When I push the power button, the lens cap comes out and on the screen is a very brief shot of what the camera is aimed at. The camera stays engaged for one second and the lens cap goes retreats back into the camera and the power goes off and nothing is on the screen. This happens after the battery has been fully charged also.

sounds like grit in the lens mechanism..... but is it worth enough to get it serviced?

Here are some troubleshooting steps that you can try:

It needs either service or repair

On the icons screen, click camera icon. The camera automatically gets ready for taking a shot. Now, aim the lens situated on the top right (other) side of the phone, viewing the image on the screen, tap the 'camera image' above the Home Button. The snap is taken and saved automatically in the Camera Roll folder. To view the shot, simply touch the left-down icon (containing your snapshops), all the snaps can be seen by sliding the pics.

I had the same problem with my Sony DSC-W150 camera. It turned out to have an easy fix. At the same time, press the power button and depress the shutter button halfway (the one you snap to take pics) as if you were trying to engage the autofocus without pressing the button down entirely. The lens will attempt to autofucus, which in my case was enough extra power to dislodge whatever debris/sand had clogged the lens. Hope this works for you!

I have to agree with one of the comments previously posted. I too had a Sony DCS-S700 and the lens was stuck open. Whenever I turned the camera on, the Sony Cybershot logo appeared and dissappeared, turning the camera off. I noticed the lens was crooked, so I moved it in the center direction and the camera worked again.

Someone told me to try this:
take the batteries out, press and hold the power button for about 30 seconds, let the camera sit for a few minutes without batteries, then place new "good" batteries in it.Good luck

try this! i did and now it works!!

easy! charge the battery.With power off,whack the base of the camera against the palm of your hand four or five times.wait five minutes,turn camera on and whack the side of the camera nearest the lens against the palm of your hand.then whack the base again and the lens should pop out.Worked for me!!!

I have the same problem. Its actually because the On/Off button got pushed in somehow and its stuck. At this time right now, im not sure how to make it unstuck, but sometimes it will stay on. But when you push on, since its being held down, its stuck that way and immediately turns off because its still being held down constantly. Maybe try using a thing needle to try and push it out?

Seems to be a problem with the camera and the batteries. It thinks the batteries are dead but they aren't, this is the problem I am having with my camera, I'm going to try new batteries and see if there is a Firmware upgrade.