I have the Canon power shot s2 is digita. I cant

E18 is the standard Canon lens error. The lens gets stuck when extending. If you did not drop it and there are no signs of damage you can check with Canon and try to get the camera repaired under warranty.

If it is not covered here are a few methods to try on your own, at your own risk.
http://www.e18error.com/repair.html

Good Luck,
-WN

Lens errors are fairly common. 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 ...

Here are some things that you can do to try to correct it without disassembly. They only seem to work for less than 50% of the lens errors, but if the camera is out of warranty, they're worth a try:

http://camerarepair.blogspot.com/2007/12/fixing-lens-error-on-digital-camera.html

I dont know what error E18 means, check cannon support for that, but welcome to the world of DISPOSABLE CAMERAS, I have replaced 3 cameras in 3 years, 2 because of lens and shutter issuses.

Do you get an E18 error? If so, then the lens motor is bad, or you have contamination in the gears (sand, dirt, etc), or mechanical failure from dropping the camera. This will require repair by Canon or other camera repair services.

Lens errors (E18 errors on Canons) are fairly common. 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 ...

Here's some things that you can do to try to correct it. They only seem to work for less than 50% of the lens errors, but if the camera is out of warranty, they're worth a try:

http://camerarepair.blogspot.com/2007/12/fixing-lens-error-on-digital-camera.html

I can't say I've had one fixed, but I have fixed several cameras for the E18 problem in the SD500 & for the blank pictures on the S2. I have not seen any of the S2's back for the same problem again. The SD500 E18 Error is do to the lens being jammed usually from sand or dust in the gears or from an impact when the lens was extended (I'm not saying you dropped the camera we see alot of cameras which were knocked against something when being carried by the hand strap with out the person noticing). This is not a flaw in Canon we see just as many of Nikon, Olympus, Pentax, Kodak, etc.. for the same problem, they just don't have an error code appear when it does.Normally I would recommend fixing the SD500 as they don't break again unless subjected to external problems like sand or impact.

This error is caused by a faulty lens motor, contaminated transmission, or mechanical damage from dropping. Unfortunately, there is no easy fix for this and it requires service from Canon or other repair facility.

The E18 error is fairly common. 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.

Here's some things that you can do to try to correct it. They only seem to work for about 50% of lens errors, but they're worth a try:

http://camerarepair.blogspot.com/2007/12/fixing-lens-error-on-digital-camera.html

This error is caused by a faulty lens motor, contaminated transmission, or mechanical damage from dropping. Unfortunately, there is no easy fix for this and it requires service from Canon or other repair facility.

the E18 means the lens system has a problem. I had it with my S2 and sometimes it worked, sometimes not. Eventually it stopped working. The only solution was sending it to repair, they changed the lens system.

Best Regards