E18 appears in lower left part of screen when camera is turned on

E18 is a lens error. You might try this repair technique:

Canon E18 Error

Your problem in your lens...Try to bring service center. Cause, canon lens it for me it not easy to disassembe dan assemble it again...Different with other camera lens, like KODAK and Samsung.
At sony camera "E18" can be "Turn the power off and On again" like my Sony W.35

Canon Powershot's error E18 has to do with the lens:
If it appears on a black LCD with E18 written on the corner, it is mostly due to the lens getting 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.
I am giving below a link which will help you with E18 problem.

http://www.e18error.com/repair.html

Hope this helps, let me know if you have a proble.

You can Try the following also;
Remove the batteries from the camera, wait a few minutes. Put a fully charged batteries back in and turn the camera on. if it doesnot work then,

2: Remove the batteries again, as also remove the memory card. Then install the newly charged batteries, when you turn it on it should come back to life.
3: Insert the cameras Audio/Video (AV) cable, and turn the camera on. Inserting this cable ensures that the camera's LCD screen remains off during the start process. Thus extra battery power is available to the camera's lens motor during start up. This extra power can be useful to overcome any grit or sand particles that may be jamming the lens.
4: Place the camera flat on its back on a table, pointed at the ceiling. Press and hold the shutter button down, and at the same time press the power-on button. The idea is that the camera will try to autofocus while the lens is extending, hopefully seating the lens barrel guide pins in their slots.

Try the above and let me if its any help.
Please do rate and thanks for using FixYa and Best fo luck to get you camera out of E18!

Canon Powershot's error E18 has to do with the lens:
If it appears on a black LCD with E18 written on the corner, it is mostly due to the lens getting 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.
I am giving below a link which will help you with E18 problem.

http://www.e18error.com/repair.html

Hope this helps, let me know if you have a proble.
Please do rate and thanks for using FixYa and Best fo luck to get you camera out of E18!

Try lightly tapping lens on a hard surface. This sometimes reseats the lens. If this does not work take to bits and reassemble.

Please see this post:

http://www.fixya.com/support/t102982-e_18_problem

Good Luck!

Brian

The following blog outlines some repair options for a lens error. They won't work for all cases, but they're worth a try if the camera's no longer under warranty:

http://camerarepair.blogspot.com/2007/12/fixing-lens-error-on-digital-camera.html

The E18 error is fairly common. Usually it's sand or grit interfering with the lens extension mechanism. Or the camera's been dropped with the lens extended. Or the camera has been powered on, but the lens had been blocked preventing its extension.
Here's some things that you can do to try to correct it. Have already fixed two A400 cameras with this problem by using these methods:
http://www.e18error.com/repair.html

Perhaps the lens got bumped (if the camera was one when it was dropped) and is out of place. Mine did the same and I sent it in (it was within warranty) and Canon fixed it.

i got my camera a couple of mounths, but i have not used it alot. When i turn it on, the start up screen wold come on but e18 would come up on the screen and nothing would happen after. i desperately need your help to fix my camera. thank you.