My husband dropped our camera, while it was on, face down, forcing the lens back in to it's closed position. It still turns on, but the lens won't extend. Any help?

Lens errors are quite 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.

You can try the following:
1. Try compressed air. With a fine tip blow off gun and dry compressed air (20 lbs) set the tip between the lens turret and the camera body and turn on the air while moving the tip around the lens. It should remove all dust and sand. Turn the camera on and it should function fine.
2. Place the camera on it's back and look at the lens from its side. It may look slightly crooked. If this is the case, power up your camera and apply pressure gently to the side of the lens to center it. It should then extend fully.
3. [Try at your own risk] Try forcing the camera lens. Turn off the camera. Place it on the back with the lens facing up and take a look at the spacing between the lens and the lens housing. If you notice that the gap is not even all the way around the lens, the problem should be easy to fix. This type of a problem usually occurs if the camera was dropped while the lens was extended. Simply - VERY GENTLY - press down the lens on the side where the gap is the biggest. You should hear a click as it pops back into place. If the lens is stuck at an angle, put the edge of the lens not the flat front, on the edge of a table and press the lens back towards the center. It will either click back in place and work or it will break off one of the three pins that ride in the grooves of the lens barrel. Try powering the camera back on.

Alternatively, take a look here for some more tips! http://camerarepair.blogspot.com/2007/12/fixing-lens-error-on-digital-camera.html

The lens can become bound by grit and dirt, it can be off its tracks, or it can be sitting crooked due to dropping it or rough handling. First make sure you have a fully charged known good battery in the unit and it is turned off. Plug your Audio/Video cable into the camera. Lay the camera down on its back on a firm smooth surface. Press on the shutter button with one hand and while holding it down turn on the camera. If the lens becomes free, immediately point the lens down toward the floor and use the zoom to zoom it out. Take a soft brush, such as an art brush, and brush around the base of the lens to make sure you have removed any sand, dirt, etc. from the crevice around the lens where it enters the camera body.

If that doesn't free the lens there are a couple of other things you can attempt, but these may damage the camera too. If the camera is going to be tossed in the trash if it doesn't work try these two steps.
1. Take the battery out of the camera. Grasp the camera by the edges of the top and bottom with the lens facing downward. Cup your other hand slightly and smack the face of the camera into the palm of the cupped hand several times. Reinstall the battery and try the camera.
2. If step 1 didn't work, look closely at the lens seating in the camera. See if the gap around the lens is even all the way around. If it is not, take a thin tool or some sort that will fit into the gap at the narrowest point and softly pry the lens slowly toward the widest part of the gap. If the lens is off the pins, sometimes that will snap it back on. If you hear a small light snap. reinstall the battery and try the lens. If it works, point it face down and run the lens in and out several times using the zoom.
If this doesn't work, and again, only if the camera is going to be trashed if you can not fix it, try prying the the lens out forcefully, but gently. This has worked as a last resort many times. Good luck.

Normal 0 false false false MicrosoftInternetExplorer4 /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; mso-para-margin:0in; mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:10.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-ansi-language:#0400; mso-fareast-language:#0400; mso-bidi-language:#0400;} The lens can become bound by grit and dirt, it can be off its tracks, or it can be sitting crooked due to dropping it or rough handling. First make sure you have a fully charged known good battery in the unit and it is turned off. Plug your Audio/Video cable into the camera. Lay the camera down on its back on a firm smooth surface. Press on the shutter button with one hand and while holding it down turn on the camera. If the lens becomes free, immediately point the lens down toward the floor and use the zoom to zoom it out. Take a soft brush, such as an art brush, and brush around the base of the lens to make sure you have removed any sand, dirt, etc. from the crevice around the lens where it enters the camera body.

If that doesn't free the lens there are a couple of other things you can attempt, but these may damage the camera too. If the camera is going to be tossed in the trash if it doesn't work try these two steps.
1. Take the battery out of the camera. Grasp the camera by the edges of the top and bottom with the lens facing downward. Cup your other hand slightly and smack the face of the camera into the palm of the cupped hand several times. Reinstall the battery and try the camera.
2. If step 1 didn't work, look closely at the lens seating in the camera. See if the gap around the lens is even all the way around. If it is not, take a thin tool or some sort that will fit into the gap at the narrowest point and softly pry the lens slowly toward the widest part of the gap. If the lens is off the pins, sometimes that will snap it back on. If you hear a small light snap. reinstall the battery and try the lens. If it works, point it face down and run the lens in and out several times using the zoom.
If this doesn't work, and again, only if the camera is going to be trashed if you can not fix it, try prying the the lens out forcefully, but gently. This has worked as a last resort many times. Good luck.

Normal 0 false false false MicrosoftInternetExplorer4 /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; mso-para-margin:0in; mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:10.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-ansi-language:#0400; mso-fareast-language:#0400; mso-bidi-language:#0400;} The lens can become bound by grit and dirt, it can be off its tracks, or it can be sitting crooked due to dropping it or rough handling. First make sure you have a fully charged known good battery in the unit and it is turned off. Plug your Audio/Video cable into the camera. Lay the camera down on its back on a firm smooth surface. Press on the shutter button with one hand and while holding it down turn on the camera. If the lens becomes free, immediately point the lens down toward the floor and use the zoom to zoom it out. Take a soft brush, such as an art brush, and brush around the base of the lens to make sure you have removed any sand, dirt, etc. from the crevice around the lens where it enters the camera body.

If that doesn't free the lens there are a couple of other things you can attempt, but these may damage the camera too. If the camera is going to be tossed in the trash if it doesn't work try these two steps.
1. Take the battery out of the camera. Grasp the camera by the edges of the top and bottom with the lens facing downward. Cup your other hand slightly and smack the face of the camera into the palm of the cupped hand several times. Reinstall the battery and try the camera.
2. If step 1 didn't work, look closely at the lens seating in the camera. See if the gap around the lens is even all the way around. If it is not, take a thin tool or some sort that will fit into the gap at the narrowest point and softly pry the lens slowly toward the widest part of the gap. If the lens is off the pins, sometimes that will snap it back on. If you hear a small light snap. reinstall the battery and try the lens. If it works, point it face down and run the lens in and out several times using the zoom.
If this doesn't work, and again, only if the camera is going to be trashed if you can not fix it, try prying the the lens out forcefully, but gently. This has worked as a last resort many times. Good luck.

did you try and take the battery out and outting them back in
might be worth a try

hi jasperke,

try the following:

make sure your Canon has fresh batteries and it is in recording mode.

1) Remove the batteries from the camera, wait for a couple of minutes,then put them back in and turn the camera on.

2) Try compressed air. With a fine tip blow off gun and drycompressed air (20 lbs) set the tip between the lens turret and thecamera body and turn on the air while moving the tip around the lens.It should remove all dust and sand. Turn the camera on and it shouldfunction fine.

3) Another method is to tap the padded USB cover part on a hard surface, for example, a desk. It sounds so simple, but veryoften in works.

4) Try forcing the camera lens:

Turn off the camera. Place it on the back with the lens facing up and take a look at the spacing between the lens and the lens housing. If you notice that the gap is not even all the way around the lens, the problem should be easy to fix. This type of a problem usually occurs if the camera was dropped while the lens was extended.

Simply - VERY GENTLY - press down the lens on the side where the gap is the biggest. You should hear a "click" as it pops back into place. Try powering the camera back on.

If the lens doesn't extend at all or it extends, and then retracts again, do the following. Turn the camera off. Take the camera in one hand and with the other gently take one part of the lens and gently move it round in a circular movement. Do so with both sections of the lens. You will hear a "click" as it pops back in place. Power the camera on.

Another version of this fix would be to pull and twist on the largest ring of the lens while turning the camera on. Listen for a "click". If at first the focus seems to be off, turn the camera on and off and take lots of pictures, close ups and distance. Focus should slowly start improving.

there is a guide to dismantle it with pictures: try it:

http://www.fixya.com/support/t102982-e_18_problem

good luck!

try resetting the camera to factory settings and then try.

I semi resolved the problem with my Kodak Z1275 with this suggestion; Step 1, making SURE the batteries are good. Then, position the camera with the lens pointed up or down (depending on stuck lens position, USE GRAVITY AS YOUR FRIEND) and gently tap on the lens just as you turn on/off the camera. You may have to do this several times before the camera will close the lens. From my research this camera has a faulty mechanism for the lens which causes the software to recognize a lens failure thus shutting down the camera. Poor designed lens mechanism! I now am using my camera again, but regularly have to remember to allow gravity to assist in lens opening (turning on) and lens closing (turning off) as well as occasionally giving it a light tap or in extreme cases lightly assisting the lens opening/closing. Hope that helps! Oh and I don't suggest buying another Kodak camera!

Plug it into the charger, then remove the battery. Disconnect is and then insert the battery/ That may reset it.

This also sometimes happens when a camera is dropped and the lens assembly is tweaked just a bit. Point it to your face and turn it on. Press on different places on the lens assembly while you toggle it off and on. If it comes out, your lens unit is out of line. You can try moving it side to side and even forcing it a little but it will probably never be just right.

my acm dropped and i messed up the lsenes it wont go in please help me how can i fix it my self?