Penyalahgunaan Blog Berikut» Buat Blog Masuk

D O I T Y O U R S E L F D I G I T A LC A M E R A R E P A I R

T H I S B L O G I S D E D I C A T E D T O T H EH O M E R E P A I R O F D I G I T A L

C A M E R A S . P L E A S E P O S T / S H A R EY O U R O W N E X P E R I E N C E A N D

K N O W L E D G E I N T H I S S U B J E C T .

C A M E R A R E P A I R S E A R C H E N G I N E

Bursa Mobil Bekas Cari Mobil Bekas, Cek Kondisi, Harga & Mesin. Lengkap di berniaga! www.berniaga.com

Spectral Optics Waveplates, plate/cube polarizers, beam splitters w/molecular fusion www.spectraloptics.com

Fire damage clean-up 24/7 Emergency response service Call 0800 195 6776 www.atlasrestoration.co.uk

SendLike 576 people like this. Be the first of

Fixing a Lens Error on a Digital Camera |Do It Yourself Digital Camera Repair

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Page 2: Fixing a Lens Error on a Digital Camera _Do It Yourself Digital Camera Repair

nothing at all, but merely make a beeping noise as the lens goes out,

then in, then the camera shuts off. Sometimes the lens won't even

move.

The problem is actually quite common throughout all camera brands.

Usually it's sand or grit interfering with the lens extension mechanism.

Or the camera's been dropped with the lens extended. Or the camera

has been powered on, but the lens had been blocked preventing its

extension. Or the battery ran down with the lens extended. Believe it or

not, one BIG contributor to lens errors is using a camera case. Sand,

gunk, case fibers, etc... accumulate at the bottom of the case. These

materials love to cling to the camera by electrostatic build-up from the

camera rubbing against the side of the case (especially those cases with

soft fibrous intreriors). Once these materials work their way into the

lens mechanism, that's all she wrote. I have many Canon's, and NEVER

use a case for this very reason.

A camera owner that suffers this problem may have no recourse for

having the camera repaired. Many camera makers will not honor

repairing this problem under warranty as they claim it is due to impact

damage to the camera, or sand or debris getting into the lens gearing

mechanism (neither of which is covered under warranty). The quoted

repair cost is usually close to or more than what the camera is actually

worth.

Fortunately, about half the cameras that suffer this failure can easily be

fixed by one of the following methods. None of these methods involve

opening the camera, although some have potential to cause other

damage to the camera if excessively done. If the camera is still under

warranty, before trying any of these, please please first contact your

camera's maker to see if they'll cover the repair, or to determine how

much they'll charge for the repair. Who knows, you might get lucky.

But if they quote you a number that's higher than the value of your

camera, you may want to consider the following methods. First here's a

video summary of each of the fixes, and following that a detailed text

description of the fixes.

Video Summary Fixes 1 through 7

you had. You may have seen them inthe search that led you here. If in yoursurfing of the internet you comeacross others experiencing similarproblems with their camera, pleasebe kind and direct them to thissite.

Thanks,CR

W H Y T H I S B L O G ?

PLEASE READ THIS !Oh no! You've dropped your digitalcamera. And it's out of warranty. Andrepair costs more than the camera isworth. What to do short of tossing thecamera (or selling on ebay)? Well,believe it or not the average personhas a good chance of diy fixing that

Optical DynamicsIn-Office Lens ProductionCast-to-Rxopticaldynamics.com

LCD repair courseHome study course Startlearning nowwww.monitor-repair.com

Control Your DSLRFocusmicroFollowFocus fromRedrock Micro Accurate,Ergonomic and Affordableredrockmicro.com

TradeTech Asia 2011Sourcing and aggregatingliquidity through ImproveTrading Strategieswbresearch.com/tradetecha

Lens cleaningAnti-Scratch No StaticCleaners Microfiber cloths,Repels Dustwww.azuradisc.com

Fixing a Lens Error on a Digital Camera |Do It Yourself Digital Camera Repair

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The methods are listed in the order of risk of damaging your camera.

Thus make sure you try them in the listed order. And remember, thesefixes (especially #6 and 7) should only be considered for a

camera that's out of warranty, who's cost of repair would

be excessive, and would otherwise be considered fordisposal if unrepaired:

Fix #1: Remove the batteries from the camera, wait a few minutes.

Put a fresh set of batteries back in (preferably rechargeable

NiMH 2500mah or better) and turn the camera on. If using

rechargeables, and they're more than a year old, consider

purchasing new rechargeable batteries as they may not be providing

sufficient power to startup the camera.

Fix #1a: If new batteries didn't work, try pressing and holding the

Menu, Function, Function Set, or OK button while turning the

camera on. This along with Fix #1c and #2 sometimes work for lens

errors that occur from batteries wearing down while the lens was

extended.

Fix #1c: For those of you who can still access your camera's menus

with this error, try finding and selecting the "factory reset"option to set your camera back to its original factory condition. On

some Canon cameras, this requires holding the menu button down with

the camera powered on for up to 10 seconds. However note that a lens

error might sometimes override the reset option, and thus the option

might not appear.

Fix #2: If the camera's batteries ran down completely while its lens

was still open, the camera may show a lens error or not start properly

when new batteries are installed. Remove the memory card andkeep it removed, then install the new batteries. When you turn the

camera on with the card removed it may come back to life, as this

triggers a reset in some cameras. Error E30 (for older Canon's) means

that you don't have a memory card installed, so turn it off, slip in the

SD card and turn it on one last time

Fix #3: Insert the cameras Audio/Video (AV) cable, and turnthe camera on. Inserting this cable ensures that the camera's LCD

screen remains off during the start process. Thus extra battery power is

available to the camera's lens motor during startup. This extra power

can be useful in overcoming grit or sand particals that may be jamming

the lens. If the AV cable doesn't fix the lens error by itself, consider

keeping this cable installed while trying fixes 4, 5, and 7 as a

means to provide extra power to help to these fixes. But note that I

DON'T recommend keeping the cable installed during Fix 6 as you may

damage the AV port while tapping the camera. Reinsert the cable only

AFTER tapping the camera.

Fix #4: Place the camera flat on its back on a table, pointed at

camera themselves. All they'll needfor most cases is some patience, and alittle background knowledge. Theintent of the posts on this blog are tohelp provide that knowledge.

But now for the WARNINGS! Manyof the repairs posted here should onlybe considered as a last resort for abroken camera that would otherwisebe considered for disposal. Alsoplease consider those repairs thatrequire removing the cameracase to also require someelectrical background andknowledge, and should not beattempted by anyone unfamiliarwith basic electrical componentsand safety precautions.

Make sure you read this post and areaware of the potential DANGER OFSEVERE ELECTRICAL SHOCKshould you decide to proceed with a"do it yourself" repair that involvesremoving the camera case.

http://camerarepair.blogspot.com/2007/11/important-warning-camera-flash.html

WHAT YOU READ HERE IS NOTPROFESSIONAL ADVICE. Most ofthe posts and comments in this blogcome from amateur repair hobbyists(INCLUDING MYSELF). Take theadvice with a grain of salt. YOU MAYACTUALLY MAKE MATTERSWORSE by following what you readhere. Many of these repairs willalmost certainly VOID YOURCAMERA'S WARRANTY.

It's ultimately YOURRESPONSIBILITY should YOUDECIDE to try some of the repairsposted here.

B L O G A R C H I V E

► 2009 (4)

► 2008 (2)

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the ceiling. Press and hold the shutter button down, and at thesame time press the power-on button. The idea is that the

camera will try to autofocus while the lens is extending, hopefully

seating the lens barrel guide pins back into their slots.

Fix #5: Blow compressed air in the gaps around the lensbarrels with the idea of blowing out any sand or grit that may

be in there jamming the lens. Other variations include blowing

with a hair dryer in “no heat” setting, or sucking the gaps with a

vacuum (careful with this one). Some people also have actually used a

"Shop Vac" with this fix to help extend a retracted lens.

Now we're entering into the realm of potentially damagingyour camera in conducting the fix. There is definitely some

risk here, so take care when conducting the following fixes:

Fix #5a: If you actually do notice sand particles stuck in thegaps around the lens barrel, and blowing air does not help to

dislodge them, consider using a thin piece of paper or asewing needle to help dislodge them. Pay particular care not to

scratch your lens barrel with the needle. Also, I do not recommend

probing too deeply around the lens barrel with the paper (don't go

more than a 1 cm or 1/2 in) . Particularly I do not recommend probing

deeply around the most outer (largest) lens barrel gap, as you may

dislodge the lens barrel dust gasket that's located just inside of that

gap.

Dislodging Particles from Lens Barrel Gaps (Fix #5a)

Fix #6: Repeatedly tap the padded/rubber usb cover on a hard

surface with the intent of dislodging any particles that maybe jamming the lens. Other variations include hitting a side of the

camera against the palm of your hand. A lot of people have reported

success with this method. HOWEVER, there is also some obvious

potential for damaging or dislodging internal components with this

method, such as unseating ribbon cables, or cracking LCD screens.

Fix #6a: This is a variation of Fix #6, and should be tried if the lens

barrels appears straight (not crooked). In other words, try this if there's

▼ 2007 (14)

▼ December (4)

Fuji Digital Cameras ShowingBlack Images or Disto...

Fixing a Lens Error on a DigitalCamera

Canon A530 / A540 with ShortBattery Life or Hot B...

Absolutely Free Photo RecoverySoftware: The Top E...

► November (7)

► October (3)

D I D T H I S B L O G H E L P Y O U F I XY O U R C A M E R A ?

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no obvious mechanical damage to the lens barrels that's causing the

problem. With the lens pointed down, try "gently" tapping

around the lens barrels with a small item such as a pen orpencil. The idea is to try to dislodge any sand particles that

may be jamming the lens barrel stuck. Simultaneously try

turning the camera on and off as you're doing this.

Dislodging Particles by Tapping (Fix #6a)

Fix #7a: Note that this particular fix is intended only forcameras with lens barrels that try to extend, but then stop

partway, and then return to their stored position. Try grabbing and

holding the smallest inner lens barrel at its furthest extended position,

preventing it from returning to the camera. Examine and clean around

the lens barrel any noticed dust or dirt. Turn off and restart the camera

again. If the lens extends even further, grab it again at its furthest

extension, preventing it from returning. Clean again. Keep repeating

until the lens is fully extended. Turn off the camera and restart it to see

if the lens error has gone away.

Fix #7b: The most extreme of the fixes. Only consider this fix as an

absolute last resort before tossing the camera, as there's some

obvious potential for further damaging your camera by using

this method. You especially might consider this if the lensbarrel appears obviously damaged, bent, or crooked such as

from a fall. In that case, try thinking of the lens as adislocated shoulder. Try forcing the lens to straighten it and

put it back in its place. In such cases, the lens barrel guide pins

have become unseated from their guide slots (see the below

illustration). Your objective would be to try to reseat them by

straightening the lens. Listen for a "click" to hint that they've been

reseated, and immediately stop forcing the lens at this point. More

people have reported success with this method than with any of the

other methods (see the polls in the right column).

Variations to Fix #7b include gently pulling, rotating, and/or twisting

the lens barrel while hitting the power button. Examine the lens barrels

closely for any hint of tilt or unevenness. Again, the goal is to attempt

to straighten or align the barrel if it's crooked or twisted. Another

variation includes looking for uneven gaps around the lens barrel, and

Yes

No

Problem is not listed.

N/A Just Surfing

You may select multiple answers.

Show results

Votes so far: 1079Days left to vote: 47

I F Y O U H A D A L E N S E R R O R , W H I C HF I X W O R K E D ?

Fix #1: Replace Batteries

Fix #2: Remove Memory Card

Fix #3: Insert AV Cable

Fix #4: Shutter & Power Button

Fix #5: Blowing Air

Fix #6: Tapping USB Cover

Fix #7: Forcing The Lens

None Worked :-(

You may select multiple answers.

Show results

Votes so far: 2250Days left to vote: 46

W H I C H F R E E W A R E P H O T OR E C O V E R Y S O F T W A R E W O R K E DB E S T F O R Y O U ?

PhotoRec

MiniTool

VAIOSoft

PCInspector

Digicam

Recuva

Pandora

SoftPerfect

None worked :-(

Show results

Votes so far: 2Days left to vote: 413

A B O U T C A M E R A R E P A I R

DIG ITAL CAMERAVILLE

USA

VIEW MY COMPLETE

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then pushing on the side of the lens barrel that has the largest gap

(note pushing the lens barrel all the way in is NOT

recommended as it may become stuck there). Again, while

doing any of the above, listen for a click that indicates that the lens

barrel guide pins may have reseated in their guide slots. If you hear this

click, immediately stop and try the camera. The following photo

illustrates unseated guide pins that would cause a lens error.

If you try these fixes, please vote or post a comment on how the

fixes worked for you. Your experience may help others. Note that

most of the fixes listed here actually come from my reader's comments.

If the above fixes didn't work for you, then please read

through the reader's comments, especially the newer ones. There

are other techniques listed from readers there that just might work for

your situation. When posting a comment, please specify your camera

model, and the particular fix that worked. Please also comment if none

of the fixes were successful, or if you tried something different that

worked.

References:

Canon E18 Lens Error – This is the big kahuna of all E18 error camera

repair sites:

Make sure you also read their post section to hear of other peoples

successes and failure in fixing this problem:

More Canon E18 experiences and fixes at The Juggle Zone.

The E18 Error Experience Log. Even more Canon E18 experiences, plus

a good listing of E18 errors by Canon model:

Nikon Coolpix L3 Lens Error - This site has a few other fixes not listed

here that are applicable to the Nikon Coolpix cameras:

Jancology.com Nikon 5700 Lens Error - More people's experiences

with lens errors on Nikon cameras:

PROFILE

S U B S C R I B E T O D I Y D C R E P A I R

Posts

Comments

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1 – 200 of 1193 Newer› Newest»

SD600 Disassembly - Included this as an example of how sand can

easily gum up the small gears within your camera. The website also

shows a simple method for cleaning these gears.

POSTED BY CAMERA REPAIR AT 7:56 PM

LABELS: REPAIR GUIDES

1 1 9 3 C O M M E N T S :

Heather said...

Thanks for this post! I have a Nikon Coolpix P2 that had a Lens

Error. Removing and replacing the battery did the trick.

Thanks for this resource.

DECE MBE R 23, 2007 8:00 AM

Holistic said...

Thanks for the info. I have to say though, please add a caution

to be gentle while doing the suggested tapping part. I have a

Canon PowerShot SD200 which had the e18 error. I did

everything up to the tapping step, which worked, however,

when the lens finally opened I had no picture, it was just white.

I guess I tapped hard enough to break something inside, it

looks like a small bulb that is also now white... I fixed the initial

problem and broke the camera for good all in one step.... time

to go shopping. :-((

DECE MBE R 28, 2007 5:51 AM

Anonymous said...

I have a Casio Exlim EX S600. Ironically I was having a

missing screw replaced (strap holder) when I must have

accidentally turned on the camera inside my pocket.

My problem was when turning on the lens, it would extend,

present a blurrly image, and retract. I used the fix posted to

move the casings around (rotate, etc). What I did was turn on

the camera, allow the lens to extend, grabbed the lens casing

when it attempted to close. This action appears to have put the

gearing in the correct location to properly extend/retract.

Thanks for posting!

DECE MBE R 28, 2007 7:5 3 AM

Camera Repair said...

holistic, I'm sorry to hear that. Have updated the posting as

suggested. I suspect a ribbon cable became dislodged or slightly

disconnected from its connector. They're relatively easy to

reseat. But repair would involve opening up the camera and

individually reseating each ribbon cable connector.

Unfortunately, it's difficult to access these components in the

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elph series cameras (a lot of things in the way). And even then,

repair is not certain :( Since the camera is not working

anyways, may I suggest some additional gentle taps in the

slight hope of reestablishing connection in the affected ribbon

cable?

DECE MBE R 28, 2007 8:5 5 AM

Holistic said...

Thanks for the suggestion,

That worked and I am putting

the cash back in my wallet.

It wasn't as difficult as I thought

it would be to completely dismantle

the camera and put it back together.

Have a great weekend! :-))

DECE MBE R 28, 2007 9:47 AM

Camera Repair said...

holistic, Well good for you! And I will have a great weekend

after hearing of your success :-)

DECE MBE R 28, 2007 10:5 1 AM

jdolly said...

I had the same problem as holistic when trying to get the lens

unstuck...the lens went back in after tapping the USB pad, but

then the picture was all white on the LCD. I have a Sony

Cybershot DSC-W5. How feasible is it to reconnect the ribbon

cable connectors on it? Any step-by-steps you can give?

JANUAR Y 4, 2008 9:18 AM

Camera Repair said...

jdolly, I can try. First make sure the camera is working properly

with the exception of the LCD. Take a picture and view it on

your computer using a card reader. If the picture is fine, then

suspect the problem is with the LCD ribbon cable connection.

First review the warnings in the "Please Read This First"

section of this blog, especially the flash capacitor shock warning

and link. Next open the following link, and first read step 12!

Next proceed sequentially as instructed, but stop at step 5.

Jiggle the ribbon cable, put in the batteries and see if the LCD

works properly. If not, remove the batteries and continue to

step 11 where you have full access to the ribbon cable

connector. Lift up the lever on the connector to free the ribbon

cable. Gently pull it out and clean its end connections with a

Q-tip dipped in alcohol. Make sure it's dry before you reseat it,

and reassemble the camera. This should hopefully work. Here's

two attempts at the link (my html skills are much to be

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desired), if neither works copy and paste the url to your

browser:

http://www.depreyswildlife.com/Mods/W5&W7

/Mod%20for%20DSCW5.pdf

http://www.depreyswildlife.com/Mods/W5&W7

/Mod%20for%20DSCW5.pdf

Good Luck,

CR

JANUAR Y 4, 2008 10:31 AM

Camera Repair said...

jdolly, one more thing. After reading the link more closely,

believe that you only need to go to step 8 to be able to

remove/reseat the cable.

CR

JANUAR Y 4, 2008 10:36 AM

darklurker said...

I have a GE A730 that was giving a Lens Error message after

being in my pocket (probably accidently hit the powerbutton

and the camera freaked when it tried to extend the lens).

However, the lens seemed to go in and out OK when I'd try to

turn it on. I finally fixed it by holding the "OK" button and

turning the camera on. That must have reset the error status in

the camera. It now works like normal.

JANUAR Y 6, 2008 9:10 AM

Tony said...

This was extreemely useful! My daughter dropped her Casio

Exilim EXZ75 and came to me saying 'Daddy please fix.' When

turned on, the lens went all the way out but didn't return all the

way in and displayed a Lens Error. So I used the "Press gently

on the lens" fix. The important part was using very gentle and

very even pressure. Also was stopping when I heard a faint

click. Like you describe, this reset the pins and now the camera

works perfectly again. --Tony

JANUAR Y 6, 2008 6:16 PM

Anonymous said...

It might just be i really messed up my camera but i tried ALLL

of the ways and nothing worked... this sucks i want all the

picture on my camrea and all these way to fiz seem so legit...

grrrrr i hate a non fixed camera!!!!!

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JANUAR Y 8, 2008 3:00 AM

Camera Repair said...

Sorry to say that only about half of the lens errors can be

corrected by these methods. But you mention that you want the

pictures from your camera. Shouldn't you still be able to

download these pictures from your memory card using a simple

cheap card reader? Here's an example:

Example Cheap Card Reader

JANUAR Y 8, 2008 6:28 AM

Anonymous said...

i have an exilim ex-z75, and a few months ago[i haven't used

my camera in ages, but i need it in a few days so i decided to see

if i could fix it.] i picked it up off my table and went to take a

picture, and it didn't work. i don't know if someone dropped it

when i wasn't home, whatever it is, it doesnt work. i tried these,

but its not fixing it. when i turn it on and quickly click the 'view

pictures' button, i can view my pictures, and the lens does not

come out, but when i just turn it on, the lens comes out about

3/4, and then goes back in and the screen says either 'lense

error' or 'retry power on' any idea of what i could do, other than

these things?

JANUAR Y 16, 2008 6:01 PM

Camera Repair said...

You mention you haven't used the camera in ages. One possible

thing may be that the battery has worn down through non-use,

and can no longer holding a sufficient charge. This can

sometimes cause an error on startup due to the additional

power needed to open the lens barrel. Do you know of anyone

else with a similar camera that you may borrow their battery to

try with your camera?

If this doesn't work, see the third anonymous comment above

from the person with an EX-S600. This person had a similar

lens error to yours and fixed it by grabbing and holding onto

the lens barrel as it was attempting to reclose. If you feel brave,

try it. But there is some risk to your camera. Trying this will be

your decision. Please don't blame me if instead undesirable

results occur.

JANUAR Y 16, 2008 6:37 PM

Anonymous said...

I have a Sony W70 that has the lens get stuck at 1.3x

magnification when I try to zoom in. The camera will instruct

me to turn off the power and then on again but the same

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problem happens. Blowing compressed air into the lens did the

trick! I guess it's because I have a silicone covering for the

camera that while it protects it from scratches, it doesn't help

with the dust particles. I didn't want to give up on the camera

for it was a gift for my birthday.

Thank you very much!

JANUAR Y 17, 2008 7:07 PM

amgehan said...

Thanks so much! I have a Canon PowerShot A530 and I

dropped it while I was taking a picture and it turned off. The

think that worked for me is #7;; Forcing the lens in.

JANUAR Y 18, 2008 7 :26 PM

Pradeep said...

Thanks so much! I have a Canon PowerShot A560 and I

dropped it while I was taking a picture and it turned off. The

thing that worked for me is #7;; Forcing the lens in.

JANUAR Y 20, 2008 10:30 AM

Anonymous said...

Thanks so much- tried your ideas and my camera is back in

business- was suffering from a drop and croked zoom

JANUAR Y 20, 2008 4:13 PM

vince said...

Thanks for the help. I was able to repair my daughter's Sony

DSC-W5by gently tapping on the USB plastic covering, while

holding the camera upside down. I'm sure you saved me a

considerable amount in repairs or in a new purchase. Thanks

again, Vince.

JANUAR Y 22, 2008 10:07 AM

Anonymous said...

thanks! the forcing the lens worked while turning it off and on!

You saved me from having to pay my boss $$!

JANUAR Y 22, 2008 12:09 PM

Anonymous said...

This is probably not a lens error, because other things are

wrong other than the lens. But thought it won't hurt to try...

Canon A510..powers on, shows the canon screen, lens stuck

(almost all the way in except for maybe about 3/16 of an

inch)then powers off. Can't view anything other than the

start-up screen. I have another canon (the 4mp version of this

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3mp) that I have put the installation cd into my computer for

so I tried to connect the A510 to my computer without

installing its cd but the computer didn't recognize it. I don't

know if it's because it's not the exact same camera or if it's

because of it being broken. (I had used a HP camera on my

computer without the cd and the computer recognnized that

one) Anyway, if there are any suggestions...this camera is

already broken so I will try them!

Thanks!

JANUAR Y 22, 2008 2:3 7 PM

Anonymous said...

oh yea, I also can't turn it off before it powers off.

JANUAR Y 22, 2008 3:08 PM

Anonymous said...

My camera doesn't have a rubber cover for the usb port, so,

similar to the "tapping" method, I turned the camera so the

lens was pointing down and smacked the bottom of the camera

against my inner thigh. Powered camera up and it worked fine.

JANUAR Y 23, 2008 5:28 PM

Anonymous said...

well I had my Finepix s7000 lens stucked with sand(yes sand!).

it turns on at picture model with the logo and then died. The

lens does not retract.The logo is still there but very hard to see

as the screen seems to be dark but it is there and freezed.

So switch back to OFF and then View model then OFF to

retract. Tried all the way but not work. Should I open it to clean

the lens and gears or should I just put it in some kind of liquid

to remove those sand away without the batteries, and then

completely dry it? I just scare to open it by myselt.

Thank you for your best comment/Regards

JANUAR Y 25, 2008 12:5 7 AM

Camera Repair said...

Anonymous, You have a nice camera. Sorry to hear about the

sand. But first, do not use liquids to clear the sand. Also, you

shouldn't open the camera to clean the sand if you don't feel

confident in doing so. Instead, would recommend repeated

cleaning's with compressed air around the lens, and also in any

openings of the camera (memory card slot, battery door, etc.).

Maybe also consider using a small vacuum cleaner around

these openings to draw the sand out. In between each cleaning,

try tapping or shaking the camera to dislodge more sand. The

logo is showing up dark as much of the battery power is likely

going to the lens motor trying to overcome the sand.

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JANUAR Y 25, 2008 8:10 A M

Josh said...

WHEWW!!! OMG THAT WAS SO CLOSE. BECAUSE I DIDN'T

HAVE A WARRANTY. AND MY MOM DIDN'T KNOW THAT I

BOUGHT THE CAM YET. BUT I DID THIS BEFORE THE

PAGE LOADED. BECAUSE ONCE I GOT THE LENS ERROR

ON THE LCD SCREEN. I AUTOMATICALLY SEARCHED UP

ON GOOGLE. AND WHILE THIS PAGE WAS LOADING, I

FORCED THE LENS IN. AND I HEARD A CLICK. THEN I

TURNED IT ON AND IT WORKED! THEN I CHECKED ON

HERE TO SEE IF MY STRATEGY WAS ON HERE. AND IT

WAS! I VOTED. THANKS FOR THE SITE ANYWAY!

JANUAR Y 25, 2008 11:56 AM

Anonymous said...

Hi,

Just a quick note to say that with the help of the Dyson (other

vacuums are available) I managed to get our Casio Exilim

Z1000 working again.

The lens had been fully retracted, and merely twitched when

powered on, displaying 'Lens error' on the screen.

Put the nozzle on the Dyson and worked it over the lens

assembly for a few seconds and hey presto, it works again. For

how long, I don't know...

JANUAR Y 27, 2008 2:28 PM

Ashley said...

After trying the other suggestions on my Canon Powershot

A570 IS I tried #7 by grabbing the lens during power on and

not allowing it to retract. The Lens error message occurred,

although the next power on the lens extended further and all is

now working.

Thanks heaps.

JANUAR Y 28, 2008 3:18 AM

Sara said...

do not try forcing the lens. you'll come short.

FEBRUA RY 4, 2008 1:15 PM

bruce said...

Sonny DSC-W55:

lens gets stuck occasionally on start-up. when it wants to

extend but it cant do so, i fix it by patiently pulling on the lens.

on start-up.

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patience is needed, and sometimes i can't do it unless i'm

sitting on a desk with a flat surface.

FEBRUA RY 5, 2008 9:58 AM

teenynz said...

hi there. ive tried all of your tips but nothing has worked.

i have a casio ex-z75 that just stopped working, when i turn it

on the lens comes out and it makes a kind of buzzing/clinking

noise, the camera turns off but the lens is still out and then says

lens error, i then have tried holding the lens turning it etc. but

nothing has worked. i think that i will have to open it up. any

other suggestions or steps in what to do when i open it up?

FEBRUA RY 5, 2008 11:35 PM

Ronit said...

Very cool! I have a Canon Powershot A560, whose lens

wouldn't even BEGIN to open, and it reported "Lens error,

restart camera". I went down the list of fixes - and #6 worked!!

(Banging it around a bit). Way to go! Thank you so much!!

FEBRUA RY 6, 2008 11 :23 AM

Camera Repair said...

teenynz,

Sorry to hear that the easy fixes didn't work. But really, they

only work for something less than half the people based on the

voting, so don't feel too bad. Wish that I could give you some

easy tips for fixing the error by opening the camera, but I'm

afraid there is none. If the easy fixes didn't work, then the

camera probably needs replacement of the entire lens

assembly, which is no trivial task.

FEBRUA RY 6, 2008 7:39 PM

patrick said...

Hello camera repair, I was interested in buying an canon

sd1000 or something like it, but after reading all of these

problems I am reluctant. Can you please suggest which camera

would be a good choice.

Thank You,

From Patrick.

FEBRUA RY 10, 2008 2:47 AM

Camera Repair said...

Lens error's are a potential problems for all digital cameras

with a telescopic lens. Doesn't matter what maker. The SD1000

is a nice camera at a nice price. I'd say go for it, or it's bigger

brother at about the same price, the A570 IS. Also take a look at

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Sony, as they also make some nice cameras.

FEBRUA RY 10, 2008 10:5 9 AM

Anonymous said...

Hi, I write you from Argentina. I have a Pentaz Optio E40 and

the lens is every time stayed out. It is stuck in that position.

Sometimes when I turn on the camera the legend "Lens error:

120,1,0,0" appears. I have tried everything you explain in the

site but nothing happens. I would appreciate your help, thanks!

Matias

FEBRUA RY 18, 2008 4:49 PM

Camera Repair said...

Matias,

As mentioned, these fixes only seem to work for less than half

of lens errors. For the unlucky half, the next option would be

replacement of the lens mechanism. Unfortunately, this usually

costs more than the average camera is worth. If it's too costly to

repair, and you have no other option, you might want to

consider retrying the last too fixes (tapping the camera, and

forcing the lens). Only this time using a little more force than

before.

Keep in mind that you may damage the camera further, and

please don't blame me if you do. But many people have

reported success with these two methods by using what they

considered excessive force.

For example, the following blog was started with the intention

of advising people NOT to bang on their camera. Of course,

people did the opposite, and you can guess their comments,

and the surprize of the blog's author:

Blog advising against banging cameras

FEBRUA RY 18, 2008 5:14 PM

Anonymous said...

Ok. I will keep on trying with these methods, and thank you

very much for your quick response. I will not blame you!! Then

I told you the results, Matias

FEBRUA RY 18, 2008 5:40 PM

Anonymous said...

I couldn't believe it I fixed my camera. I own a 5 month old

Panasonic Lumix DMC-LX2. My wife did drop the camera

accidentally and got the lenses stuck. I keep using my powerful

central vacuum hose to vacuum any dirt or debris from the

lenses and actually pull the camera lenses out slowly by suction

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air. I loosen the screw at the bottom of the lense and let the

vacuum do more cleaning for about 10 minutes. I put the screw

back and the camera works like a charm. Thank you for the

info.

FEBRUA RY 20, 2008 5:46 PM

DanP. said...

I have a big problem hope you can help....I have a powershot

SD1000 and have had it since christmas went on a trip to the

beach and it was working fine than all of a sudden the focus

started coming in blurry. This was without zooming in at all. At

some times it says "lens error restart camera too" but the lens is

still extended. Any suggestions??

FEBRUA RY 25, 2008 2:5 7 AM

Camera Repair said...

danp.,

As the camera is relatively new, recommend contacting Canon

and requesting warranty repair of the focus problem.

CR

FEBRUA RY 25, 2008 5:56 PM

Anonymous said...

Thank you, this blog entry was so helpful! I had already tried

using new batteries, but it was the memory card the whole

time. Thanks again. :)

FEBRUA RY 26, 2008 1:53 PM

dguzman said...

I have a Coolpix 4800; I jammed the lens in an adapter during

digiscoping. It wouldn't make any noises or anything when I

turned it on; I just got the lens error. I tried all your fixes,

including opening the thing up (following your other Coolpix

instructions and just guessing at what to do) but I couldn't

actually get to the lens pins/guides assembly without more

detailed model instructions. So I finally gave up, but upon

putting the thing back together and trying the lens, I got an

improvement (I think): the lens actually made a fast rat-a-tat

sound like it was trying to spin and engage. I'm re-charging the

battery (it had sitting a while) and who knows? Maybe it will

work. Otherwise, I'll likely just give up on it.

FEBRUA RY 27, 2008 4:56 PM

John said...

I have a Canon SD1000, that recently had a little bit of a

different problem than most posts here. I figured I would post

my experience in hopes of helping out the cause. I did not get

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an error but after zooming to any extent, I was not able to zoom

out. Powering the camera off and back on would reset the

zoom, but only until zooming in again... Anyhow, to fix this I

removed the battery and held the power button in for about a

minute. After replacing the battery and powering the camera

back on it seems to work fine. I hope this helps; no banging

required :)

MARCH 3, 2008 5:51 PM

Anonymous said...

I have a casio exz75. I was sitting on the floor and it slipped

from my hand while the lens was out. now it wont go back in,

and one side is in more then the other due to the angle of the

fall, i read the comments with the same exz75 owners but

nothing helped. i actually tried twisting it back in but i was

afraid to break it any other suggestions plzzzzzz

MARCH 5, 2008 5:13 PM

Anonymous said...

Thank you for the great tips.. None of which worked. We tried

them all and ended up taking a few screws out and then oiling

around the lens with sewing machine or hair clipper oil. Use

very little of this. Its amazing! Thank you for the tips anyways!

:)

MARCH 7, 2008 8:51 AM

Camera Repair said...

Now that's a first. Anyone else out there have any success by

applying a tiny bit of oil around the lens barrel?

MARCH 7, 2008 10:13 AM

jonno said...

Yes I tried some light machine oil on my Coolpix L6, it didn't

help. I am pretty sure there is some grit in there because on the

odd occasion when I can get the lens fully extended I can see

scratch marks down the outside of one of the barrels.

I have also tried gently probing with a feeler gauge; 6 thou

seems a good size that will just fit between the sliding barrels

but is still strong enough to shift obstructions. Again, this

didn't work for me, I suspect the grit has ended up in the

cogwheels below the barrels. I tried taking the whole thing

apart to clean it but can't work out how to get the front cover

off.

MARCH 9, 2008 3:46 PM

Camera Repair said...

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jonno,

Take a look at this. The procedures should be similar for your

L6.

Note that I was never able to fix my L10 camera illustrated

here. Most broken ones on ebay seem to also have lens errors,

thus could not find a replacement part.

MARCH 9, 2008 4:40 PM

Chris and Jess said...

I dropped my Nikon Coolpix P2 while it was on, and got the

dreaded Lens Error. Since I lost my wife's last camera, this was

very bad news. Thanks so much for your tips, some gentle

prodding reseated the lens and made me look like a hero!

MARCH 9, 2008 5:53 PM

Lynn said...

I have the Kodak M753 and had actually tried step 7 in

despiration but to no avail before I found your blog. I went

from error 114,1,0,0 to 115,1,0,0 to 122,1,0,0 (lens would not

retract any more!) Your recommendation gave me the

confidense and the determination (since i really had nothing to

lose . . . repair would likely have cost more than the camera and

the non-refundable shipping and handling charges from kodak

were half the price! Thanks for the help. Got the pictures I

needed!

MARCH 16, 2008 10:09 AM

Scairns said...

This blog is awesome. Banging my camera (gently or otherwise)

did not seem to help. I attemptedsome of the other methods

but nothing reliable happened. However, when I went to turn

my camera on, facing downwards.. I shook or "tremored" my

hand while the lens extended and it seemed to work. Its

repeated several times and I'll see if the behavior continues this

wkend.

MARCH 20, 2008 9:38 PM

charlotte said...

Hi i have a olympus stylus 750. I dropped it today and the lens

is stuck fully out. I can still view the pics on camera but as soon

as i change it to take a picture, it moves slightly and i can hear a

noise but then it just switches off. I`m not getting any messages

come up. I really like the camera and havent had it long. Should

i still try the methods. Do you know how much they charge to

fix it cause they wont tell me without me paying £20 just to

look at it. Many thanks Charlotte

MARCH 21, 2008 9:04 AM

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charlotte said...

I i tried the pushing it in and its gone all funny. I can get a

picture up now but its blurry and the lens isnt coming out

properly any ideas please Charlotte

MARCH 21, 2008 9:45 AM

kalysta said...

oh my goodness...thank you so much for the poost! i was

freaking out when i got this problem on my canon digital ixus i7

and to think all i need to do was fix #4 to solve it all! you're my

saviour!

MARCH 21, 2008 10:02 AM

Camera Repair said...

charlotte,

Lens errors, especially from falls are very common. And yes,

the cost of fixing usually exceeds the value of the camera. But

note that the fixes listed here will not work for everyone.

Sometimes a lens can be damaged in a fall beyond repair. But I

wouldn't just give up on your camera yet. The fact that your

getting a picture, although blurry, is hopeful. Recommend

closely looking at the lens barrel when it's extended. Look for

any uneveness, and then gently try to straighten it by pulling

pushing twisting as needed. Listen for that "click" and stop

immediately if you hear it. If you get the lens working properly,

come back and we'll discuss focusing if that's still a problem.

CR

MARCH 21, 2008 10:02 AM

michaelhill1974 said...

I have a GE A730. I dropped it today and when I turn it on I get

the lens error message. I tried some of the things here but it is

not working. When I turn it on the lens come out the lens error

message shows and the camera shuts off. The lens will not

retract into the camera. Any help would be appreciated. My

wife is pretty upset at me for dropping her camera.

MARCH 21, 2008 9:09 PM

Anonymous said...

Hey my camera fell cause my brother threw it on now my dad is

really mad because i had save my money for 3 years now i don't

know what to do my lense is one side is in the other is out i

tried all the tricks but it doesn't work please help and reply

back at [email protected] or at yahoo answer in the

camra section its paki angel bluezzzzzzz

MARCH 22, 2008 9:22 AM

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Anonymous said...

im like the post before this one my brother threw mine my

camera is a fe-230 i tried alot i wish if you can help try any time

to not reply to this because i don't know the site name sooo its

[email protected]

[email protected]

[email protected] but i dont use Aim..............

MARCH 22, 2008 9:26 AM

Sean said...

I have a Canon Powershot A540 with a lens error. When I hit

the power button, I noticed that the telescoping lens tried to

adjust itself but got crooked. While the power was still on and

the lens was out, I simply (and gently) pushed down on the

higher side. Went back in like a charm!

Thanks for all the help and good luck to all.

MARCH 22, 2008 8:14 PM

Anonymous said...

I have a Sony Cyber Shot and was about 10 seconds away from

buying a new camera till I saw your site. My lens was frozen

and I couldn't close it. But I noticed there was a small gap and

the lens was actually crooked when I sat it down. I gently

pushed it to the side and it worked like a charm!!! Thank you

soooooooooo much!!!!!!

MARCH 23, 2008 11:07 AM

Anonymous said...

Wow - i can't believe that worked.

I have a Canon Powershot SD400 and the lens jammed one

day. I was getting ready to ship it off to some repair center

when i found this site. After gently but firmly tapping the A/V

out corner of the camera 4 or 5 times it works like a charm

again.

THANK YOU VERY MUCH!

MARCH 25, 2008 12:22 PM

jonno said...

Well, I finally got the lens assembly out of my Coolpix L6 But it

wasn't easy, the inside is very different from that shows by the

excellent L10 instructions provided by Camera Repair. I can

give more details if anyone needs them but you do need to be

able to unsolder a couple of wires and the battery terminals.

In any case the lens assembly was wrapped around by ribbon

cables and could not be opened very far, but from what I could

see everything was OK, no missing gear teeth etc, so I applied a

bit of machine oil to the moving parts (keeping well away from

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the actual lenses) and reassembled it. It's certainly better but

there is still something sticking, gentle taps while the lens is

trying to open seems to help it and I can now take pictures

again, maybe it will improve further with use... OK, and maybe

pigs will fly?

MARCH 30, 2008 1:01 PM

Anonymous said...

Like everything else manufactured this day and age, digital

cameras are no different....its all over-priced,disposable junk.

MARCH 31 , 2008 6:57 PM

Jenna said...

Hi

i have a canon digital ixus60 or whatever its called... i've tried

all the suggestions but none of them are working :(

it says lens error, restart camera. the lens stays inside the

camera and doesnt come out. we've had it looked at but the

camera ppl said it will cost more to fix it than it would be to buy

a new camera.

it broke at the end of a linkin park concert, but im so happy i

got fantastic pics off the memory card :)

guess i better get a new camera now lol

MARCH 31 , 2008 8:50 PM

Anonymous said...

I dropped my canon powershot SD800IS in the middle of my

european vacation. the cylinder with the smaller diameter

wouldn't completely retract and the picture was blurry. There

was one position on the zoom dial that will take a clear picture

but it took a while to find it. I read your site but tips #1-5 didn't

work. I did not want to try tips #6-7 because i might completely

wreck my camera and not be able to take any picture for the

remainder of my vacation. Just got home yesterday and i tried

tip #7 today. While powering up, i pulled the inner cylinder

counter clockwise and felt a snap. Camera fixed! I regret not

doing this while on vacation because taking pictures was a real

pain when the camera was busted. At least now i don't have to

buy a new camera. Thanks a lot!

APR IL 1, 2008 6:56 AM

Anonymous said...

:>) lol, totally kool dude !!! Like i've been working on

sophisticated electro-mechanical systems for over half a

century [AEROSPACE]. And while it should be obvious that

anything can potentially fail [in infinite variation] typically, it's

moving parts and poor contacts that are at fault -- And your site

nailed it -- COWABUNGA !!!

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APR IL 1, 2008 10:29 PM

Anonymous said...

Holy shit!

thanks so much!

i did everything.

this helped so much :D

yayy!

APR IL 3, 2008 3:40 PM

Anonymous said...

OMG THANK YOU YOUR BLOG ON LENSES FIXED MY

KODAK C513 I WAS SKEPTICAL AT FIRST I WAS EVEN

SURPRISED WHEN I FIXED IT THE ONE THAT HELPED

OUT WAS TWISTING THE LENS WHILE PUSHING THE

POWER...THANX SO MUCH

APR IL 3, 2008 8:02 PM

Allan said...

Hi... I can't thank you enough for your blog. As I was about to

throw my FinePix A205 in the garbage for a "lens error", my

wife suggested I google for a quick fix. I was so depressed (since

we don't have the money to upgrade) but a quick scan of your

fixes led me to quickly try Fix #4: Place the camera flat on its

back... and low and behold, as if by magic, I was shooting! I

couldn't wait to send off this POSITIVELY first comment ever.

ty... mil gracias!~sigh ;)

APR IL 5, 2008 5:31 PM

Anonymous said...

Hi. Thanks for the website!!! My camera was filled with

sand...somehow, and the lens had got stuck and wouldn't

retract. After reading this website i tried the twist method and

found it worked!!!! touch wood.....thanks again!!!!!

APR IL 6, 2008 3:03 AM

Tanairi Morales said...

thank you sooooo much. i plugged it into my computer and its

working now... you rock!

APR IL 10, 2008 1 :10 PM

Michele said...

Thank you for your advice!

This site truly gave me the inspiration to "slap" my camera out

of its funk. I have had my Coolpix P2 camera for 2 years, and it

has never given me problems, until I got the dreaded "Lens

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error", for seemingly no reason (did not drop it, spill anything

on it, etc.). The barrel would not go in, the lens opened halfway.

I tried removing the battery, that did not work. I tried the next

steps, blowing on it, putting it in review mode, turning it on

upside down, etc etc ... finally, I tried shaking and hitting and

pushing. Still nothing.

After about 5 or 6 times of hitting it in every spot and from

every direction, one would think there was no hope ... well, by

the 7th (10th?) time, I tried hitting it from the top right side,

and, miraculously everything fell back into place. I have my

camera back again!

Thanks to this site. Much better than paying someone to "fix"

it... Sometimes even machines need a little shake. =)

APR IL 11, 2008 3:47 PM

Anonymous said...

FinePix A500:

had this solution, tried everything.

Eventually i slowly applied pressure on the focas len, and the

zoom mechinism, when it was switching off, and it make a

click. some sand came out, and the camera started working.

the motor is loud though, i then polished and oiled the zoom

lens cases. and ran some more compressed air though.

I mean, a loud zoom motor, or a �100 repair bill?

i'd rather doing it my way. hope this helps

APR IL 18, 2008 1:28 PM

Anonymous said...

FinePix A500:

had this solution, tried everything.

Eventually i slowly applied pressure on the focas len, and the

zoom mechinism, when it was switching off, and it make a

click. some sand came out, and the camera started working.

the motor is loud though, i then polished and oiled the zoom

lens cases. and ran some more compressed air though.

I mean, a loud zoom motor, or a £100 repair bill?

i'd rather doing it my way. hope this helps

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APR IL 18, 2008 1:29 PM

Tania said...

Thanks a lot!!!

I tried most of the tips but the one that worked was pulling on

the lens barrel while starting up the camera. I used my

fingernail on the little plastic protector to pull the lens out. My

camera came back to life!

APR IL 19, 2008 11:51 AM

Anonymous said...

You're amazing and I'm so grateful. I had actually bought a new

cheap camera to get me by untill I could afford another and

thought as a last ditch effort I would do a search on Google for

Error's involving my "Sony Cyber-shot dsc-w1". I found your

website and removing the batteries and memory card worked

for me. I just hope I didn't damage the lens in all the fiddling I

was doing with it prior. Wish I found your website earlier.

Thanks. It was a camera about to go in the bin and is now

resurected. A++++

APR IL 21 , 2008 4:37 AM

Rachel said...

Thank you so much for your help! I fixed my camera! I have a

Nikon Coolpix S7c. First, I took out the battery and the memory

card. Turned it on and then off again and the lens cover finally

closed. When I turned it on after that I still saw the "lens error",

so I applied "gentle" pressure to the lens while it was open.

When I turned it on again I aimed toward the ceiling and

snapped a picture really fast and it was fixed! I am so excited!

Thanks again!

APR IL 23, 2008 12:39 PM

i hate cameras :) said...

okay so i have a Casio exilim 10.1 mega pixel and i dont know

what happened to it. it dropped on the ground on top of the

lens and the camera completely shut off and the lens is now

halfway extended outward and it doesnt let the camera go

on/off. the lens wont budge and i dont have a budget to fix this

PROBLEM. so can you help me?

APR IL 24, 2008 3:46 PM

allawi said...

Thanks a lot. it is working again. but pictures has clear

horizontal lines. tried different settings , no change. Any

advice?

APR IL 24, 2008 8:09 PM

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Camera Repair said...

I Hate Camera's, since the lens is obviously out of alignment,

recommend the last listed fix (trying to force it back into

alignment). Hope you get lucky, but keep in mind that only

about half the people are able to fix their cameras with these

procedures.

Allawi, your symptoms sound like a CCD problem. If your

camera is a Canon, Sony, Konica, Minolta or Fuji, click on the

following to see if your camera is listed:

If Canon click here

If Sony, Konica, or Minolta click here

If Fuji click here

APR IL 24, 2008 8:40 PM

Debbie said...

Canon PowerShot A530 - One of the supervisor's dropped the

office A530 yesterday. My co-worker and I spent about 30

minutes this morning trying all 7 of the fixes on your list, to no

avail. We knew that there wasn't much we could do to hurt the

camera, since if our attempts failed, the camera was toast

anyway. So after changing the batteries, removing the memory

card, tapping the usb cover, and finally forcing the lens

(repeatedly) with minimal success, my co-worker decided to

hold the camera flat, lens up, about 6 inches above the floor,

and dropped it. Miraculous results, it worked and continues to

work! At least, LOL, until the next time the boss drops it!

APR IL 25 , 2008 7 :5 6 AM

sunworshipper said...

i have had the problem where the lens was half stuck out and i

had the 3 beeps, i worryingly pushed the lens back into the

camera. i have been able to leverage the lens out about 3mm

but i can't pull it out any further. do i need to take this back to

the shop?

APR IL 27, 2008 4:02 AM

Anonymous said...

I have a Canon Ixus 860 IS. It had this lens error and I noticed

the whole lens was crooked. When you looked at it the lens

"hole" was sideways and it would not retract completely inside

the camera. Zooming in worked, but zooming out didn't and

caused a lens error.

I tried forcing the lens by twisting it to the correct position

while powering of, and finally it clicked and retracted in. Now it

works properly. :)

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APR IL 29, 2008 6:48 PM

ian said...

mine is a Samsung S630, just bought it three days ago. While

testing the macro i accidentally stepped on uneven ground and

hit the lens towards the wall. it now angles downwards and

wouldnt retract, plus the camera freezes with the samsung logo

when turned on. im desperate for help! im afraid warranty

wont cover this one.

APR IL 29, 2008 10:03 PM

Anonymous said...

I have a A530 Powershot.Thanks a lot for your help the posting

with the solution for the 'lens error' solution doing the

following worked to a treat and saved me a lot of money!!!

Another variation includes looking for uneven gaps around the

lens barrel, and then pushing on the lens barrel side that has

the largest gap. While doing these, listen for a click that

indicates that the lens barrel guide pins have reseated in their

guide slots. If you hear this click, immediately stop and try the

camera. The following photo illustrates unseated guide pins

that would cause a lens error.

MAY 3, 2008 4:26 AM

S.T. said...

You're a lifesaver! I have a Canon PowerShot A630 and I was

getting the "lens error, restart camera" message" so, after

reading your suggestions, I banged it on my desk several times

and...lo and behold...it works! Thank you!!! :)

MAY 5, 2008 7:48 PM

Zahra said...

Hey...

i dropped my camera recently and have a stuck lens. I've tried

all of the methods. The one that seems to work is forcing the

lens until it clicks. Then turning the camera on. It extends fully.

Then retracts, there's a partial shutter closure. Then it tries to

extend again and gets stuck.

It seems I hear the pin click into place when I force it but as

soon as the assembly starts moving, the pin becomes loose

again.

Do I need to open the camera up at this point?

clearly, its a guide pin problem but not sure if i've broken

something in the guide pin assembly that keeps it from staying

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in place...

HELP!! :-)

Thanks,

MAY 6, 2008 8:10 PM

Anonymous said...

I have a Kodak EasyShare C613 and I recently dropped it in the

grass. Now everytime I try to turn it on, "Lens Error 150,0,047"

flashes on the screen and then the camera turns off. I've been

trying to find help online, but i don't really understand what to

do. I've seen a lot of people suggesting "pushing, pulling, and

banging" but I don't know exactly how to go about it and I don't

want to COMPLETELY break my camera when it still seems to

be half-working. Like I said, it turns on, but the lens only

extends a tiny bit, and then the lens error comes up and it

quickly turns off. So I can't get a good grip on the lens barrel to

try to pull it out. The camera looks perfectly fine except for the

lens cover. The bottom part of it doesn't go all the way down

when I turn the camera on, which I'm guessing is the problem,

but I don't know how to fix it. Using a blow-dryer didn't work

and neither did changing the batteries. I also tried turning the

camera on and holding down the shutter button but that did

nothing. I love my digital camera and I have to use it.

But there's no way I'm sending it somewhere to get fixed and I

don't want to have to buy a new one, so if anyone can help me,

I'd greatly appreciate it. Thanks.

MAY 8, 2008 6:45 PM

loca lynn said...

Help! I was taking picture of pictures i had to draw for a class. I

was holding my Exlim Casio z70 at chest height and it slipped

out of my fingers onto the kitchen floor. Now the camera turns

on, the lense goes out and in, but it will not take pics, and

makes a dumb repeating da dadadada sound every time i press

a button. Any ideas??

MAY 10, 2008 7:42 PM

Anonymous said...

Totally appreciate your post. I bought my girlfriend a Casio

Ex-Z1050 and unfortunately one of her young nieces turned it

on when the battery was low. The camera turned off with the

lens still out and every time you turned it on it would just beep

and you would be able to hear the cervo's trying to start up. It

would always shut back off. I tried gently pushing the lens back

in to no avail. Then I used the spine of the camera manual and

to my surprise the lens actually retracted. No damage that i can

see so far. Thank you so much for your wonderful blog.

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~Freddy

MAY 12 , 2008 4:17 PM

Anonymous said...

Nevermind, fixed my Kodak Easyshare C613. I tried the

blow-dryer again today and that didn't work, so I tried banging

my camera on the carpet, and OMG, it worked. I was sitting

down on the floor so I didn't hit it hard, but that did it. Now my

only problem is my memory card. It must have gotten damaged

when I dropped my camera. Guess I'll have to get a new one.

But hey, that's better than buying a whole new camera.

MAY 14, 2008 6:20 PM

Anonymous said...

My three-month old Canon Powershot SX100IS had this error.

I called Canon and they stated that I should mail the camera to

them, they would access whether it was covered by warranty

once it was in their possession, and quote me a repair price at

that time. Looked very bad for me.

Then I found this posting. I worked my way through the list

and Fix #6 saved the day. Thanks.

- Jason

MAY 17, 2008 11 :29 AM

Anonymous said...

Thank you so much for the helpful tips! For some reason

though, my Exilim Z75 is doing something very strange. When i

turn it on everything is fine, i can zoom, look at my pictures and

everything. But when i press the shutter button, the camera will

not take a picture. I've never dropped the camera, the battery is

fully charged, and i can't think of anything that could be wrong

with it. Is there any way you can help? thank you so much,

Megan

MAY 18, 2008 12:48 PM

Camera Repair said...

anonymous,

Talk about coincidences. Just put up a new post today for that

type of problem. Check it out by clicking here.

MAY 18, 2008 1:35 PM

Anonymous said...

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Hi

I have Cannon Powershot. While taking picture it slipped from

my hand and hit on the floor and I started getting Camera lens

error.

The post have been really useful. I tried to push the lens

towards the widest gap and heard a click. After that my camera

was able to turn on. I repeated this step thrice listening to click

sounds and now the lens is almost in place and I am able to

take a picture.

Thanks for a great post.

MAY 21 , 2008 12:54 AM

kathy said...

My daughter dropped her Casio Ex-Z1050 while taking a

picture and the lens would not extend fully and would retract

again right away, but not fully. I tried pulling the lens to keep if

from going back in, but that did not work. So, I pushed the lens

down evenly with my thumbs, and wa la no more camera lens

error. The camera is working perfectly again.

MAY 21 , 2008 8:57 AM

Alia said...

Thanks for the post! I have a Casio Exilim EX-z77 and I

brought it with me to the beach this weekend. I suspect I got

some sand in the lens because the lens wouldn't close and just

say 'lens error' and 'retry power on'. I forced the lens in, and

now when I turn the camera on it makes a buzzing and clickin

sound, and what i see through the camera is very blurry. It

won't allow me to take a picture, and usually it shuts off within

the first 15 seconds of turning it on. Every few times, the lens

will not close and I will have to force it in again. Is there

anything you suggest I do or am i due for a new camera? It is

relatively new. I got it for Christmas. Your help is greatly

appreciated. Thanks in advance!

MAY 22, 2008 10:40 PM

Tom said...

Hi

I tried all your tips and eventually had no option but to force

the lens. There seemed absolutely nothing wrong with it to look

at it.

But, I got so fed up that I tried something else -

I lay the camera facing up with lens pointing towards sky and

placed a small cork beer mat over the lens. then hit the mat all

around with handle of large enough screwdriver.

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Did it around the mat a few times and listened for the famous

''click''. Finally heard it and then turned on camera and

amazingly, the lens withdrew and camera is fine now.

I stress - this is a ''do or die'' type of action. Definite last resort

but worked for me.

MAY 25 , 2008 10:41 AM

Anonymous said...

I tried No 7. All it took was an extremely gentle rotation of the

lens. There was an obvious click and slight realignment of the

lens as it dropped back into place. It really was an extremly

gentle rotation of the lens which didn't feel as though it could

possibly have done any damage to the camera. Thank you.

MAY 25 , 2008 1 :5 3 PM

Anonymous said...

alright im not gonna lie, i dont have time to sift through all of

these comments to see if anyone else mentioned this but,

this is an awesome idea for a blog, great job.

i tried all of these but my camera still did not want to work.

however i fixed it by taking it apart, the top cover thingy, and

then pushing the lens back down into place. now it's fine.

toodles!

- heather

MAY 27 , 2008 1 :28 AM

Anonymous said...

my camera was like jamming when the lens tried to come out

and saying lens error, so i tried forcing it out and ended up

snapping the front of the lense off, so now its absolutely fucked.

MAY 28, 2008 1:06 PM

Camera Repair said...

I'm leaving the above post as-is just to amplify what's already

been stated here several times. There is obviously some

potential for further damaging your camera with some of these

fixes, especially with Fixes # 6 and 7. Again, these fixes should

only be considered for a camera that's out of warranty, who's

cost of repair would be excessive, and would otherwise be

considered for disposal if unfixed.

CR

MAY 28, 2008 5:46 PM

Anonymous said...

Dropped my Canon SD600 that I bought off eBay and the lens

was stuck out and crooked. Method #7 work for me... luckily. I

didn't think it would. I use a PowerShot SD600 at work

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everyday too. We bought it from Best Buy and made sure to get

the 4 year warranty plan. We've been through 7 different

cameras and a few times it was because the camera was

dropped. They fixed it or replaced it for free every time.

MAY 28, 2008 10:01 PM

mai said...

hey i have a kodak easyshare m753, and like a week ago, it

wouldnt retract the lens and was stuck like that. i was so afraid

of telling me mom, and i had planned to spend like 80 dollars

getting it repaired. was about to call manufacturing to have

them fix it but id still have to pay shipping and possibly even

fees if they dont include lens in their warranty. i had tried

sticking the cord in to charge it and i tried hitting it and what

not haha, but yeahh! i just put in the cord again and this time it

worked! the lens retracted. so thank you!!

MAY 29, 2008 8:10 AM

Anonymous said...

This was very helpful. I have a Nixon Coolpix L6. My lens

would not retract,it took blurry pictures, then I kept getting the

lens error.. I did two thing. 1) Remove the battery and replace

with new batteries 2) Hold the Shutter button while I pressed

the power button.

THIS WORKED!!!!!!!!11

MAY 30, 2008 9:56 AM

Anonymous said...

wahoooooo!!! I never would have tried this!!! My sister

dropped my brand new Casio Exilim ex-z80 on brick, with the

lens open!!! Couldnt' get the lens to retract all the way and kept

getting lens error and retry power on messages. tried pushing

lightly on lens. But after reading all this, thought "what the

heck" and pushed harder, it clicked and went back in!!!! Works

fine now!!!! Yeah!

Thanks so much for this blog!

MAY 31, 2008 9:45 AM

veda said...

hi i have a powershot a85 and it stopped working (ie) will not

turn on. It was working fine without indicating any problem...

MAY 31, 2008 8:59 PM

Summer said...

i have a canon powershot sd1000.

my sister dropped it a couple inches on the lens while it was

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still retracted. i turned the camera of and the lens did not go

back in. now everytine i start the camera it flashes lens error

and turns of my camera. the lens always twitches a little,

JUNE 3, 2008 7:10 PM

Toni Kearney said...

I tried all the steps. I am now going to open the camera lens.

My best bet is that there is dirt near the lens. Im just going to

have to find out - but this post is really good!

JUNE 5 , 2008 12:52 PM

Brett Green said...

Panasonic FZ8... lens got stuck and wouldn't retract. I DID

NOT drop the camera. #7 worked for me. Turned off camera

and performed slightly-more-than-gentle twisting of the lens.

This got the lens to retract, which was an improvement, but

was still getting stuck while zooming. After trying 4-5 more

times, it seems to be working again.

Maybe it's just me, but is seems the rotation mechanism is

more or less shared technology between all the manufacturers

(looking at some of the disassembly directions for various

cameras). Looks like someone needs to improve on this design

so that it's less inclined to misalignment and/or more durable.

In any case... Brilliant site! Thanks for putting this together.

JUNE 6, 2008 5:37 AM

Tobeon said...

Number 4 half worked for me, it would allow it to come on and

take photos, but it would still make horrible clanky noises and

it can't focus... I think it's screwed! :( Thank you anyways for

the helps!

JUNE 10, 2008 12:11 PM

Lihtan said...

I had a friend that let me try to fix her Canon PowerShot

SD600 after it produced a lens error and wouldn't do anything.

After a bit of research I decide to strip the entire camera down

and clean everything. I'm glad I did. All the internal circuitry

and mechanical parts were covered with bits of tobacco and

food debris. I found bits of foreign material inside the lens

assembly, and jammed in between the gear teeth. After a

thorough cleaning, the camera was back to working condition

again. The lens is a little noisy when it zooms, but it otherwise

works.

Word to the wise, don't keep loose smokes or food in the same

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bag as your camera.

JUNE 11, 2008 4:51 AM

John O'Connell said...

I recently encountered a Lens error, reset camera with my

Canon A630. I tried to fix it using compressed air blown into

the gaps between the lens barrels but that didn't seem to make

any difference. In desperation, I gently twisted the smaller lens

barrel clockwise (looking at the lens front on) just after

switching on the camera and hey presto, the lens motor

whirred into life!

I don't know how long it'll take for the problem to re-occur: I

did notice that the gap between the zoom lens and the camera

body isn't exactly consistent around the lens circumference so

my fix may be temporary.

One thing I've learned that may be a useful tip to avoid the

dreaded lens errors in future: when taking photos and showing

them immediately after to other people, make sure the lens is

retracted before passing your camera around, otherwise it's

much more likely that the lens will accidentally end up out of

true as the camera is passed around and handled with the lens

extended.

JUNE 11, 2008 6:44 AM

Matthew said...

Truly invaluable advice! My wife's new Nikon Coolpix L10 had

a jammed zoom lens and 'lens error' message since she dropped

it in sub zero temperatures the day after our wedding. A repair

shop had estimated £50 just to open it up (no guarantee of

fixing it) and it was all looking hopeless... Then I read your

posting. 10 minutes very gentle force with a set of plumbing

pliers (!) to straighten the crooked zoom and a reboot with new

batteries got it running (if a little out of focus due to stiff zoom).

Then a few gentle pushes on the 'gap' side of the lens, and

testing the telephoto button till it stopped saying lens error -

and hey presto - sharp pictures, as good as new! My wife will

think I'm very clever, but you're the real genius! Thank you so

much.

JUNE 11, 2008 12:14 PM

Anonymous said...

Heard about this fix from somewhere on the net. Someone held

my Fuji F30 by the lens whilst it was retracting. Result "zoom

error" on screen, lens stuck halfway and the outer segment was

at a strange angle. So I manually rotated the lens gently whilst

pushing it back to the correct angle. The lens popped back into

place and has been working ever since with no problems to the

focusing or picture quality.

JUNE 18, 2008 10:5 8 AM

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Maggie said...

PLEASE HELP

I need the quickest response you can give!

My camera was on, then the battery went low, then it shut

off(all in about a second)

The lense was still out, and now, no matter WHAT i do (change

the batteries, any of your ideas) IT WILL NOT TURN ON, and

the lense will not retract.

It just stays out.

Please, Please help me.

Its a Kodak easyshare C613, its not old, i got it around

christmas.

I didnt drop it so i dont know what to do!

Please help!!

Send me an email

[email protected]

THANKS SO MUCH

JUNE 18, 2008 8:35 PM

Camera Repair said...

First of all, what kind of batteries are you using? If you're using

alkaline, or worse yet "Super Heavy Duty" then that may be

your problem. Consider using rechargeable NiMH batteries

rated at 2500 mah or better (Walmart sells them for around $7

for a package of four). Regular batteries just don't have the

oomph needed to power digital camera's for more than a few

pictures. Some brands or batches or batches of batteries may

have problems just starting the camera, even if brand new and

straight out of the package. In comparison, NiMH batteries

have 3 to 4 times the power of alkaline batteries, and you can

use them again and again, making them very economical. This

would be the first thing that I'd recommend that you check, as

the symptoms that you mention are very common to what may

be experienced from low power batteries.

CR

JUNE 18, 2008 10:48 PM

Siena said...

Well, I DID drop my camera, on the hard concrete outside,

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lens-out, lens-down. It's a Canon PowerShot SD450. The lens

got stuck about halfway and would then stop. It was evenly

stuck while it was off, but when I tried to turn it on I could see

that one side was sticking up, so I had to force it. I had to press

a lot harder than I was really comfortable with (forget being

gentle!) but it finally all gave and snapped back into place with

giant force. Now it opens and closes beautifully like before and

I'm going to be a lot more careful.

JUNE 19, 2008 1:12 PM

Melanie said...

I have a Casio Exilim and I love it dearly. It is the greatest

camera I have ever owned.

So last year when I had lens issues I was very upset. For a while

it wouldn't even turn on.

But I have since learned tricks. People make fun of me for

smacking the camera when I turn it on, but it works! The timer

auto-focus still doesn't work and the zoom won't focus

properly, but the silly broken camera still takes better pictures

than any I've ever owned, so I haven't felt the need to replace it

yet.

Lens issues are not the end of the world. Just inconvenient.

JUNE 19, 2008 8:06 PM

Anonymous said...

My A730 had the "Lens Error" so I tried the tapping technique

and turned the camera on at the same time; the battery cover

come open and the lens stayed out. I left it out and then I

listened for dirt in the lens by trying to turn each one; nothing

there but then I turned the inner or second part of the lens

about 15 degrees to the right, closed the battery cover and it is

working again!! Weird Huh?

JUNE 20, 2008 10:44 PM

spatler said...

I have a Samsung Digimax S500. Solution #7, "Forcing the

lens," worked great! After looking closely at the barrel I noticed

the interior barrel was cocked and not aligned perfectly

straight. I gently grabbed it with my fingers and applied a very

slight sideways force and the lens immediately lined up and

began working fine. That's all it needed!

JUNE 21, 2008 8:23 AM

Bree said...

As frustrated as I am, I have tried almost every one of these

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methods posted, and my camera still won't work! I have a Sony

Cybershot DSC-S700, and when my camera's off, the lens is

halfway out. when i turn it on, the lens just twists out a little

bit, but not all the way. I think the smaller lens (front part of

the lens) is stuck, and it won't budge when I try to force it

around...

I'm really sad, especially because I need this camera for my

classes. :( Please help me if you can. If you can email me, it

would be much more convenient for me.

My email is [email protected]

So if you can, please email me there. Thank you!

JUNE 22, 2008 8:36 PM

Anonymous said...

Please help! Ok, Ive tried like all of these... I have a Casio

Exilim EX-Z75, which started giving me the lens error after I

came back from a party at the beach.... so Im pretty sure It got

sand somewhere in the lens mechanism. Anyway, when you

power on the lens extends fully, the screen comes on for a bit

then it starts buzzing-clicking for a bit, then the screen blacks

out and the buzzing stops and it just stays extended. The screen

then says "Retry power on" then the camera shuts off.....

Then when i push power again, it does a little bit of the buzzing

then the lens retracts and the screen just says the dreaded:

"Lens Error" and it shuts off.

Gah! I don't know what to do! I feel like the lens works fine, but

its just stuck in this "loop" of not-working.... i think I might

have to open the case.... but what do I look for? Help!

JUNE 23, 2008 10:10 PM

Amy said...

I have a Canon SD750 and my camera's lens starts making

clicking noises when i turn it on and off as well as when i zoom.

The lens then got stuck and i got the message that said "lens

error, restart camera" I use the #7 method by forcing the lens

and it worked. However, the lens are still making the clicking

noise when i turn it on or off as well as when zooming. I am

afraid that my camera will stop working again. Any idea on how

to fix the click noise? Thanks

JUNE 23, 2008 11:44 PM

Camera Repair said...

Bree, Anonymous and Amy,

Am sorry to say that these fixes will not work for everyone.

Recommend every once in a while to give the fixes another try.

Bree recommend #6 & 7, anonymous recommend #5, 6 & 7,

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and Amy recommend living with the click unless it fails again,

then would recommend #7.

Do not recommend any of you opening the camera unless you

have some familiarity with electrical circuitry (you can get

zapped, very badly too believe it or not).

CR

JUNE 24, 2008 3 :47 AM

Anonymous said...

i have an exilim and i dropped it and the lense looked crooked

so i forced the lense down and it went half way down and then

got stuck i pushed the top part of the lense down and il looks

like ife the middle part of the lense is stuck what do i do

JUNE 25, 2008 9:5 8 PM

Anonymous said...

thank you for this. fix #7 totally worked! i dropped my

powershot while the lens are out then e18 flashed on the lcd.i

gave up on it and bought a new powershot. but still thanks for

this post.:)

JUNE 26, 2008 2:39 A M

William said...

I have a Kodak M873 easyshare camera. One day, I turned it on

and it made a beeping noise and the lens zoomed in and out

and then closed.

I tried using your methods, but nothing seems to work. :(

Help? :o

JUNE 26, 2008 10:17 AM

Twoyorkie said...

I had a ccd problem with my dsct5 sony camera that was fixed

FOC by Sony ....many thanks.......BUT THEN i dropped it in a

boating lake ....bugger.....I dried it out and amazingly it worked

after 48 hours in a dry place....BUT the lens gives a fuzzy

imaage ...can i get into the auto focus area to clean it ?????

JUNE 26, 2008 3 :04 PM

Anonymous said...

Hey My Canon Camera said it had a lense error. My friend and

I tried everything then when we came to "Hitting the camera on

the usb cover on the table" we did multiple times while hitting

the power button and to our suprise IT WORKED! I would

reccomend this.

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JUNE 26, 2008 3 :3 5 PM

Anonymous said...

I had already tried my own variation of step #7 and was

beginning to price out a new camera when I found this page. I

tried step #6 and it worked! Not sure how long this Canon

SX100 will keep shooting now, but it is back in action for now!

Thank you!

JUNE 28, 2008 8:3 0 AM

Leslie Du said...

OMG! Thanks so much for this post. I had a a75 that had a

jammed lens and step 7 did the trick THANKS SO MUCH! Now

i have another camera to play with again. Woopie.

JUNE 28, 2008 8:27 PM

Erin said...

Thank You! Fix #4 worked =]

I have a Nikon Coolpic S200,

and step 4 helped meeee.

I've broke 2 cameras already,

both had lens errors. If I

broke this one too then that

wouldnt be good =[ and i lost

the warrenty for this camera,

so im so happy its fixed!!

JUNE 29, 2008 1 :45 PM

Buttercuppy said...

I tried alomost evrything on my camera but it not work. my

camera is a sony cybershot dsc-s45. The lens is all the way in

and it won't come out...help me.

JUNE 29, 2008 11:31 PM

Camera Repair said...

Buttercuppy,

As mentioned, these fixes will not work for everyone. For your

case, would recommend retrying #6 every once and a while.

Lenses that are stuck while receded are particularly tough to

fix, cause you really cant do #7 (can't get a grip on it).

CR

JUNE 30, 2008 6:3 4 AM

Leah said...

I'm not sure if mine is a lens error or not. I have a Pentax Optio

A30 and was taking a close up photo of my dog, when he

suddenly reached forward and shocked the lens with his nose.

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The camera screen went blank, then the lens started to go back

inside, but it did it slowly and in a jerky motion. The lens did

eventually go all the way inside and the camera shut off. Now,

when I try to turn the camera on, the normal Pentax startup

screen displays for a second, but turns off, and the lens wont

open. Changing batteries, charging it, and other tips you listed

on the site haven't worked. I'm wondering if it was shocked,

maybe it blew a fuse or something? Do these things even have

fuses? Thanks!

JULY 2 , 2008 6:38 PM

Camera Repair said...

Leah,

Yes they do have fuses that are very difficult to replace, but a

static shock is not likely to break a fuse. What's very likely is the

shock damaged the camera's processor microchip. One thing to

try is a factory reset (press the four-way controller until the

reset menu appears, select reset, the press the OK button). If

this doesn't work, am afraid your camera may have been

damaged beyond repair by the shock.

CR

JULY 2 , 2008 9:07 PM

Anonymous said...

Thanks soooo much! #7 worked...IT WORLED! YAY!!!

JULY 4, 2008 1:20 PM

kelly McMahon said...

I cannot thank you enough! I was in NYC on the ferry going to

the Statue of Liberty when my camera slipped out of my hand

and knocked the lens out of wack. I eventually got the lens to

retract into the camera but it never worked correctly. Finally #7

did the trick for me. Now I can bring my camera on my trip

tomorrow! Thanks!!

JULY 4, 2008 6:54 PM

Anonymous said...

i own the powershotsx100 & earlier my friend found that the

lense was stuck. i was so close to turning it in for repair until i

read this. I tried about 3 of these tips, but #6 got it fixed. =] this

was really helpful.

JULY 4, 2008 11:15 PM

Anonymous said...

holding the power & shutter button while the camera(Kodak

m753)is flat on a table worked great for me on the 2nd

try!thanks for the help........MattM

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JULY 5, 2008 3:55 PM

Anonymous said...

hi. i have a Kodak MD863. i just got it not too long ago. and i

took it to my friends house, and it got dropped on its lense

while it was open. and when we turned it off the lense went in.

every time i turn it on. the lense tries to come out and it doesnt

work so it shuts down. and it's been broken for a few weeks. i

tried all of the suggestions on this page. and none of them

seemed to work. do you know of any way to fix it?

JULY 6, 2008 12:46 PM

Anonymous said...

Canon S1: I gently nudged the lens sideways, pushed it, pulled

it, and then hit the bottom of the camera against my palm. And

now the lens is no longer stuck.

JULY 6, 2008 4:37 PM

Anonymous said...

Thanks for the information. I had someone drop my camera in

a pool and then promptly power it on to see if it was still

working. This caused the lens to partially retract and then

become stuck. When the camera dried out I started getting the

"lens error." I tried applying pressure to the lens while

powering up and it kind of freaked it out and retracted back in

like a scared turtle. I still got the error though, so I knocked it

up a bit against the desk and-- what do you know-- all is well

again.

JULY 7, 2008 9:31 PM

Anonymous said...

I have an Exilim EX-Z75 and I fell very hard to the ground ON

THE LENS PIECE! well... I think that it is pretty much screwed

by now since it is leaning in a 10-15 deg angle to one side...

Does anyone know if this is fixable? Does anyone know where

can I buy this piece? Thanks!

JULY 8, 2008 11 :01 PM

Camera Repair said...

Anonymous,

Did you try fix #7 (manually straighten the lens assembly)?

Actually replacing the lens assembly is a daunting task. If these

fixes don't work, then it may be time to consider selling on ebay

for parts.

CR

JULY 9, 2008 6:17 AM

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ThaliaFox said...

Thank you so much!!!

I was photographing the kids cooking at school when I got the

E18 and the lens stuck out. I had tried all the battery and

memory card stuff at work , then after googling it became very

worried that my camera was dead. However, after finding your

site and reading your info - I bet I got flower in it so I tried the

vac method and worked straight away. Shall be more careful in

future and thank you so much because I couldn't afford a new

camera at the moment. All my heart felt thanks Thalia x

JULY 9, 2008 3:20 PM

ThaliaFox said...

Sorry just realised I wrote flower- I meant flour!!!!!!!!!!!! Not

setting a good example am I?!

JULY 9, 2008 3:32 PM

Dragafari said...

I tried all the methods here and didn't work any. But then I

took a Videogame case, one those of PS2 that are quite soft and

started hitting the lens by its side while I turned it on. And it

started to move again! It's a great solution without any risk for

your cam, so try it!

JULY 11 , 2008 7:10 AM

Anonymous said...

I have a Canon Powershot SD600. and i tried all of your steps

and none work..it goes to the Canon part and then i turns black

and says Lens Error,Restart Camera and 3 beeps. Do you know

anyother way to fix it?

JULY 11 , 2008 2:14 PM

Anonymous said...

Thanks a million and I mean this literally. I followed the

instructions poster here and I was able to fix my friend's

camera after it was accentially dropped.

JULY 12 , 2008 4:12 PM

Anonymous said...

I got a Canon SD890IS just one week ago and it took some

unbelievable pictures, especially low-light no flash shots. I have

had a Canon S70 for nearly 4 years that has worked flawlessly

and from the beginning I noticed that this new camera made an

unusual sound when the lens extended or retracted.

On the fifth day of our family's vacation, I turned the camera on

to take a picture only to have the lens open to a point and lock,

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evoking the error message and accompanying beeps. It has not

moved a micrometer since and I believe I've tried every single

remedy idea and then some.

I'm certain that this is a manufacturing defect, but how can I

prove it? I'm afraid if I contact Canon it may compromise other

possible solutions to the problem.

JULY 15 , 2008 12:00 A M

Camera Repair said...

Sometimes you just get a brand new, yet defective camera. The

advantage that you have is that it's just a week old. As such,

recommend skipping Canon, and just taking the camera back to

the retailer for exchange or refund as defective.

CR

JULY 15 , 2008 6:28 AM

"Clark" said...

PowerShot SD750, lens coming out halfway. Removing battery

AND memory card did the trick. Thanks for keeping the cash in

my walet!

JULY 15 , 2008 7 :06 AM

Anonymous said...

Have a Casio Exilim Z-1000 - a little over a year old and

condition is as new because I've hardly ever used it and take

great care of all my electronic stuff.

Lens got stuck out one night without the camera having fallen

or had any other shock ever. After reading a few blogs, I

managed to push it back in but then it wouldn't extend out

anymore and got the dreaded "Lens Error" message. That was

about 3 weeks ago.

Contacted Casio and they said I'd have to pay $129 to have it

repaired. So I ordered a new camera last week, a Canon

SD1100, that should arrive... tomorrow.

I was so gutted by the "death" of the Exilim that I even threw it

around on the ground in my flat a few times. I thought that at

least it would know why it was not working then.

Today, out of boredom at work, I checked the net again to see if

I could find a way to do something and stumbled upon your

blog.

I tried a few of your solutions and... you guessed it, #7 worked

for me, by twisting the lens a few times to the right, while

holding it before it would get right back in the body of the

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camera. It's now working again!

So I felt I had to say: NICE ONE GUYS!! :)

And also - how many people must be ripped off when they

actually use the "customer support/repair dept" of their

camera's company!? It's a disgusting thought...

Anyway, problem now is - I have downloaded the user manual

for the Canon I'm expecting tomorrow and I'm not sure I want

to send it back, as it looks like a nifty camera. Still, I'd get $207

back by doing so... but as someone said, who knows how long

the Casio Exilim will survive now...?

D'oh! I don't know what to do anymore. Should I keep both

cameras? I'm thinking I could use the Casio for outdoor/"risky"

pictures and "save" the Casio as much as possible, maybe?

Whatever, you guys rock - thanks for helping us with your

awesome (and bookmarked) blog!!

A.C.

JULY 15 , 2008 4:11 PM

MiRage said...

Heyy thanks for this site. I have a Sony Cybershot 5.1 MP

camera and for some reason the lens got stuck. I turn it on and

it wouldnt budge. and it says please turn off and turn back on. I

did that and removed the battery, and also tried forcing the

lens back in. none of the above worked. Thinking i was gonna

trash the camera anywayz. I just banged the lens on my palm a

few times . and it just worked. I dont think it was dirt or

anything but it fixed it.

JULY 17 , 2008 10:12 PM

LureBeauty said...

Thank you so much! Fix #4 worked for me!

JULY 19, 2008 12:35 PM

Anonymous said...

I tried #1 through #5 with no luck. I was about to try #6 but

then I noticed after I had taken the ring of my PowerShot A540

that it seemed like a little rubber ring was peeking between the

crack of the zoom cylinder and the non-moveable plastic ring

below the removeable plastic ring. It was less than half an inch

in length, so I decided to gently push it back in with the

rounded tip of a butter knife. I turned the camera back on and

that fixed it.

Thanks for information.

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JULY 19, 2008 4:43 PM

Boits said...

wow. Cool site. I have Nikon Coolpix S1 with lens error. Took it

to bits revealing loads of stuff from building sites! Very pleased

it all went back together working, or rather not working, as

before. No more damage done. Found your site. Most of the

fixes are for cameras with zooming lenses unlike the S1 which

doesn't come out of the body. However darklurker's fix of

holding the ok button worked to clear the error. Now the

camera "sees" again but the lens motor is grinding. Any fixes

for this?

JULY 20, 2008 1 :04 PM

Chuck said...

Nikon L6, one day started having blurry pics, then the lense got

stuck in the open position. Was about to call Nikon for service,

but came upon this website. Tried removing batteries, turning

on and off, while pressing/pulling lense. Motor started

grinding, gave it couple "love" taps on a soft surface, on "AV

out" side first, then with camera facing up, lense started

moving again. Immediately turned camera off, lense retracted

successfully and fully. Turned on again and tested camera,

focuses OK, zoom OK, pictures back to normal. THANK YOU

guys!! You save me a lot of heartache and money.

JULY 20, 2008 11:07 PM

dwgLEA said...

I need kodak v803 disassembly manual. if someone can help ?

JULY 21, 2008 2:12 AM

Anonymous said...

Brother God bless you. I droped my Casio Z1080 and its lens

got stuck. I tried the the technique of turning it on while

holding the shot button and then pushed it gentally. it worked

JULY 22, 2008 2:41 PM

cannonpowershot said...

hey i have a Cannon Powershot A560 and i was out side and i

dropped it WHILE THE LENS WAS OPEN!!!!!! BUT I WENT

INSIDE I FORCED THE LENS IN AND I THOUGHT I

SOLVED IT...BUT NOPE THE CAMERA LOOKS PERFECT

BUT WHEN I TURN IT ON IT KEEPS SAYING LENS ERROR

AND I TRIED ALL 7 STEPS PLEASE TELL ME WHAT I NEED

TO DO

JULY 23, 2008 8:17 PM

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Anonymous said...

I have a Canon SD 500 and the Lens would not open. Went

thru all the Steps and none worked until #7. I thank you, as you

saved me a $130 repair.

JULY 25, 2008 8:3 1 AM

Anonymous said...

http://www.MegaShare.com/459726

password =w55

this will help you

good luck

JULY 29, 2008 4:16 AM

Courtney said...

I dropped my Canon A430 with the lens extended. I know, it's a

terrifying thought. The lens barrel had become dislodged. It

wasn't rotated at all, but if you looked at the camera from the

top, you could see that it was skewed to one side. Needless to

say, it would not retract. When the camera was powered up, the

lens would budge ever so slightly, only to return to its original

position and display the error message. I was told by many that

my camera was kaput.

I finally gave up. Figuring I had nothing to lose, I let a friend of

mine mess around with it. He started pushing on the lens from

the side. A minute later, there was an audible crack. We

examined the camera, and found that the lens looked relatively

straight. I put the batteries in and started up the camera.

Miraculously, it was in perfect working order. Somehow, he

managed to align it perfectly. The lens still wiggles a tiny bit,

but I have had no performance issues for a month. Nothing

short of a miracle. Please, do not attempt such a repair unless it

is your absolute last resort.

JULY 29, 2008 1 :48 PM

Anonymous said...

Hi!

Thanks for sucha great article.

My problem with my Canon IXUS 60 is that it turns on, I can

take a pic, but then it shuts itself off.

The power button wont work at all after this.

Have tried nearly everything!

Any tips?

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Thanks

JULY 30, 2008 3:27 PM

Camera Repair said...

IXUS 60 Anonymous,

The symptoms you're describing sound like a bad battery. How

old is your battery? They really aren't meant to last more than a

year or two. Luckily these days there are many inexpensive

generic batteries that should work just fine with your camera:

Amazon NB-4L Batteries

JULY 30, 2008 5:41 PM

Anonymous said...

Thanks, #7 worked for me! My old Olympus c-5050 lens stuck

in the middle of taking pictures one day, sent it to Olympus

repair out in LI and they wanted $200-not worth the

investment in a 5yr old camera. They also offered me a

"discount" to buy an Olympus SP570 for $499 if I traded this

in- this camera sells for $412 at b&h photo! I tried the 1st few

steps b4 sending it to them and the last few thinking worth a

shot and it works great!!!

AUG UST 1, 2008 8:3 7 PM

haylers47 said...

Hello!

Im 14 years old and I recently dropped my Panasonic Lumix

DMC-LX2 40-50 inches off the ground onto wood. There was a

bit of force involved because I had the wrist strap on and I was

handing it to my sister and forgot to take the strap off and

swung my arm down. Now when I turn it on it tries to focus

(there is a blurry image and a black circle surrounding it) then

it tells me the lens cap is on. Its only about 5 months old and

I'm not sure if the warranty has expired. But regardless, I dont

know what to do!

Its clear that the lens is off track, but I'm really scared to do

anything. I tried aligning it again, then I turned the camera on,

and it made a loud clicking noise and vibrated! Now Im afraid

to touch it, and when i tried turning it on again just now, it

started clicking and what not AGAIN! But i cant find any

Panasonic repair shops online that you can just take it to. I will

be in the states for another 3 weeks, and I think thats not

enough time to ship it away and have it fixed...

HELP!!!

Hayley

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AUG UST 2, 2008 4:00 PM

Anonymous said...

My sister's camera lens stuck out right in the middle of a

40week- once-in-a-life time trip with their 4 little kids. After

trying to fix the camera without help for a whole day, I found

your site and used the "turn on and press shutter button" and it

fixed it within seconds. Thanks for the great help!!!!!

AUG UST 3, 2008 6:13 PM

Anonymous said...

I followed the advice and damaged my camera even worse than

it was but there is a silver lining in the cloud:

1) I found a great blog.

2) I had fun torturing my camera.

Best,

A.

AUG UST 3, 2008 6:18 PM

Krishnaa said...

I have a Fujifilm Finepix J10. I bought it 3 months ago. I

dropped the camera from around 3'2" from the ground on the

lens side, and the lens got cocked to one side. When I switch on

the camera, it says "Zoom error". I tried #6 and #7, but it's still

stuck. What else can I do?

AUG UST 3, 2008 7:00 PM

Lucas said...

What if the lens is stuck out?

AUG UST 3, 2008 9:43 PM

Anonymous said...

Wow! My son dropped his GE A735, leaving the 2nd stage of

the lens stuck at an ugly angle. After fixes 1-6 didn't work, my

other son suggested using a rubber mallet to tap/bang on the

stuck stage. After about 20 blows of gradually increasing vigor,

the lens popped into alignment and all is well! Thanks for

encouraging to try banging - much better than trying to take it

apart!

AUG UST 9, 2008 6:13 PM

Anonymous said...

i have a canon sd1000 that said lens error restart the camera it

happened after going to the beach the vacum cleaner trick

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worked

AUG UST 10, 2008 2:29 PM

Johanna Lynch said...

I have a Sony DSC-W70 and took it on a go-kart course last

week. There was so much dust blowing around that my lens

eventually would no longer open. It read "Access," then "Turn

camera off and on again." I was told it would be $250 to fix my

camera!! I was ready to with a screwdriver to try opening it up,

after reading a different blog, but am so glad I found your

suggestions first. I tried pushing the power and picture button

at the same time and actually saw some movement of the lens.

After a few more tries, I combined this with the "force the lens"

move. After a couple more tries, the LCD screen turned on!! I

took a few photos. Then it did some funky lens retracting and

extending on its own and shut off. Since then, it seems to be

working pretty well. I can hear a little bit of noise that wasn't

there before, when I extend the lens....BUT appears to be

working again. I am going to try it out tomorrow night at a

party, for the final say.

THANK YOU!!!!

AUG UST 15, 2008 12:04 PM

Kim said...

Hey,

I have a Canon Powershot A460 that keeps saying "lens error,

restart camera". I've tried all the tricks (except the 2 damaging

ones) and they aren't working. I haven't dropped, never taken it

to the beach, don't keep it in a case and have only had it for 8

months. It's still under warranty but I have my doubts that they

will do anything, I'll call though... Do you have any other

suggestions?

AUG UST 16, 2008 10:5 9 PM

Marci said...

Once you get it fixed (hopefully) I strongly recommend that you

permanently attach to your camera:

1. a lens adapter

2. a UV filter on the lens adapter

I have this setup on my Canon S5 IS. The lens adapter is not

large and it protects the camera's lens as it zooms in and out.

The UV filter protects the lens and can be left on for any kind of

shot. You can also purchase a tight lens cap with this set up

because it does not need to be able to pop off it you start your

camera with the lens cap on.

Although not perfect, this setup should provide some

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protection from dust, sand, etc. as the lens moves WITHIN the

adapter. It also protects the lens surface from scratches,

fingerprints, and so forth. The UV filter is easy to clean, cheap,

and easily replaceable, unlike the lens itself. Lens adapters are

not expensive and I recommend a lensmate

(lensmateonline.com) or else one from your camera

manufacturer.

AUG UST 17, 2008 7:26 AM

Carribean guy with an a560 said...

HElP! i FOUND MY CAMERA WIT D LENS OUT ONE DAY,

SO I JUST PUSHED IT BAK IN. iT WAS IN A SOFT CASE AND

I GUESSED THAT SOMETHING TURNED IT ON IN THERE.

anyway, long story short, when i turn on my camera i hav to

grip it and flick the lens out. it doesnt zoom without my hand

guiding it and when i turn it off, i hav to help careen the lens

back into the slot. i tired everything u mentioned but i just

wonder if i could get some more personal help, cause they didnt

work. btw. the motor is working cause i hear it when i zoom in

and out and turn on and off the cam. HELP ME BREDREN!

AUG UST 18, 2008 12:22 PM

Anonymous said...

I've got a weird one that I haven't run across before. I have a

Canon SD1000. It's been dropped a few times, and gradually,

over the past couple months, I would turn the camera on and

the lens would only come part way out. Turn it off and on a

couple times, and it would start working normally. This

gradually got worse, until the camera now won't work at all; the

lens will only come partway out. Now the weird part: When you

put the camera in picture review mode, the lens pops all the

way out, then retracts. By this, I know it's not the gears or

something mechanical. I've tried all the steps to fix the problem

listed here to no avail. Anybody ever hear of this, or have any

suggestions?

AUG UST 20, 2008 7:20 PM

hellolovely said...

well nothing worked for me=[

im pretty sure i got sand in the lense because i could hear it

every time i turned it on and off

but it worked fine for about a week since i had gone to the

beach even though the sand was still in there

but today it just didnt want to work anymore

time for a new camera i suppose

AUG UST 20, 2008 8:27 PM

natalie said...

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this would have been my third camera that had broke with the

same lens error problem. i turned the lens while powering on

and it miraculously sucked back into the camera. I about lost it.

props for a sweet post that helped me save 400 dollars AGAIN!

AUG UST 23, 2008 7:41 PM

Anonymous said...

I have a CanonA530 that had the 'lens error' messageand a lens

that wouldn't retract or extend all the way...

after trying many things I finally used a plier to really pull - and

push (hands didn't work) I heard a few clicks.. still had a

problems.. tried the pliers again more firmly which janked off

the outer most cosmetic ring in the very outer edge... ooops...

hit ON and it retracted... so don't know IF the ring being off

freed it but it works now! Yippy.

AUG UST 24, 2008 11:36 AM

Ajongbloed said...

Thanks for the info. What worked for my camera (a Canon

powershot A85) was a variation of fix #3: I turned on the

camera in record mode with the AV-cable inserted. It then fully

extended the (until then) stuck lens and when I shut the

camera of and then turned it on again (without the av-cable) it

worked properly!

AUG UST 25, 2008 2:06 AM

Camera Repair said...

I'm back from vacation!

Thanks Ajongbloed for the comment. I too have recently fixed a

lens error using #3, and think I know why it works. Inserting

the cable turns off the LCD screen allowing extra startup power

from the cameras battery to the lens motor. The extra power

can sometimes overcome jamming particals in the lens

mechanism.

It may be useful to keep the AV cable installed to provide that

extra power while conducting subsequent fixes 4 through 7? If

anyone tries this, please post here if this was successful or not.

CR

AUG UST 25, 2008 6:34 AM

Anonymous said...

I'm working on a friends camera and I guess this one falls into

the unlucky 50%. I can't manage to ge thte lens to even move,

no matter how hard I force. Really afraid of crushing the

camera. I'll bang it around a bit more and try forcing the lens

again, but I think this ones toast.

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thanks for the blog, it gave me some things to try.

AUG UST 25, 2008 12:49 PM

Anonymous said...

I have a Samsung S860 purchase on ebay for 15.99 delivered. I

determined lens was sticking. After trying all tapping prodding,

twisting I found comment on hair trimmer mineral oil. One

drop around each ring and using a pick I worked the lens in

and out 2-3 times. Now it works fine. Desperate fix, worked.

Now I have a $150 camera for 15.99 Thanks for all your tips.

AUG UST 25, 2008 5 :24 PM

Anonymous said...

i have a samsung S760, i went on vacation and it just stopped

working. the lens would not go out or in, i thought maybe the

battery was dying so i charged it up. it was sort of working fine

and it shut off on me a couple of times. then i tryed to use it a

week later and it would not work, i tried a couple of your

methods and now my camera lens goes out, except when i turn

it off it only goes half way in, then i have to force it and it still

makes a loud beep beep beep noise, my father just bought this

for me..he doesn't know yet, i would like to try and fix it before

telling him, any suggestions?

AUG UST 26, 2008 7:39 PM

Camera Repair said...

Anonymous with the S760, others have experienced this same

problem with your model camera, and it seems to be a common

problem for the S760. The reported temporary solution is to

remove and replace the batteries, and the lens should then go

back in. Would recommend that if the camera is still under

warranty, that you have it either repaired or exchanged.

CR

AUG UST 26, 2008 7:54 PM

stephanie said...

hi. i've tried all of these repeatedly, and nothing has worked for

me. i have.... or rather... my mom has a Canon SD600. i take

this thing w/ me to shows and stuff, and never has this

happened to me before. the lens will not go back in. i'm

thinking it might've been the fact that people were pushing, and

quite possibly, the camera could've been between me and the

person in front of me, and i could've pressed the power button

by accident, causing the lens to not open?

when i first tried to turn on the camera, it opened, but then

showed me the "lens error, restart camera" message. i turned it

off then back on, but the lens would not go back in.

please help. D:

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AUG UST 27, 2008 6:20 PM

http://stores.ebay.co.uk/Beyond-Keen-Clothing said...

Thanks for the info. My daughter dropped my canon a460 this

morning and I needed it to be fixed TODAY!

I tried all the suggestions and the last one, forcing the lens, did

the trick.

Cant thank you enough.

AUG UST 28, 2008 1:28 AM

Anonymous said...

I put a fresh charged battery back in the camera and it did the

trick to retract the lense. I did notice that the battery was low

when I was taking pictures the day before.. must of went dead

whle lense was open. Thank you

SE PTE MBER 2, 2008 9:42 AM

Harold said...

Yea I have a hp photosmart m425 which has a lens error 12 and

lens error 22 sometimes.And it seems like noe of the rules

helped mine.Can anyone help me or has the same camera as

me and tell me how to fix it PLEASE!!!!!!!!!

SE PTE MBER 3, 2008 6:05 PM

Mike Ran said...

Hi, I have a Canon SD1000 with a Lens Error message when I

try to turn it on. It was dropped by a 5 year old :). Initially, the

lens barrel was halfway out, but I pushed it back in! :( I noticed

you warned against that in the last step. Afterwards however, it

the lens barrel did come out when I turned it on. This only

happened once though, now the barrel just wont come out. Any

suggestions? I have tried all the battery changing/turn on and

off steps.

Thank you so much for this blog, you are a hero among many.

SE PTE MBER 12, 2008 1:57 PM

Anonymous said...

I was able to push the stuck lens on my Fuji F10 in but the

power still will not go on. I bought a new battery too and

charged it thru the camera. I tried to unscrew to open but the

ones at the bottom is a special screw and can't open it. Any fix?

Where can I get a screw driver for that screw that seems to

appear like a "Y"?

SE PTE MBER 12, 2008 8:04 PM

adjwilley said...

Sony Cybershot DSC W5

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Lens would not retract. Tried step 7 on my own with no

success. Then found your page and did 1-6. 6 worked the first

try. I tapped the sides, top and bottom with my hand and it

worked. Thanks!

SE PTE MBER 12, 2008 10:45 PM

J-F said...

Thanks for the help, I have a Canon S3 IS with lens error. I try

the fix 1, 2 and 3 and it doesen't work but the fix #4 work well.

You save me a lot of money. :-)

SE PTE MBER 16, 2008 4:38 PM

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