'Turn camera off and turn back on' message (by 8 users)

TRY DROPPING THE CAMERA -- YOU HAVE NOTHING TO LOSE!

I was heartbroken to learn that my Lumix DMC-TZ1, which I purchased 2-3 years ago, had died -- right during my daughter's dance recital, for seemingly no reason. Tonight I was surfing the web researching replacement cameras (many brands), and I realize that I feel like there is no real "history" on the camera that's any worse than any other camera on the market, including the Canon Powershots, which are all the rage right now. So I started researching on the Fixit site other cameras for possible problems.

What I found is that all the cameras have funky messages (Sony and Canon included!) that result when he camera has been dropped or the lense has somehow been altered. So I read all the different "solutions" and then came up with my own:

I decided that the lense needed to be un-jammed. At this point, if the camera was useless to me, I might as well take a chance and try to unjam it. So I did!

I held the camera about 3-4 inches from a table top. Then I simulated a "drop" (without the case) that was gentle enough that it wouldn't smash the LCD but that would maybe make the lense unjam. (Note: I couldn't SEE any problem with the lense; this was just a hypothesis I couldn't go wrong trying.)

Each time I put the camera on, tried to modify the zoom (a function which normally makes me get the error message forcing me to turn the camera off), and then got the message. BUT the 3rd or 4th time: TA DAH! NO MESSAGE! INSTEAD, A SHOCKER: I WAS ABLE TO MODIFY THE ZOOM! AND THEN I TOOK A PICTURE! AND VIDEO!!!!

So my camera is back! And I also have discovered that the flash problem I had started to have previously has now seemed to have gone away also.

My advice is to just TRY! You have nothing to lose: try "dropping it" back into shape! I know it sounds crazy -- but I just saved at least $200 by doing this!

Mama Maria in Burke VA