Camera dropped, lens won't retract or expand

Thanks for the advice, this is my story to the T, down to the son dropping the camera. lol. I tried unsuccessfully to gently pull and push lens several times. It finally clicked and works now. Easy fix. Thx for posting so I was more confident it would work than just trying to grit my teeth and hope for the best.

You sound as if you don't want to waste money on this camera. You could try to gently pull the lens straight. If it's leaning to the right then pull the lens to the left. Don't use brute force but it's possible to realign the lens this way. If it works you'll hear a click and the lens will look straight. Switch on and see if it retracts. I'd only use this as a last resort because you can cause additional damage if it's overdone. But believe me I've seen it done and I've done it myself with about a 40% win rate.

bmw

Hi Smarks,

This is a common problem, which has happened to me as well. The only thing you can do is have a camera shop fix it. It should not cost more than $50.00 to get the lens back on track, and would be well worth it at that price.

Best regards,
nightdiver

THANK YOU GUYS SO MUCH FOR THE INFO! WE WERE ABLE TO FIX OUR CAMERA BY JUST GENTLY POPPING THE LENS BACK INTO PLACE! Saved us $50. Thank you guys for all the help!

I took the advice of the above user and popped my lens back in place. My lens was leaning to one side, so I gently pushed it to the other side until I heard a pop. Then, my lens was able to retract and the camera works.

THANKS GUYS SO MUCH FOR THIS....IN MY CASE I TRIED TO MOVE A LITTLE THE LENS WHILE THE CAMERA WAS OFF...BUT WHEN I TURN IT ON THEN I COULD EASILY MOVE THE LENS IN THE RIGHT POSITION. I SAVED SO 50$.

same exact thing happened to my Pentax S5z (great camera). Lens jammed and would not retract, so it powered down with lens out. Here's what I did, and the results:

I powered up, and as it tried to extend/retract the lens, I shoved it closed. Then I tried to power it up again--repeatedy, though, the lens didn't move and it powered right off each time. Eventually the grinding sound stopped. I fully disassembled the unit (easier than I thought, did it in a minivan at 70MPH at the time, using eyeglasses screwdriver) and confirmed I burned out the motor that extends/retracts the lens. There are also some very small plactic nubs and springs that you will probably break off and lose like I did. This does not help either. then tried looking for used S5Z's on the internet... let you know how that works. The Option Z10 is NOT it's equal.

Bad Thing I Did that and when i press the on button it wont turn on. should i take it back to the shop?

This is the same problem I am having and will try it for myself once I get back my free repair estimate. I had another camera that wouldn't open. The repair was $100+. I tried gently rubbing around the lens gap (with my finger nail) and it opened. I can't believe they were going to charge so much for such a simple fix!