he E18 seems to be a significant flaw in an otherwise great camera.
It is a flaw well know by users of Canon Powershot and Ixus cameras and is currently not acknowledged by Canon as a flaw in camera design.
HOW IT ALL WORKS:Canon E18 error happens when the lens gets stuck while trying to extend. The camera will beep a few times and the LCD will display a little E18 in the lower-left corner. The lens gets stuck in the extended position, and refuses to move either to focus the lens or to retract when powered off.
Apparently, people who posted about this incident on forums say they had to send the camera for repair and that Canon has horrible customer support and response time.
The problem usually happens because dirt or sand get into the lens mechanism. But it seems that more and more people are showing, who took great care of their camera, and still started receiving E18 errors.
It seems that the problems have been happening with the following types of Canon cameras:
- Powershot A40
- Powershot A60
- Powershot A70
- Powershot A75
- Powershot A80
- Powershot A85
- Powershot A95
- Powershot A400
- Powershot A410
- Powershot A430
- Powershot A510
- Powershot A520
- Powershot A530
- Powershot A540
- Powershot A610
- Powershot A620
- Powershot S1 IS
- Powershot S2 IS
- Powershot S10
- Powershot S30
- Powershot S40
- Powershot S45
- Powershot S50
- Powershot S60
- Powershot S70
- Powershot S80
- Powershot S400
- Powershot S410
- Powershot S500
- S100 / Digital Ixus
- S110 / Digital Ixus V
- S200 / Digital Ixus V2
- S230 / Digital Ixus V3
- S330 / Digital Ixus 330
- S400 / Digital Ixus 400
- S410 / Digital Ixus 430
- S450 / Digital Ixus 55
- S500 / Digital Ixus 500
- S550 / Digital Ixus 750
- SD20 / Digital Ixus i5
- SD30 / Digital Ixus i Zoom
- SD100 / Digital Ixus ii
- SD110 / Digital Ixus iis
- SD200 / Digital Ixus 30
- SD300 / Digital Ixus 40
- SD400 / Digital Ixus 50
- SD450 / Digital Ixus 55
- SD500 / Digital Ixus 700
- SD550 / Digital Ixus 750
- SD600 / Digital Ixus 60
- SD630 / Digital Ixus 65
- SD700 / Digital Ixus 800
- SD800 / Digital Ixus 850
- SD900 / Digital Ixus 900
Instructions If your camera is still under warranty, the best thing you can do is to take it to the nearest official Canon repair shop and Canon should fix it for free.
If your camera is out of warranty, or if Canon refuses to repair it for free (happens sometimes if for example they suspect the camera has not been treated properly) you can try some of the methods listed here to repair it yourself. These simple methods have helped a lot of people fix their cameras.
Before trying any of the suggestions, make sure your Canon has fresh batteries and it is in recording mode.
1) Remove the batteries from the camera, wait for a couple of minutes, then put them back in and turn the camera on.
2) Try compressed air. With a fine tip blow off gun and dry compressed air (20 lbs) set the tip between the lens turret and the camera body and turn on the air while moving the tip around the lens. It should remove all dust and sand. Turn the camera on and it should function fine.
3) Another method is to tap the padded USB cover part on a hard surface, for example, a desk. It sounds so simple, but very often in works.
4) Try forcing the camera lens:
Turn off the camera. Place it on the back with the lens facing up and take a look at the spacing between the lens and the lens housing. If you notice that the gap is not even all the way around the lens, the problem should be easy to fix. This type of a problem usually occurs if the camera was dropped while the lens was extended.
Simply - VERY GENTLY - press down the lens on the side where the gap is the biggest. You should hear a "click" as it pops back into place. Try powering the camera back on.
If the lens doesn't extend at all or it extends, and then retracts again, do the following. Turn the camera off. Take the camera in one hand and with the other gently take one part of the lens and gently move it round in a circular movement. Do so with both sections of the lens. You will hear a "click" as it pops back in place. Power the camera on.
Another version of this fix would be to pull and twist on the largest ring of the lens while turning the camera on. Listen for a "click". If at first the focus seems to be off, turn the camera on and off and take lots of pictures, close ups and distance. Focus should slowly start improving.
5) If that doesn't work, there is an online guide for dismantling Canon cameras and fixing the E18 error.
(NOTE: Try this only if your camera is no longer under warranty!) It is a great guide with pictures and it can be found here.
There are 2 other guides, one Bulgarian and one Estonian with the take apart procedure for Canon cameras. They are not in english but have a lot of pictures which help with the process.
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Bulgarian guide-
Estonian guide
My Ixus 40 is almost 4 years old and I started thinking about buying the ixus 70. A few days afterwards, the E18 occured!
I was just looking on some of the pictures I had on the memory card and when I was going to the camera-mode, the error started. I can't get the lense back in the house.
There is no more warranty on my camera, so I guess I'll just have to buy a new one.
But as another person wrote, his camera started working again after a few days, so I'll wait before I buy another.
Norwaybabe
When i turn my ixus 40 off the lens does not retract there is a grinding noise then the camera beeps for a few seconds and the E18 code appears in the screen
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