Lense stuck out ? DMC-FX01

I had a similar problem with mine. When I turned it on, the camera would zoom out all the way and the other buttons wouldn't respond. If I switched it to review, it would just cycle through all the pictures, so I figured somewhere the zoom lever was stuck inside. I don't know a lot about cameras, so I sent it in to Panasonic (it was still under parts warranty), but was informed that due to "grit substance" my warranty was voided and it would cost $179 to repair. Since I could buy the same camera used at www.keh.com for that price I told them to send mine back and I'd take a shot at fixing it (since I was pretty sure it was a mechanical problem). Here's what I did with a $1.79 glass repair screwdriver and tweezers. Remove the battery and take out all the visible screws on the outside (2 on the right, 1 on the left, 3 on the bottom). Lift the back panel at the bottom edge, and it should pivot along the top edge until you can remove the back. Then unplug the two ribbon cables (the small one has a latch on top and the larger one has a black latch on the side that you need to lift). BOTH have hinges, not just the smaller one like other posts have said. Next you need to remove the front panel. There are three silver screws placed around the lens unit (look down inside, and you'll see them attaching it to the front panel). Remove these, and you should be able to remove the front (lift at the bottom and it pivots along the top edge). Now you should be able to pop off the top cover (with the zoom, power, etc). Now if you look at the bottom, there are two screws holding the board to the cover, remove these and you've got it apart. On the top right side of the board, you'll see where the external zoom switch pushes a very small black lever. This was where the problem with mine was, the black lever was stuck over. You can use the tip of the screwdriver to pop it back to the center position. Now make sure that if you push it one way or the other that it will recenter on its own. Mine didn't, so I had to pop the small silver cover off where the lever is with the flathead tip of the screwdriver. Be careful here. The lever just sits on a peg, and has very small gears that move a slide bar. If either of these fall, you may never find them again. I took both the lever and the slider off, cleaned them, and got it so it would recenter easily again. Then I put them both back in, popped the cover on (you may have to pry out one of the sides slightly to get it back on), and the lever works fine now. I wouldn't be surprised if your camera has this same problem. If it's something else, it's still probably a problem with this mechanism that you could fix. Anyways, reattach the board to the top cover, and pop it back onto the camera. Now insert the battery, and turn it on to see how it works. Even without the screen, you can try the zoom. If it all works, then all you need to do is put it back together in the opposite order you took it apart. When reattaching the LCD ribbon cables, make sure the hinges are open, insert the cable, and snap down its latch. Hopefully that works. I don't know much about cameras, but it wasn't too hard. Just work slowly and carefully.

Lenses sticking out or failing to retract fully are extremely likely to be a result of mechanical breakdown or power failures. Assuming that the battery is not flat and the lens still fails to function one can fairly make the assumption of a mechanical failue. Further clues pointing to a mechanical fault are grinding noises coming from the lens or clicking noises; these noises are produced by the small plastic gears and motors that move the lens. Dirt is the probably the number one cause of such failures. Literally a single grain of sand was to blame for the failure of the last camera I fixed. The gears are so small that one grain of sand can jam the teeth and prevent the lens functioning. So what to do? Taking your camera to the shop is likely to result in the shopkeeper telling you that "the camera is totally ruined and the parts are going to be more expensive than the camera is worth and that's without labour costs!" This is partly true, new parts are very expensive and so is the time it takes for someone to fix the camera. It's worth having a go at fixing the camera yourself, it's a challenge, fun and you'll feel rather smug knowing you've saved yourself a lot of money. Also what have you got to loose the alternative is throwing it away as the cost of repair is generally prohibitive. A source of cheap parts is buying a broken, there a many for sale on internet sites and you can use the broken camera as a trial for dissmantling prior to fixing your own camera. You'll need a quality (its important to get quality tools as they wont damage screw heads) set of prescicion screwdrivers, a magnifying lens, lots of little cups (to save the screws in), some forceps, a fine brush and a good few hours. Start by taking the battery out and then take a good look at the camera so as you can put it back together, you don't need to be an electrical engineer but you do need to work logically, never force anything and be observant. Identify any screws you can see and remove them (anticlockwise to remove, clockwise to tighten). Slowly start to pull the camera to pieces keeping all of the screws in little cups and all of the parts in a well laid out pattern to help you reassemble them. I find working on a large table with a tray is useful. Most cameras are built in a modular fashion i.e. thay'll have an outer casing, a steel frame, and then a lens unit, a screen unit to view the photos, a flash unit etc which are all fited together to give the finished article, in this case a camera. Once the main cover is off the lens unit is usually very obvious and will be a discrete unit with usually 2 electrical leads attached to it and the mother board. One of these leads is for focusing, powering and working the lens and the other is for the photoelectrical unit that converts light into your digital images. Carefully examine the conections and figure out how to disconnect them, it's usually very easy. Now look for any screws or mounting brackets for the lens unit and remove them. The lens unit sould now be very close to popping out of the camera. Once you've got tthe lens unit out you can set to work on it. Using the principles of meticulous obseravation and care dissasemble the lens. Great care should be taken at this point not to disrupt any of the delicate working of the lens, also beware that some components may be spring loaded and may jump out at you. There is occasionally a seperate cover over the gears that move the lens, remove and inspect this, very often sand will get in here and cause the problem. Use a fine brush to sweep away the grains or a needle to pick out individual grains (use some initiative) At the rear of the lens you will find the photoelectric unit. This is the bit that governs the megapixel number of your camera. It is very fragile so treat it with respect. Do not scratch it or touch it, generally try to avoid it! as they rarely break. thoroughly clean the workings of the camera so as the gears etc all work smoothly and hopefully you will have fixed teh problem. If you see a white paste around the gears, this is normal, it is the factory fitted lubricant. Now reassemble the camera, prior to complete reassembly insert the battery and test it, if the problem is not fixed you may need to clean it again or there is another problem which hasn't been addressed. GOOD LUCK, it's not that difficult

Had the same problem... zoom switch stuck at full zoom.  Same fix worked.  All I had to do was take out the initial exterior screws and clean with a forced air computer cleaner. The switch released, and all is working well.
Thanx for the tip!

My camera did the same exact thing. the only explanation i can think of for mine is that there is sand in the camera. i just went to the beach and was taking pictures. i think the only solution would be to go to a store so they can get all the sand out but i was hoping to figure out if i could do it myself.

Have you tried to download pictures using the camera cable? My camera just came up with the same disease and I believe it is with the 'menu/set' button locked up.