Zoom resets/faulty Not sure what happened to my camera, but it has developed a serious zoom error. When i try to zoom in...it zooms itself back to beyond its capabilities then resets at the widest angle. its just about possible to zoom close in small stages, but as you half press the shutter for auto focus... it repeats its resetting process. ? can it be fixed cheaply or is a big hammer in order?

Hello Charles,

Just to be sure it is NOT a software issue, remove the battery then replace it back after about 5 minutes and then try turning it ON again.

The error you are getting is a "zoom error". A problem connected with your camcorder's optical zoom not working, it is either it has broken parts or something is caught in the zoom mechanism.

If something serious happened to it, like if it was dropped accidentally or a force was applied to it, then it is probably broken parts inside and needs servicing. Otherwise, it could be just dirt or sand stuck inside the mechanism.

To try and resolve the problem with dirt/sand you can:

Hold the camcorder with the lens facing the ground, then tap the side of your camcorder repeatedly.

OR

Use a canned air and spray it into the lens area of your camcorder.

try resetting the camera by removing the batteries

you may be true that sand must be creating this problem, as this happens very often. the sand enters into the lense assembly, creating friction in the movement. if this has happened total dismantelling and cleaning of the lense assembly will solve the problem, but that has to be done by an expert at the repair shop.

yes the easiest way to fix this is to go in to setup menu and do a reset on your camera once you reset it the digital zoom should come back make sure digital zoom is turned on.

I had this problem and managed to fix it. The camera was dropped on a stone floor and the zoom error was present every time it was turned on. A ring or other piece of the lens was bent or damaged, in my non professional opinion. A profesional repair is my advice. However you may try my fix at YOUR OWN RISK.

Switch camera on, when zoom extends, but before it closes down due to zoom error, gently but firmly push lens back in. Drop batteries for camera to reset itself. Repeat, if necessary.

My camera now operates fully and when the lens extends it now no longer makes the slight grinding noise.

Good luck and remember at your own risk.

I think a grain of sand was blocking the zoom tubes. This will not work if the camera has been dropped & the zoom apparatus is bent. It is entirely at your own risk & may invalidate any guarantee but they may charge anyway if you have got sand in. I cut a finger of 80gm computer paper 1cm X 5cm. Inserted this first  around outer zoom tube & worked it all around. It goes in quite deep so be gentle. I switched on to open zoom & tipped out batteries before it had time to close & repeated procedure. When I put batteries back in it worked OK. I repeated procedure with lens fully extended. I found a thin bit of plastic packing worked better as it did not kink so easily. It is still working today having failed 100% before.
Chris

hi have you tried removing the battery for couple of hours so it can reset any settings that need to be set back to default it only resets camera memory not settings you have changed but this can sometimes solve the problem your having.

Also when you switch camera on and then press zoom when the camera switches off does the lense go back inside the camera as normal or does it reamin out.

when you switch in on do all the other buttons work like can you take picture and can you access all the menu if you can then take it off auto if its on auto then see if this let you use zoom if not then the chances are their is a fault on the zoom button either jammed could be that the lense motor has come out of line with zoom button, is the display clear when you go to take picture without adjusting the zoom is it still possible to take pictures

We had this problem for about 2 weeks, we discovered that having the camera auto retracted after the "ZOOM ERROR" message, giving the camera couples of light slaps (slap the camera's LCD side and aim the camera down), this fixed the camera right away

when the lens comes out, gently pull it as far as it will go, wiggle it a bit and it should right itself. just tried it with mine and it's sorted.
nice

I guess something has stalled the zoom motor Check out Fuji support for advice - but I guess you will not like the answer.