I made this video over 11 years ago. Can't believe that it's still going strong today. I quit repairing cameras back then as people were switching to their phones for taking pictures (and I started a new drone channel in its place). But judging by the comments, guess this is still an issue with today's cameras.
Hey, Thank you! My Sony Cyber-Shot 6.0 would not open, but your trick of removing the memory card got it to open. I then used the compressed air and cleaned it all while open. So far so good!
You can't imagine how happy I am to be able to fix a camera I bought at a local fair. I thought that beating things into fixing things was a thing of the past, but old tools will always be needed. Thank you very much, I say it from the bottom of my heart.
lololololol, I opened mine, hit it hard on my palm, and... success!!! :D Only problem now is that it doesn't fully retract when I close it but, who cares :D thx soo much this was more helpful 2 me then anything on the video Lolo l xD
Oh my gosh thank you! I bought a brand new Nikon coolpix L830. I took it out of the box, snapped a few pictures, and got the lens error message. I thought I got a defective camera! Step 7 worked. Just a little force on the outer lens and it went right back in. I can't thank you enough!!
Unfortunately, my lens jammed because it bumped against my camera phone, when I was trying to take photos of an eagle. None of these fixes worked. I tried all of them. :(
Step number 10, at this point the camera is totally non repairable, so find the guy who sold you the cam, and beat him until you are satisfied. Hope that helps, best of luck!
Thank you!! This is a wonderful video. We fixed our camera on step 7. My 9 year old son paid for this camera, so it was extremely valuable to him and his 3 year old sister broke it. We're so happy it's fixed!
Thank you! Tapping the extended barrel while camera was pointing down was the trick that fixed mine! I really appreciate your tutorial... this is our only camera so my heart sank when my daughter brought it to me with the error message... thanks for saving our camera and our budget! :D
Thanks so much! After so many tries on and off over the years I was finally able to fix my favorite Panasonic Lumix with Leica lens by twisting outer lens barrel (your fix # 7). Thank you
Sorry folks, can't seem to reply directly to you. Google+ :( But Dave M is right. For the momentary "oomph" needed to open a problem camera, a fresh set of alkalines would be best due to the higher voltage momentary power that they can provide. But for every day use, once the camera's repaired, I recommend rechargeables as they last up to 5 times longer than alkalines. And they're rechargeable!. .
I have a coolpix s3600 and the laying the camera on its back, powering it on while holding the shutter button worked. Looks like it forced the camera to focus and unjammed it.
This video is 12 years old but it just saved me a beautiful old Lumix that I got for $5 from a garage sale. I was desperate to get it working and this was my last resort, completely fixed it around solution 5, Thank you so much for the help!! I’m so excited to take this camera everywhere❤
this was amazing! thank you so much. I was getting ready to just recycle the camera after giving up for months and after watching your video I got it to work! PHEW! saved me a lot of $ on a new camera. Thanks again!
+Tom Scott ha ha ha ha ha Yep me too, couldn't believe how hard e whacked it and not on a hard surface, sounded pretty dam hard to me, poor camera like Brian the snail i aint coming out of my shell.
+Tom Scott I think what's more hilarious is that there's tons of people making similar videos, *instructing people* to *_bang_* their cameras on something, as if that's some sort of technical repair secret not privy to the average joe? What I want is to OPEN the camera/lens, and clean it out so I can stop beating the crap out of it.
I just want to say this video helped me so much.I can't tell you how helpful this video was.I actually followed the steps just like you said and I did it over and over.Till my camera worked and I was so happy because I love my camera and I cannot do without it.Thanks a million :)
My camera showed the error message again this morning, removing the memory card didn't work this time but turning the mode dial on top of the camera a few times did!
Thank you brother. Got to fix 6 and I'm back in business. The sentimental value to my camera is priceless. I love you and there's nothing you can do about it. Peace.
Zia, before you trash the camera, maybe consider trying Fix #6 shown at 9:44. Some people get lucky with this one to dislodge the gunk in the gear mechanism (what I suspect is your problem). But there is risk in damaging the camera, so that's why I only recommend it when there's nothing to lose.
Thank you a second time for this clear, step-by-step lens fix. It worked for a while for and older Sony that eventually gave up the ghost. Why I bought a second Sony is beyond me, but it's a DSC-W730 Cyber Shot, less than one-year old, that replaced a similar Nikon that stopped working two days after we bought it for the same reason. What up with these lenses? So, the Sony is working, again, but for how long. I may be back here shortly. Thank goodness I can still find you.
Thanks so much. This got me fixed. I was about ready to throw the camera in the trash, and it took until Fix 6, but tapping it worked. Nothing else even made it budge. Thanks again!
OMG - I followed each step and this worked on my AA2200 Canon Powershot! My little camera is fabulous and sentimental and didn't want to send it off to get it repaired. I went on vacation and got sand in it. I looked around here in Dallas and not too many options so I followed these steps and it worked!!! Yay!!! Thank you so much!
My Nikon Coolpix is stuck and won’t open,like it’s LITTERALLY STUCK.The camera makes the little light but doesn’t open,HELP ME PLEASE I HAVE SO MUCH MEMORIES IN THIS CAMERA AND I NEED IT NOW
I like to thank you so much for this. I was on vacation last week and both my camera's stopped working. When I got back to Canada, I brought them to a camera store to get fixed. The owner of the store laughed at me and said I should buy another camera.... that there was no fix. When I got back home, I fought I might try U Tube before I threw them out. Your video was amazing.... it worked. They both came back to life. Thank You so much!!!!
Many thanks for your help and for taking the time to show these suggestions. Following your advice about clearing sand out with paper and tapping the lens I have repaired my camera! Well done!
Mine was not straight from fall me being stupid did not search it up and tried to straighten it back it did not work so I pushed it back in I don’t know what to do now I’m upset because I loved that cameray plz help
I recorded in autoscooter with my camera. I got lens error after a BUMP to another car, after restarting camera, it worked again. I recorded further and no errors anymore, but i wont record again with my camera in a autoscooter. Can u say me sure if anything still works? I can record, zoom , sharp, .... so i think nothing is broken happily.
Hey just wanted to say thanks so much for this video! I had gotten a new canon camera for Christmas and I had only had it for about a two years or less when one day I turned it on and the lens just got stuck out of no where. I had left it unfixed for a couple months until today i decided to take action! I found your video and started going through all the steps you had. Number 4 was the problem solver for me! Thank you!!!! I can finally use my camera again!
I watched this video and loved the step by step verbal descriptions. I have this camera but I was viewing this video for a newer model that had the lens stuck out. Step 5 worked, just tapping the camera made the lens shut. This was much easier that taking it apart like another video suggested. This video was really a great help!
Great tips! This did'nt work for my second hand camera initialy. Then I stumbled onto this on the web: I own a PowerShot A495 and recently the lens was stuck in the fully extended mode. Each time I tried to power up the camera I got "Lens Error, automatically shutting down - Restart Camera" - and it would turn off. [...] After removing the batteries and SD card and letting the camera sit overnight, I replaced the batteries and card in the morning. I then powered on the Camera and while holding the Function/OK key and the Shutter Button, I gave the extended lens barrel a couple of face-down light taps directly on a hard desktop. I was truly ecstatic to hear the lens motor whirl and to see the lens barrel retract. Tried this on my Powershot A420 with a lens stuck inside the camera and this fixed it. Did some tapping and hoovering and cleaning with paper before this. Thanks camera-repair guy!
I fixed mine. Took card out, took battery out, Inserted a post it note on the outside of the lens and went all around the lens. Felt for a spot where it slightly jams from crud. Kept going around till I felt it was clean. Sprayed an electronic element spray very lightly on it. Replace battery. In my mini screw set, I took the smallest one and inserted on the outside of the lens to pull lens out lightly and pushed power on and pulled screw driver out while pulling on lens..... Fixed....
None of your solutions worked for me, but the good news is that they put me on a path to a solution that DID work. You mentioned trying to pull out the lens by grabbing it and rotating in a counter-clockwise direction. My lens was stuck nearly flat, not extended. I couldn't pull it out...so I decided to try doing the opposite, pressing down on it to make it fully "retreat." Once it was fully "in," I pressed the power button and it worked perfectly, extending out to its full length and taking photos again. Thanks!
Omg! It worked! Thank you so much! (Tapping on extended lens with the butt end of a butter knife. Lol.) I was about to throw it away! Thank you so much!
Excellent advice! I just fixed the stuck-in lens of my Olympus FE-230 camera. It was the 'tapping on the lens' while trying to open it that did it for me. I'm really pleased to have my trusty old camera going again. Thank you so much for your help - I am so grateful!
Fantastic. I lifted my camera underneath a kite, in a so-called KAP-rig. After a collission with another kite, my Powershot A560 dropped on the field, leaving the zoom-lens bent. After viewing your video and reading your blogspot I carefully managed to re-allign the zoom-lens. I'm a happy man. Thanks.
Thanks so much! I went through the sequence, and ultimately fix #6a did the trick. This is a very thorough and useful set of instructions. Thanks for taking the time to share your knowledge.
Thank you bro i dropped my camera this morning and i started to look up how to fix it and your video came up i tried it and i started to lose hope but when fix six worked i was so happy you just saved me soooo much money. You are a legend!!! Thank you so much!!!
Trying the remedies in your video made me realize my lense barrel is crooked since it fell. I used an electric nail file to sand the part that was blocking the lense and it worked. Thank you!
I fixed it!!! I used a combination of the paper, vacum and hair drayer in the beginning, but I think the banging on the table and pulling the lens a little is what really did it. Thank you so much for posting this (and your blog), there is nothing else that google could find to fix my problem! :)
I have a Samsung HMX T10 and it makes flashes of color in the image whenever I try to shoot a video. I have a video on my channel showing what I am talking about. Do you know what causes this and how to fix it? Thanks.
What's happening to mine, it does indeed come out, but it keeps jumping around and it tends to get such while zooming. It then shuts down. My camera is a kodak easyshare c340
Thanks! Your tips got my lens unstuck and my panasonic lumix DMC-ZS19 working again! The paper cleanse is very useful, but I went through all of the steps and I think a combination is what loosened the lens.
Thanks you saved my life I'm Brazilian and I wasn't finding any videos that teach law to unlock the lens of a camera Linux more I watched your like and my language better understand HAHAHAHA, I used the technique of tapping into a table and the paper around haven't had worked so used to beating the lapiz or pen, used a pan, and then I hit some more in a table and there it worked, thanks a lot :) It's terrible English sorry :(
There is a resurgence of interest in little digital and film cameras. The lens cover curtain was stuck on my A510 today, I flicked it open with a fingernail and turned power off and on and flicking curtain open repeatedly and the curtain started opening and closing normally. I have enjoyed using the little A510 for many years, it's a trooper. I also have an old Sony DSC-T9, has a lot more features/settings than the A-510 but uses tiny flat rechargeable batteries. Like using 2 AA cells in the A510. Found out today that A510 can only use up to 2GB SD cards not specified in the manual.
my mom gave me her old camera and then it started to say lens error, and the lens would pop in and out in and out and then i tried the tapping method and IT WORKED!!! like it immediately worked thank you so much you deserve a sub! you are awesome
I have this problem with my G11. You recommend trying blowing air into the camera. Would that not simply push any dust/sand further into camera body? How about using a vacuum and trying to suck out any debris? I will try everything here again. Some blogs talk about using isopropyl alcohol to help clean the camera. Thanks for this.
I have a Nikon Coolpix S9500. I listened to your video and went through the steps. The date and time menu kept coming up. I decided to add the date and time and the lens opened right up. I turned it off and on several times and it seems to work just fine now. Just thought I would let you know....George
Gracias, gracias, mil gracias!!! Usted me ha hecho feliz!!! Con su video logré arreglar mi cámara NIKON COOLPIX P500, la cual tenía el lente stucked debido a un cantazo que se dió con la pared cuando me caí. No recuerdo el # que usé pero el que hice fue el de apretar simultáneamente el botón de encenido y el de disparar. Le estoy ETERNAMENTE AGRADECIDA!!!!!
I have a sony (cant remember what but its a small one) and i dropped the camera and the lens wiggled. It wouldnt focus anymore but now the lens doesnt close. I can't turn it on or off anymore! Help?
Started up a seemingly dead Minolta Dimage s404 camera thanks to this video! The stupidest thing that helped was tapping the machine on the table, lol! =D
unfortunately I've tried all of this steps and none of them worked on my nikon coolpixL16 😢 it keeps on showing "lens error" and won't close the lens, maybe my camera is too old 😌
Thank you for the info. My camera (Cannon PS A510) was dropped. The pins must have fallen out of alighnment. So i did the force the barrel (fix3 7b) It took a bit of twisting force and a few times but it worked perfect. With no problems such as out of focus or white screen ect. ect. My wife was pretty upset, but now it is fixed. I must say these cameras are quite delicate. Thank you much again. Rikki
Do you have any idea on how to fix the error with my Olympus Pen E-PL1 ? It's quite an old model but I am hoping you could help cus you're simply great! I just can't get it to focus, it says "please check the status of a lens" . Please please please HELP me!
Dropped my Samsung WB150f and something like sand sounds inside, the lense wont close completly by a milimeter, it wont go out completly either, and if I put it upside down the barrel will just slide... Everything is blurry, is it broken? I'm almost sure it is :(
Thanks for the very helpful video. My camera is now fixed! It required a combination of Fixes 5, 5a,5b,a rather vigorous 6, and a 6a. The final thing I did was gently, but firmly, rapping it on one of its corners on a cloth-covered table a few times. Many thanks again!
my fuji s3200 has a purple streak when it takes pictures/ videos. its noticeable when light hits the camera. it looks like a scratch but i don't see any on the lens. any ideas on to whats wrong with it? i also tried cleaning the lens
Mine worked when I put the camera flat on its face then powered it up. It didnt work the first time but the second time I turned the camera on then kept tapping the shutter button while bumping the camera with my hand. THANKS FOR THE VID!!
do you have any expierence with later on HP Photosmart cameras? i have a Photosmart M547 (6.2MP, 2007) that i love so much, but i accidentally dropped it with the lens out and now it's stuck out! the camera won't let me bypass the red "LENS ERROR" screen even though the lens can still focus! anything helps, thank you so much!!
Thank You. I tapped the camera and turned the power on.....presto the lens popped out. I have a Canon SX150 IS which I have used to take thousands of pictures at work. Now I am back on track. Thank You for your tips.
I was working on this HP z3000 for a client, I am not a camera tech. I couldn't believe I tapped this against the table a couple of times then the Lens expanded and it worked! Thanks!
just gt my new camera lens, put them in, kn something. its come out n when right back in. bam: lens error. like what? they new, unused part. use my old ccd part to it.
Mine was Canon powershot G12 and I think the lens are stuck. the lens doesn't go back to the camera. It says "Lens error shutdown automatically, restart". I can't use it anymore. What should I do? I tried everything
thank u so much for this video it helps me a lot! i put new batteries and clean the lense with the paper....and taDaaaah!!!!! its working... :) i saved my money.
