Lens not opening when turning on....

Lens covers are delicate things. A bit of dust or dirt inside and the the springs can't do their job. When cleaning doesn't work, to repair this I remove the lens cover and shorten the springs by cutting off a bit and then reattaching them. A small bit of mollyd to lubricate helps too. never use oil or silicone.

If it's professional camera... squeeze the tabs at the edge of the lens cap toward the middle and it will come off easily. If it's point-and-shoot camera then turn the power on and it should open automatically. Sony NEX should be a quarter turn or so and it will come right off. Otherwise, give a model and you answer will be more specific. Good luck!

Hi. I had exactly the same problem with my Sony Cyber-Shot DSC-W7. The problem started after while lense was fully open, the battery became 100% empty. I did not have access to new batteries and did not have my charger with me so I put the camera on my car seat and went home. After charging the batteries, I turned the camera Off and the lense retracted 100%. Later on I tried to transfer some pictures to my PC. After connecting the camera to my PC with the dial in the P position and lense fully open I turned the dial to play in order to transfer photos. After transferring the pictures, I turned the camera off and disconnected from the computer.

I turn the camera on to take new pictures next day, The lense would go up, and and turn with lense fully open. It would never close. The screen was black with a message "Turn the camera on and off again". I tried 30 times or more and the same thing would happen again.

Here is what I did to fix my camera and it has been working normally since then.

1- I cleaned around the outside of the lense with lent free cloth

2- I used dust OFF to get raid of the remaining small dust particles from around the lense.

3- While turning the camera off, I pushed (down, up and turn) the lense in (NOT TOO Hard) by my hand. If you push the lense too hard, you may damage the mechanicall moving parts of the lense.

4- After a few tries, the lense retracted 90% +. I then pushed the lense a little harder all the way in, the way it normall retracts. The lense cover also closed 100%.

5- I turned the Camera on and off a few times. It was opening and closing exactly the way it used to. My Cybershot has been working okay since then.

I read a lot and here is what cause my lense to malfunction.

While lense was fully open and battery died, some small particles got on the lense and prevented lense from fully opening or closing.

In summery: two things could have caused your camera lense to malfunction.

1- if you had dropped your camera hard, some mechanical parts may have got damaged or dislocated. In this case you have to open the lense and replace the damaged part, clean and put it back on the camera. This is too risky for most ordinary people. You would most likely make it WORST.

2- If you did not drop it, most likly, some how some small dust particles got on the outside of the lense and they prevent the lense or the lense cover from fully opening and closing. If this is your case, please follow exactly what I did and your camera would be back to normal.

GOOD LUCK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Hi. I had exactly the same problem with my Sony Cyber-Shot DSC-W7. The problem started after while lense was fully open, the battery became 100% empty. I did not have access to new batteries and did not have my charger with me so I put the camera on my car seat and went home. After charging the batteries, I turned the camera Off and the lense retracted 100%. Later on I tried to transfer some pictures to my PC. After connecting the camera to my PC with the dial in the P position and lense fully open I turned the dial to play in order to transfer photos. After transferring the pictures, I turned the camera off and disconnected from the computer.

I turn the camera on to take new pictures next day, The lense would go up, and and turn with lense fully open. It would never close. The screen was black with a message "Turn the camera on and off again". I tried 30 times or more and the same thing would happen again.

Here is what I did to fix my camera and it has been working normally since then.

1- I cleaned around the outside of the lense with lent free cloth

2- I used dust OFF to get raid of the remaining small dust particles from around the lense.

3- While turning the camera off, I pushed (down, up and turn) the lense in (NOT TOO Hard) by my hand. If you push the lense too hard, you may damage the mechanicall moving parts of the lense.

4- After a few tries, the lense retracted 90% +. I then pushed the lense a little harder all the way in, the way it normall retracts. The lense cover also closed 100%.

5- I turned the Camera on and off a few times. It was opening and closing exactly the way it used to. My Cybershot has been working okay since then.

I read a lot and here is what cause my lense to malfunction.

While lense was fully open and battery died, some small particles got on the lense and prevented lense from fully opening or closing.

In summery: two things could have caused your camera lense to malfunction.

1- if you had dropped your camera hard, some mechanical parts may have got damaged or dislocated. In this case you have to open the lense and replace the damaged part, clean and put it back on the camera. This is too risky for most ordinary people. You would most likely make it WORST.

2- If you did not drop it, most likly, some how some small dust particles got on the outside of the lense and they prevent the lense or the lense cover from fully opening and closing. If this is your case, please follow exactly what I did and your camera would be back to normal.

GOOD LUCK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

It most likely was a short in the repaired lens that caused the sensor to go bad over time.

I have been shooting with Canon cameras and lenses for many years and I do not always turn off power before switching lenses. It is not a big deal.

After talking, without any success, to your expert I tried experimenting. It seemed like the sliding lens cover was the main reason for it to behave as it did. It turned out that the lens cover had a worn track and did not always operate the lens motor switch to open it, or pressure on the cover caused the lens to retract. All it needs is a new sliding cover.

It is a common, but in most cases intermittent problem with many cameras regardless of brand/model. I also own Kodak DX7440 since late 2004, and I had this problem twice, in 2007 and 2008. First suggestion: fully recharge the battery, it helped me the first time. Second: play with the lens cover, that is try to open/close it with the camera on/off. With me, in 5 min of these attempts, it suddenly fixed itself and stays this way for one month now. Another suggestion: dont use a toothpick, since it can scratch the lens. Use a q-tip, and to avoid cotton threads sticking to lens, wet the q-tip and let it dry.

I agree with dovi. I actually emailed canon and here is what they said and how to do it; Thank you for your inquiry regarding your digital SLRs. We value you asa Canon customer and appreciate the opportunity to assist you, and I'm sorry to hear that you're running into the "error 1" message. From what you mentioned, it sounds like the lens might be having problems communicating with your cameras. One thing you could try is toclean the contact points on your lens and your camera. If you have not done this yet you can do so by turning the camera off, removing the lens, then brushing those copper points on both the lens and the camera body with something like a clean eraser. Should problems continue, I would suggest that you go to a local camera shop and try a different lens. That way you can determine whether the problem is due to the lens or to your cameras. I hope this is helpful Jason

Broken or damage a small switch under lense cover create this type problem

Completely open lens cover by sliding the lens cover all the way to the right until you hear two clicks. The first click will put the camera into playback mode. The second click will put the camera into shooting mode.