My camera has been put away for a couple years just put in fresh batteries and now the shutter will not take a picture. It will focus on auto and manuel setting will not release all the way to take the picture.Pentax ZX-7

There are a lot of possibilities. Try setting your lens on manual focus and see if the camera triggers. if it fires, then you have a focus issue.Put the lens back on auto focus. Find something the camera can easily focus on. Press the shutter half way and see if the lens is finding the focus. If not, your camera may not trigger.

Try removing and reinstalling the lens.
Be sure your camera is not set on timer delay.
Fresh batteries

I see your camera has a focus area. If you have a subject with enough contrasting parts in this area, the focusing should work fine.
You must know that not every subject can be focused on as quick or as good as you would like. If there are little contrasting lines in the subject, or when it is getting dark or there are dark and light parts in the focus area, that don't belong together, every camera can have problems to focus correct. Changing the ISO settings won't change anything for the auto focus.
But special when you try to shoot in almost dark places, you camera will have lots of work to focus and in most cases it won't work at all.

You could try to place an object with light and dark lines, on the same distance as the object you want to picture. Then by pressing the shutter half, when focusing on the object with much contrast, you can look if the camera can focus. If it is in focus, keep the shutter pressed half way down, while moving to the object you want to shoot a picture of. Once you have every thing in the frame as you want it, press the shutter complete.

Shutter Assy, Mirror Assy or Shutter Button taken a coffee breaks.

You did try using a new battery?
Or your battery is not over 3 years old?

If I can help, just send me an email.
[email protected]

they were known to do that it got to do with the screen

the auto focus works on the basis of contrast. If you aim your chosen auto focus square at an item that fills that square with only one color or shade of color light a blank wall or a solid blue sky the camera can't focus because it is trying to compare the contrast in order to focus the camera. try to make sure that you choose an item with contrast to aim your auto focus square on like someones eye and part of their cheek so the camera can see somre contrast to evaluate then focus. Obviously you depress your shutter half way to activate the auto focus let the camera do its thing keeping the shutter half way depressed move your field of vision to where you want it then fully depress the shutter to take the picture. the camera relys on seeing some contrast within your autofocus square in order to auto focus

This is a common situation with many compact point&shoot cameras. This is because before the camera can take the picture it must focus, meter the light to set the exposure, and more. Bigger, more expensive cameras have more hardware to help eliminate this "shutter lag."

You can anticipate the action. Press the shutter button halfway to focus and meter. Hold the shutter button there until the peak of the action and then press it the rest of the way. This will eliminate much of the shutter lag.

problem in lens censer replace it

If the camera is having trouble doing an auto focus you can try the FOCUS LOCK feature. This feature allows you to focus on another subject roughly the same distance away from you, and then move the camera back to your original subject and take your picture without losing that focus. First turn the camera on and locate the AutoFocus Target Mark in the center of the LCD. The AF Target Mark resembles an open and close bracket [ ]. Position this AF Target Mark on a subject roughly the same distance away from you as the subject that the camera is having trouble focusing on. Press the shutter button halfway enabling the lens to focus. While keeping the shutter button pressed halfway, move the camera back to include the subject you originally wanted in the image, then press the shutter fully. (Please see page 42 in the D-535 Zoom Reference Manual in Section 3, under the heading titled “If Correct Focus Cannot Be Obtained”, for a more detailed explanation.)

If the camera is having a difficult time auto-focusing you can try the FOCUS LOCK feature. This feature allows you to focus on another subject roughly the same distance from you and then move the camera back to the intended subject and take the picture without losing focus. First, turn the camera on and locate the Autofocus Target Mark in the center of the LCD. The AF Target Mark resembles an open and close bracket [ ]. Position this AF Target Mark on a subject roughly the same distance away as the subject the camera is having trouble focusing on. Press the shutter button halfway enabling the lens to focus. While holding the shutter button halfway down, aim the camera at the original subject and press the shutter button all the way down.

The cause and solution may include one of the following: The camera is not turned on. Turn on the camera. The camera is processing a picture; the camera Power ring light (on the Mode dial) blinks green. Wait until the light stops blinking before taking another picture. The card or internal memory is full. Transfer pictures to the computer, delete pictures from the camera, switch storage locations, or insert a memory card with available memory. The shutter button was not pressed. Depress the shutter button completely down. There was a failure in the focus and/or exposure. Press the shutter button halfway to set the Auto Focus (AF) and Auto Exposure (AE). When the AF/AE indicator turns green, press the shutter button completely down. The battery is exhausted. Replace or recharge the battery