20 Most Recent Nikon Coolpix S3 Digital Camera Questions & Answers

I cannot be sure but a 4.5 year old camera 'may' have an old battery. Meaning you charge it to 100% and it has something like 25% total capacity. (Especially if you used the camera a lot) You never see a battery indicator on the display when shooting... like 5 minutes after you charge

Battery needs replacing. All rechargeable batteries need to be charged at intervals, even if not used

I am sorry to say that it sound like the display had been affected by being dropped. I shall do some more research and get back to you shortly

regards
Graeme

Sounds like faulty a/c adapter.

Hello

The problem is that the lens has become stuck in the barrel. There are some DIY solutions you could try, but the probability is that you will have to get it fixed by a professional.

Use these at own risk as it may further damage the camera.

Firstly , try connecting your ac adapter or usb cable.

Try holding the shutter button while switching on the camera.

Look at the lens , and if some of the lens 'circles' is misaligned or not concentric then try wiggling it (while holding camera lens down).

Try gently pushing or pulling the lens when it extends but this is risky as it may cause the lens barrel to slip out of its guidance system.

Another way to do this is to place the camera lens down on a hard surface and then power it up. Be sure to use a soft cloth or something similar as to not scratch your lens or casing. Let the lens push the camera up and down a few times and sometimes the little resistance provided by the camera is enough to get things going again.

Try hitting your camera near the lens on the body with the soft tissue on the palm of your hand.

Other than that , I would take the camera to a repair center for a evaluation to see if it would cost more to repair than to replace the camera.

If it is still under warranty I would suggest you take it in before trying any of these steps and remove any off-brand batteries or accessories as some stores are really fussy about warranty repairs on camera's with non-brand accessories.

You can also have a look at THIS link.

Hope the advise is useful. please do not hesitate to let me know if you need any further assistance.

Regards
Andrea

You might try taking the battery out, and reinserting it. Make sure the battery is charged. There is a chance that a ribbon connector from the lcd screen to the main board needs to be reseated. After reading the following blog, this is probably what they're doing halfway down the blog by "whacking" it:
http://www.digitalcamera-hq.com/products/nikon-coolpix-s5
Sure looks like a lot of people have had serious problems, and this unit has a weakness or defect.
Good luck, hope this helps, and thanks for using FixYa.

If all your pics are safely on the computer, try formatting the card in the camera.

Remove the memory card from the camera, on the top left side will be a small switch, this switch should be in the up position, when it is down the card is write protected. I'm not sure if anyone really uses these silly switches but they are there. Here is a link to a photo of the switch: http://activerain.com/image_store/uploads/6/9/5/4/2/ar125301563024596.jpg

This is probably THE most common failure among digital cameras. There's a halfway chance of fixing it yourself, described here: http://camerarepair.blogspot.com/2007/12/fixing-lens-error-on-digital-camera.html

Click on this link below and download the complete guide with pictures on how to correct and fix the Nikon Coolpix S5 lens cover error

http://www.docstoc.com/docs/6521966/nikon-s5-s6-lens-cover-error-repair

The easiest way to identify a picture within the camera might be through date and time. Go to your pictures settings and try to disable the timer display option.

Hi , The lens cover error is because the stepper motor in the camera is unable to open the lens cover. I have a solution posted in doc "nikon s5 s6 lens cover error repair.doc"  uploaded on site http://www.esnips.com/web/papputatiyasStuff    It will be helpfull for you. You have written that your lense is broken. In that case you can follow the procedure given in my doc to open the camera. You can replace the camera lens if broken.
Happy debugging Mukesh

I have a solution for Nikon coolpix S5/S6. I am not shure but it might be similar for S8, You can try my document "nikon s5 s6 lens cover error repair.doc"  uploaded on site 
http://www.esnips.com/web/papputatiyasStuff  

Regards   Mukesh  

I had the same problem with mine. I searched the web and came across this one. My camera had a black screen but everything else worked. I read some of the comments and a few people said to hit it. I hit the camera in the side of my hand a few times and it started to work. Thanks for the info. It sound carzy but it works.

Now working Nikon coolpix