Lens cover issue

What I would try to do is, loosen the screw so its not stiff to adjust, adjust the lens to the right position then tighten up the screw again. Hopefully this should work for you!!

The lens Is trying to close properly but the focus mechanism has a problem, most likely jammed, so the lens cannot correctly close or work properly.
It will need to be opened up and reset.
Please email me. My email address is listed in my tips section on my profile.

The problem you are describing is a problem with a sensor in the lens assembly of the camera. It seems to have failed and needs to be replaced. Following are the instructions to send your camera to Olympus for service.

http://olympusamerica.com/cpg_section/cpg_servicerepair.asp

Olympus will charge a flat rate repair fee for this product if beyond the one year factory warranty or the warranty is voided. The cost is $73 plus your local sales tax. This covers parts and labor, factory cleaning and diagnostic check, 6 month warranty and the cost of shipping the product back to you is all included in that price.

Hi,
A nice lens brush is what you clean a lens with.
Solvents in the spray you used could have done a couple of bad things.
1. Carried muck into the zoom mechanism.
2. Melted/dissolved part of the zoom mechanism.

Either way, unless you are brave and capable enough to dismantle it, it needs to go back to service for a clean out/re-jig.

Sorry for the news,
dave.

You have impact damage, the gears in the lens are out of alignment.

www.cameradr.com

he is a friend of mine who can fix this for you.

So 2 weeks ago my Sony DSC-W80 stopped working. Our friends dog ran into the camera (in my girlfriends hand) full speed. It started opening and closing a few times, and then giving the "turn the camera off and back on" message. I read about tapping around the lens, etc. None of this worked.

I took off the camera body and carefully examined the interior of the camera. Turning in on and watching closely, I discovered the problem. Looking at the camera from the front, I saw a slider on the top right side of the lens that appeared to be jammed. I then saw a spring that was attached to the slider and free on the other end. Apparently when the dog rammed the camera, the other mount for the spring broke off (they are very fragile). The purpose of the slider is to adjust the viewfinder based on the zoom range of the lens. I simply removed the slider which had jammed when the spring came loose. Camera works flawlessly now. The only issue is that the viewfinder doesn't zoom, but who uses the viewfinder anymore anyway? Oh, and I have a screw leftover. What project isn't complete without having extra parts when you are done?

Hope this can help someone else!

This seems to be a common issue.
Mine was stuck at what seemed like max optical zoom.
When i would look in the lens I could not see the zoom lens. If you can not see your zoom lens and the optical zoom seems stuck I bet your camera has the same STUPID issue that mine has.

It was out of warranty and I figured I had nothing to loose so I took it apart to see if I could fix it, turns out I was able to fix it just by taking it apart and putting it back together!


Taking it apart is simple enough for the average handy man, if you do not have confidence that you can take it apart then do not attempt this repair.

Take off the bottom cover.
Take off the Hard drive cover
Now remove the three screws under the hard drive that hold the drive's plastic housing in.
Remove the screw that is right under the record button, now the drive house should be loose.
Disconnect drive cable from board and remove drive and housing.
Take off the plastic piece that has the zoom button, be sure to gently disconnect the wire.
Remove rear piece.
That screw marked with an arrow on the bottom, do not remove it!
Now remove the thin metal piece to expose the flat cable.
disconnect flat cable from board
gently flex it out of the way so you can disconnect the cable behind it.
Once you have both disconnected remove the circuit board.
unplug the flat cable on the back side.
Now remove the front piece.
At this point you are nearly there!
Now remove the metal housing that holds the lens assembly.
Once removed remove the lens assembly by removing the three screws.

If you thought that was bad, this next part will scare you.
Make sure you are in a very clean room with no fans blowing.
Remove the CCD from the rear of the lens assembly by removing the two screws on the back that hold it in place.
Remove the foam and square lens piece that were behind the CCD.
On the side of the assembly is a screw that holds the top cover in, remove it and gently pry off the top cover.

looking inside you will find the following:
on the CCD side is the focus lens.
in the middle is the shutter
On the side farthest from the CCD is a zoom lens.

On mine the zoom lens was not close to the shutter
If your zoom lens is not close to the shutter then you likely have the same problem as I had and you can fix yours!
If not, you likely have some other issue :-(

To fix mine I turned it over and I loosened the screws that held the motor and shaft for the zoom lens.
Then I slid the zoom lens as far back as it would go towards the shutter.
Then tightened the zoom lens motor and shaft mount.
Put it all back together, installed battery and bingo it's working again!


Why did this fix the problem?
Well there is a little sensor that tells the camera that the zoom lens is near the shutter.
Each time you turn off the camera it always puts the lens in that "home" position.
If the camera is turned on when the zoom lens is not in this "home" position then the camera seems to assume the zoom is broken and you end up with the infamous JVC stuck zoom issue.

My guess is this problem is caused by any of the following:
1. Removing the battery while the camera is turned on
2. Dropping the camera while it is on or off
3. Battery going dead while camera is in use

Final thoughts before you get started:

1. If you are not good at working with tiny parts or electronics, I wish you luck because you will need it. Might be better off printing these instructions and taking them with you to a repair facility and paying someone more familiar with this sort of work to fix it for you.

2. The ribbon cables are removed easily. Each one has a clamp that rotates to release the ribbon. Some rotate towards the ribbon to release, others work the opposite. It is quite obvious looking at them which ones go what way.


--e100

If the lens is jammed in the out position you can try holding the camera firmly and tapping/hitting it against your hand with the camera on. The lens should then retract. If this doesn't work or if you are afraid of dropping it (do it on your bed, that way it doesn't hit the floor if you _do_ drop it), you can drop it on a wood/firm surface from an inch or so up and it should retract the lens. This solution ONLY WORKS IF THE LENS IS JAMMED.

If you're careful this problem is a relatively easy fix for many digital cameras. The design of the lens cover mechanism is usually simple and very similar throughout camera brands. Here's an example fix for a Canon A400 with similar problems:

http://camerarepair.blogspot.com/2007/11/repair-of-stuck-lens-covers.html

Here's a fix for a Canon A400 lens cover. See if it's applicable for you:
http://camerarepair.blogspot.com/2007/11/repair-of-stuck-lens-covers.html