If you are getting lens error then follow some of the tips it may solve...

This totally worked for me. So thanks, I started gentle and then worked my way up to some twisting and pushing and now it works great.

thanks

Thanks for the great tips - my camera is back in action!

To all the ppl leaving negative feedback here, you may just be a bit dense. This advice is for resolving lens errors caused by grit jamming the lens. GENTLY tapping the camera will help to dislodge the grit. All makes sense to me. Manufacturers won't take any responsibility for this problem, and if your camera doesn't work it's worth nothing. I think it's worth trying these simple tips before going to a repair guy, who will probably do the same thing and charge like a wounded bull.


Peace out kids.

If you wish to see the original site where these tips were cut and pasted from, along with a forum of peoples experience in fixing lens errors with additional tips, please visit this link.

dileep, no luck I have an olympus tough 6000 and as of yesterday it beeps everytime I want to swith it on. It only accepts the play-mode but as soon as I want to take pictures, in any other mode, it beeps. I already took the battery out for 24 hours (suggestion of help desk olympus) but it still doesn't work. Any more ideas ?

I've picked up several cameras at tag sales lately. Some of these suggestions do work. Always start
at the least invasive/destructive. If the device is valuable to you, get an expert to repair it. In my case
I now have several functioning cameras for almost nothing. The first was an Olympus C-740. Cost
5 bucks. Time to fix about 30 minutes. Lens stuck out. First try vaccuum. Second try compressed air, light tapping while turning on. What worked. I shot some electronic cleaner solvent around the lens base. A no residue GCBATH. While GENTLY twisting the lens back and forth. This is now my favorite camera as it takes regular, not proprietary batteries.Yeah it's big but works for me. The point is to get rid of the grit holding the lens out. So far I've fixed a few including a FREE Canon SD300, a Sony I gave away, a co workers Nikon, and a Canon A530 that I got for 10 bucks. The only death so far was a Canon SD850 that had been dropped hard. The lens was extended when dropped, not a dirt problem.
Took it apart and found a "sproinged" part I could not identify shaking around in the case.
Always assess and decide
what the device is worth to you vs pro repair. I GAVE that Sony away after I fixed it because a charger was too expensive, and my friend had one already. My point is that pro repair costs more
than most of these cameras are worth. Cripes try anything you can, IF you can afford to kill it. Start
slow and gentle. Sucking first, blowing next, solvent next, then the physical stuff.

Are you kidding me? haha... this **** made my camera sooo much worse. You'd rather throw your camera into a wall and hey maybe it'll work. Hammer it? Force the lens? Do what you do [: and for the guy who even wrote this, duck my sick :]

Yanno, all the smart remarks about how these tips are a great way to break your camera for service guys to get more service are not real helpful. Sometimes you need a camera NOW and you don't have time to go to the store or take it to the shop; and if it needs service anyway, chances are you are not going to lose much if you take a chance on self repair, since the alternative is repairing an older camera which generally will cost almost as much as just buying a new one with better features. I am NOT going to spend money on my 4 yr old camera; if I break it trying to fix it then so be it but rather than spend money on repair I'd just go buy a new one because in 4 yrs time they have advanced enough that I can buy more camera for half of what I paid for this one. I found the tips above fixed my camera perfectly. No one advocated taking a hammer to it; but if gently tapping it against the palm of my hand is going to hurt it then it is not going to survive long anywa; first time it gets dropped it is going to fail, and I don't care how careful you are, cameras get dropped. If you can't be helpful beyond 'take it to a shop' or 'don't follow these tips because you will ruin your camera' then tell ya what: take out an ad for camera servce but leave those of us who want simple solutions alone. I tried gently tapping the camera and doing the on-off several times, then took the batteries out while the lens was extended and put a fresh pair back in, then turned the camera back on. Voila! no more "focus error." Was it risky? Perhaps, but I don't really think so. THANK YOU to dileep007 for the advice!

Before finding this site my digital kodak easyshare lens was stuck. I tried myself jiggling it around and now I am sure it is jammed anymore? Any advice now? Best Buy told me it would cost more to fix it than what I paid for it, which is obviously a lie since it would probably take them 2 minutes to repair. Should I take it a part myself? Can I send it somewhere else for less expensive repair? Thanks for any advice!

Busy, busy, busy.
Yes folks listen to all the important tips and tricks posted on here for breaking, sorry, repairing your camera.
Your camera is an expensive piece of equipment and full of easy to break parts so go ahead and "Bang it" why not stamp on it too! might make you feel better. Won't do the camera any good tho.
I've read a lot of tips, tricks and what not on here about how to fix a camera and all I can say is....... keeps me busy repairing them! So I guess I should say a BIG thank you to all the experts for giving me sooo much work, lol

I have a Panasonic DMC-FZ5GC. It had been sideswiped by our 2 year old off a table onto the floor. The camera was still working but the lens would not retract. With nothing to lose I thought I'd have a go at gently forcing / twisting the lens while repeatedly pressing the power button on and off. After a few goes ... FANTASTIC ... this actually worked. No problem with the lens falling out, the camera is working fine again. Faced with exorbitant repair costs (you may as well buy another camera these days) I was about to take it all apart but thankfully this worked. Thank you all at FIXYA!

I also have an SD800is with the lens error. I don't remember dropping it or having any other damage, but it's possible that it may have gotten hit while in my car or gotten some sand in it.

Essentially the lens is fully extended and the camera will not function. When I power on the camera, I get the clicking noise as if the lens is trying to extend/adjust, then a black screen on the LCD saying "Lens Error, Restart Camera". Then it immediately shuts off.

Removing the battery/memory card has not helped. Gentle proding/blowing in an attempt to dislodge any particles has not helped. My camera is no longer under warranty. Any ideas???

On the Nikon D90 with the 18-105 lens, if you get the F-- error (lens not seen by the camera electronically) simply and carefully clean the lens and camera contacts with a new pencil eraser. When doing this on the camera point the opening DOWN so any small flakes from the eraser will fall out. This solved the problem completely with my camera. There may have been some slight oil reidue left ont he contacts from the manufactoring process.

As far as GE digital cameras, DO NOT bang on the camera or rotate, twist, or otherwise force the lens. You will only break the inside lens barrel. Call the manufacturer.

As a competent amateur who tries to fix almost anything I have repaired 2-3 zoom lenses and I found that about the only way is to completely dismantle the lens to find the problem. On a Fuji it had sand in the lens and I dismantled it to clean it all out. It worked for 2 years but has now jammed again. This time I just paid UK£30 on eBay for a camera with broken screen and cannibalised the 2 together.

On a Casio some years ago one of the 3 pins that guide the lens fell out and was lost. Using a small screw from old spectacles I filed the head down to the right shape and screwed it in.

You have to be pretty competent to try this though as it’s very easy to accidentally rip a ribbon cable or break a plastic latch. Not to mention dropping the small bits on the floor and never finding them again or getting dust/fingerprints in the lens/CCD. I have had to solder up ripped ribbon cables, including one ripped by a ‘professional’ repair firm who had ‘repaired' the sand jammed ‘Fuji’ for >£100 but their repair only lasted 3 months.


Am currently attempting a Sony DSC S80, see question elsewhere here, but it’s not a mechanical jamming problem. May be a failed motor. But I looked on eBay for one to use in cannibalisation and none are listed today.

I have spent the last several years running a successful online digital camera repair business and I would tell you DO NOT ATTEMPT #5, #6 or #7 unless you don't care if you end up doing MORE damage to your camera.

Blowing compressed air in the camera will either do nothing, or it will move the dirt to another location where it will either jam up the gears again or possibly short out the camera and cause it to no longer turn on.

Banging on the camera repeatedly will either break your LCD screen, or cause the dirt to do the exact same as #5.

Forcing your lens by twisting it, banging it, pressing on it etc. will only cause more damage to the lens and maybe destroy something that used to be fixable.

There is only one type of jammed lens that responds to pressure, and you have to do it just the right way and you are LUCKY if it works and if not you will break the lens barrel and the lens is then useless. I won't tell you how to do it, I don't want you to break your lens if you don't have to.

If you want to repair your digital camera don't listen to anybody that tells you to bang on it, and don't bother going to a store, they know nothing about repair and will only send the camera to the manufacturer and charge you more than what you could pay the manufacturer yourself to do the repair.

I run a successful, affordable online digital camera repair business, and have done so for 4-5 years now. We can probably help you with your repair, even if we can't feel free to contact us for advice.

Good luck from Darntoothysam com

Thomas

my lens got stuck && i tried 1 of ur tips && it worked.
but the problem is that my lens fell out..so now i need help puttin my lens back in
i tried shoving it in but it wont stay in place...help?

I have a Sanyo 7.1 Mega..Nothing to special but its been fine for a few months except my shutter wont close all the way which wasent bothering me too much because I have a case. Now when I press the power button it will light up and flash green then start flashing red and the screen turns off I have taken the batteries out, replaced them, I have taken my memory card out and put it back in..Vaccumed around but its giving me a lens error when I connect to my computer

Lens Error: 1511?



Any help would be greatly appriciated...

Thanks everyone!
Linsie

Thanks for the tips. I too had the same problem with my camera. I dropped it last time I was at the beach and it seemed to worked fine until about 2 weeks later. The optical zoom got stuck and the camera would not turn on but for about a second.

I tried all the troubleshooting methods from the manual and none seemed to work. I gently tapped the zoom while turning the power on, not it seems to be working. I haven't taken any pictures so far but it seems to be shutting off and on.

I will give some updates if the same comes up again later on or if the camera starts acting up and not normal as before.

Regards..

i accidenly dropped my camera...
i tried some of these tips, and i got it to work twice, but the view was all blurry. when i tried zooming in and out, the view moved, even though i wasn't moving the camera.
then once i turned it off it just got stuck again.
any tips?
should i send it in?
or is my camera doomed?