E 18 problem (by 66 users)

Thanks to gtoew (solution 1); your solution got me on the right track, and I was able to fix a stuck-closed lens on my wife's Canon SD400, but did not need the full amount of disassembly, although moving the position sensor wheel did not work; it was stuck.

When looking at Fig. 9 of solution 1 from gtoew, you can actually access the nylon cogs from the side without having to remove the cog assembly cover; i.e., imagine an arrow pointing up from the bottom of Fig. 9 towards the camera, and look the same way. You will see the edges of several cogs; in my case, moving the white nylon one solved the problem.

So my advice is to disassemble only as much as is necessary to be able to access the cogs this way.

Yesterday my SD300 gave me the E18 error after about 2 years of service. I wasn?t using the case that day and when I turned it on then switched to capture mode, I heard the motor tighten up the gear assembly in an attempt to open the lens. I tried pulling on the lens while powering on without success. The following are photos and comments of my efforts to correct the problem.

If all else fails, you should first try to manually move the lens assembly by rotating the position sensor disc shown at A.

To expose this part of the camera remove the plate on the side of the camera, remove all other exposed screws. Remove the back and front cases. Leave the battery in so you can test if you were successful.

Had a lens error, "restart camera" message on an SD600. Read the posts. Took the case off the camera. Rotated the position sensor disk. Flexed everything that could flex. Didn't disassemble further as the camera started working. Seems OK now. Total time 20 minutes.

EXTREMELY common, its a problem with the lens mechanism, and one that is very easy to get. cannon will fix this problem if you're within the 1 year warranty. but will not replace or refund for this specific problem as they should.

you can get this by dropping the camera, or by simply not being totaly gentle with the lens when its out. Very very very delicate.

I'll post a guide here on fixing the problem, but you should know what you're doing.

good luck!

E18 - Repair Guide:

With a little fine motorical luck and some patience, following this guide can help you repair your camera. The repair costs with Canon amount to approx. 260, - EUR and aren't worthwhile themselves in most cases. One should, however, check whether the warranty for the camera still is in effect and whether Canon would cover repair costs.

It cannot be guaranteed that the camera will be 100% functional again after the repair.


Necessary Tools:

- screwdriver Philips size 00
- cotton swabs
- alcohol
- NO grease, silicone spray, etc.

The removal of the error E18 is demonstrated with a model of the digital IXUS. The internal structure of other models of the IXUS (like the USA ELPH) series differs slightly, so that the steps made here can serve as basis for all models.

all text refers to the picture above it.

I have a power-shot A70 and got the E18 error. I tried what I read on some web-site. Just gave the camera a sharp rap on the USB side (rubber pad) against a pad on top of a table! Didn;t have to take a thing apart and so far it works fine. Go figure!

this worked for my SD600 I just got in November which I was really sad about not working anymore! THANK YOU SO MUCH for taking the time to do this!

I have an Canon SD700 IS and got the infamous "Lens error, restart camera". Before this error though, my camera stopped focusing. It would just grind and stay blurred. Then today I turned it on and the lens did not retract and stayed in the open position. After banging, puling and prodding, nothing gave and my lens did not retract. I decided to try banging it while it tried to move the camera. So I pressed the On button and gave the camera a good wack against my palm and the lens began to act normally. It retracted as it should. It also began focusing correctly. Problem solved!!!

After I experienced the E18 error and reading all the posts on the web, I examined my IXUS400 thoroughly. When looking to the front of the camera, it looks like the lens is not really centered.
The distance between the body and the lens is not equally everywhere.
I tried to press the side where the distance was the biggest and at the same time pressed the ON/OFF button. The lens came out and it came out completely!
After that I have frequently turned the camera ON and OFF. After that I have never experienced the E18 error again and the camera keeps taken pictures as before. Worthwhile trying!

I had a problem "lens error, restart camera"

I used the first solution of rotating the assemsbly manually and it worked. I used it on Powershot SD-600. Saved myself a lot of money. It took 15 minutes to repair it.
Great site and thanks for the help.

re greg toews solution...

I followed it and it worked. Greg, thanks very much for the pdf with enough detail to feel confident enough to attack the problem. It was very helpful to have all the pictures and text.

1. As greg suggests, you probably don't have to remove the LCD. The key is to remove the flash to get at the gears. You probably only have to loosen the board on the front side and work the flash out. However, a first timer would not know how much force to use to remove the flash.

2. to fuel the fire...for me the problem was gunked up gears. The "white worm gear" attached to the motor was filled with salt-size plastic junk. Most likely from wear and tear. It looked like bits of the worm gear. I used a tootbrush to clean it up and then the gear and lens assembly moved freely. (Greg gave me this clue in his procedure 1.)

Hi... As simple it mind sound, but hitting this on the palm a couple of times solved the problem. The lens began to retract but continue with the E18 error. Now on continual basis, 5-6 times, while retracting I kept on the heavy palm tapping, and the problem got resolved. Pls try this elementary method first. Worked for me.

Used Silly girl's photos to help do it on my SD630. worked great, camera works great. Wasnt the exact same camera, but close enough. the only thing I had a pain with was putting the lens back together and getting the shutter back in place, was a bit of pain i should have paid better attention to how the parts all lined up at the start. Oh and I have an extra screw, lol no idea where its from but i'll just assume it wasnt really needed.

Thank you for your help. These instructions were great in helping us sort out the E18 problem with our Powershot A60. We were devastated when it stopped working this morning - especially since it is only just over a year old, and we can ill afford another camera right now. We tried tapping the USB cover on the desk. This did not work. But when we studied the lens, and saw a bigger gap on one side than the other, we then tried to twist it back in to the camera. We were worried about breaking this function, but thought that we had nothing to lose. After three attempts, and using quite a bit of hand power to turn the lens, the lens finally retracted into the case and the E18 message disappeared. Hurrah!

My Powershot S400 was working fine until the other day when the lens would not retract, the camera beeps when powered ON, and the screen is blank w/ E18 showing as the error code. The camera is several years old and has never been abused, dirty, or dropped. I did some research on the Ineternet and found that it looks like a common issue w/ Canons. My research also indicated that it doesnt look like something that can be easily fixed. I figured that the camera was toast, so I decided to do an autopsy to find the root cause of the E18 lens malfunction. First of all, I do not recommend opening up the camera body if you have any hope to repair it. It is highly complicated w/ many small screws. It is not made to be tinkered with by the average consumer. I carefully removed screws and pulled parts away from each other as to not cause more physically damage. The lens assembly is in the center of the camera, and everything must be completely disassembled to get to it. I knew that there was no way for me to reassemble this thing and make it work again. Anyway, I took apart the lens assembly and found that the gear set that moves the lens in and out is made from a brass drive gear moving the plastic gear on the lens body. The plastic gear on the lens body had about a 1/4" section that had broken gear teeth. So this looks like what caused the lens to malfunction, stop moving, and give the E18 error. It may be due to a fatigue or wear out of the plastic gear teeth. Everything else looked ok. I have several pictures showing the defect. It was rather fun to dissect the camera. I am amazed on how compactly it is put together.

PS...If broken gear teeth on the lens is the root of the E18 errors on other Canon models, MY OPINION is that this IS NOT a repairable problem. It would not be economical to pay a technician to disassemble and fix the lens assembly. This is basically a disposable camera (at least for the S400 model).

ref: http://www.e18error.com/repair.html
This one really worked like charm -
Another method is to tap the padded USB cover part on a hard surface, for example, a desk. It sounds so simple, but very often in works.

Manually rotating sensor rotor and cleaning gear fixed the Canon "lens error" for me. 
I placed instructions with photo's here: http://www.avh.dds.nl/Fix-Canon-SD600-Lens-Error/

Might want to make sure your camera is the same as in the pics, my camera is now ruined after trying this.

I have a Canon A610 my 8yr old son was taking a picture and after set the front lens area of the camera on his skin and then turned it off, a bit of skin was pinched in the lens ring and then locked up the camera followed by the infamous E18 error. I figured it was a goner and set it aside for a few weeks, then googled the error and found this site. I have tried 1 method to attempt to fix the camera. A few hard fast smacks on the camera solved the problem!! I have a padded foam mouse pad not the Gel wrist rest kind just a plain rubber padded one, I firmly thumped the camera on the left side of the camera, not the side with the USB/ memory card port. With Fresh batteries I pushed the on button and bam the lens opened! I put in a memory card and took a few pictures all is well, no problems.

My S400 lens was stuck about 10% of the way out. I noticed a gap on one side that was slightly more than the other side. I tried pushing the lens in on the side with the bigger gap and also banging on my palm, but those ideas did not work. Finally, I got the idea to use my fingernail to pull the lens towards the bigger gap side immediately after pressing the power button. My leverage allowed the lens to extend successfully. However, it then retracted and I still have the E18 error. Rrrrrggggh!

If you are fustrated at your camera and have tryed all suggestions to repair and nothing has worked ,a very simple solution that never fails is to place camera on a large ,then take 10 steps back ,aim your 12 gauge shotgun loaded with 3 1/2 magnum load buck shot ,aim carefuly so as not to miss, then "FIRE". problem solved,now go and buy a real camera.

awww why does this have to happen on xmas day :(

I have had this problem a couple of times with my Cannon. If you plug your camera into your TV to view the pictures on TV, turn the camera on and off a couple of times and it should get working back to normal right away. Also, try and gently blow out dust around the lense.

We started this procedure but found it too intense and super complicated. So I hit the lens with the base of my palm while turning it on and it worked!!!!!!!!!!

i have a problem like that to

When the E18 error is present and that the lens system is out to the “off”, but retracts and go out with “on”, it acts can be of a blocked problem focussing.

The following links is interesting for the Canon Ixus 750 or similar:
http://tumbleweed.org.za/
As it is known as: to check that the focussing system functions perfectly.

The screw below A being difficult to turn to make move the lens of focus, it is enough to dismount the metal plate hiding the gears on the outlet side of the actuator of focus (metallic cylinder to the top of the red circle) and to make turn the gears on the outlet side of the actuator with a small screwdriver and go up the lens to half the height.
Then, to make leave the objective (if it is in retracted position) while turning the large gears the zoom, released of the actuator for more facility,
To connect the ribbon connectors of the ordering of the objective on the mother chart, to start, the apparatus posts E18 once again, to again restart, the lens of the focussing system finds its place, E18 disappears.
As it is known as, it is not necessary to assemble for testing, the connection of the ribbon connectors of the lens system on the mother chart is enough.
Thus I solved E18 on my Canon Ixus, after 3 dismantle / reassembly
Sorry, I am French and I do not speak very well English.

Excellent 3 red lights problem by fixyamen. Check it out.

My E18 problem was resolved by, as turning the camera on, let the lens go in, but prevent it from going back out again, by a firm handhold.

Yngve

I have a canon powershot SX100 with the "Lens Error, restart camera" message. I tried wacking the camera as noted above while turning it on and it worked!! Thanks a lot.