A stuck automatic lens cover is a fairly common problem, but it is normally easy to fix. A single grain of sand jamming the cover mechanism is normally the culprit, and you want to try to dislodge it: 1) Try blowing lots of compressed air around the lens cover to clean the mechanism. Or use a hair dryer for a few seconds (don't want to heat up the camera). Use no heat mode if possible. 2) Slide a thin strip of paper between the lens cover shutters and the outer support ring. Work it around 360 degres to clear out any debris that may be in there. 3) With the lens barrel extended and pointed downward, tap the lens barrel with a pencil while you extend and retract the lens by powering the camera on and off. Repeat the above three steps several times. If repeated tries don't work (keeping in mind that it usually does), it then may be necessary to open the lens barrel to access the lens cover mechanism.
The lens cover mechanism is usually accessible for many cameras without needing to open up the camera case. Before starting, a reminder that I hold no responsibility should you damage your camera or worse. These repairs are intended as last resorts on expired warranty cameras that would otherwise be tossed. In the example outlined in the following link, we'll fix an inoperative lens cover on an old Canon A400:
And here's two excellent tutorials for those with slightly more complex four leave lens covers. A Canon A530 and a Canon A1000 are used as examples (hope you don't mind me including the links xscrewdriver).
And finally, found this fix that was particular for the Panasonic Lumix DMC-TZ3 camera. It's simple enough and worth giving a quick try even if your camera is not a Panasonic:
36 comments:
I have an adapted repair method recomended to me by a coworker. Point the camera straight down into a vacuum hose (while the vacuum is on) and tap it around the insides. This will help to suck the dirt out instead of pushing it in further like compressed air might do. I also turned the camera on and off constantly while doing this. Good Luck! The camera I fixed was a Canon Powershot A520
Great web site, using info learned I just fixed an old Canon IXUS lens cover - it was jammed by a small plastic screw having fallen out inside. The silver lens cap just prised straight off with fingernails, and snapped back in place after the fix. The only thing to watch was that the cover parts are spring loaded - once the cap is off they do fly. Cheers
The fixya link for the Panasonic camera worked in seconds (after having tried the hair dryer and compressed air methods). Thanks for the help!!
Jeff - your vacuum hose idea was ingenious! It worked incredibly well on my Canon DMC-FX33 (which we had taken to the beach and obviously taken on a few sand particles) - freeing the lens in seconds with no damage whatsoever. The satisfaction of the fix (not to mention the money and time saved on a professional repair) almost made the whole experience of a jammed lens rather enjoyable. (almost)
My Panasonic DMC TZ-3 returned to normal after applying your vacuum cleaner method.
Tnx.
my dog bumped into me and made me drop my camera with the lens extended about 3- 4 feet of height, the lens are tilted to one side and the screen just says "turn camera off then on again" but it wont work. i cant take it to repair shops because im eleven by the way the camera is a sony cybershot, dsc-w30 with 3x zoom
PLZ I NEED HELP
by the way is there any way of me fixing it without my parents finding out?
theyve been trying to get a camera for my birthday wich is in a couple of weeks since i love photography and if they find out theyll call me irresponsible and ground me and never let me even touch another camera again
i would't be able to handle it
PLZ HELP!!
My daughter got sand in her Sony Cyber-Shot DSC-W70 (now obsolete) and the lens barrel would not extend.
I used the vacuum cleaner method and this sucked the lens out into it's working position. I had to repeat this several times before the sand was fully dislodged and internal motor could extend the lens unaided. I saved £100 repair cost or £130 replacement.
Thanks for the tip!
just by using a thin piece of paper & holding the camera downwards I was able to fix my problem. Great website! Thank you!
thanks for the tip! since I dropped my Panasonic DMC-TZ3, after giving the extended lens a good squeeze, the lens covers started working again...after some finagling.
For stuck lens covers on Canon A70,A75,A85 etc the 'silver cover' carrying the canon lens description, and which is attached to a black plastic base, is removed by turning approximately 10° clockwise to release small catches. You may turn it just by the friction of your fingers (or a strip of rubber placed on the cover) if lucky, otherwise perhaps by means of a rectangular 'peg' to fit in the opening - but be careful not to damage the lens! It will also lever out, but that risks breaking the catches.
The shutters need to be CLOSED (lens in) for reassembly.
Thanks foxy for the great pointer! I had been using pins to push open the catches, but had never thought to simply rotate the front plate. Thanks again! I'll try to make a pictorial covering this for the next stuck lens cover I get.
CR
I own a Panasonic Lumix DMC-TZ3 - I'm very happy with it apart from the common problem of the lens cover and barrel jamming.
1. lens cover jamming due to first part of the barrel sticking- first instance due to dust I think and relatively easily fixed by (this sounds weird I know) rubbing alcohol applied on my (clean) fingernail and inserted around the edge of the barrel - I didn't have access to a source of compressed air
2. second instance was more serious due to a drop - the barrel only partially opened, and didn't close fully either. When I switched on the camera, the lens would extend almost to its fullest position and would the move in and out until coming to a partially closed position. Camera displayed the error message: 'please switch off your camera'. Horrified, I tried the rubbing alcohol trick, tugging on the lens to pull it to its full extent - none of these worked.
Finally tried a more physical approach. Turned the camera off - barrel retreated partially- pushed on it with increasing pressure- et voila - it eventually clicked back into place , and the lens cover closed properly. Switched it on, but still had the same problem as before with the lens extension- switched on and off a few times- in the off position I repeated the pressure on the closed barrel. Switched on: I pulled on the lens barrel so that it extended to the maximum extension - tried the rubbing alcohol step again. Repeated about twice more -and it works. the amount of pressure I applied was more than I though the lens could deal with (I was fortunately wrong) -applied with the palm of my hand. I think the barrel is slightly damaged, as it sounds slightly 'clunky' as it extends, but it's taking pictures again
Thanks to the website for giving me the confidence to try this out
catherine
Really awesome website!! Didn't know you could repair your camera on ur own!! :)
I'm not sure how to repair mine though. I have a canon sd750 which I've always handled extremely well. However, since a month the barrel and the lens cover refuse to open completely. I've switched the camera on and off multiple times hoping that it would start working again. I don't see any error messages. The playback/review works well. No problem there.
Any ideas on what could be wrong with it?
Gene,
This post might be more applicable to your problem.
CR
the vacuum hose trick worked perfectly... I called a repair shop prior to doing this trick and they quoted me 120.00 in labor plus parts..did vacuum technique and in 2 minutes lens was unstuck and camera back to working like new again....
Jeff--THANK YOU SO MUCH! My 2-year-old got a hold of my Canon PowerShot A720 and the lower lens cover wasn't covering the lens. The vacuum trick worked within two minutes. I'm going to remember this one!
I use a Powershot A560, and the lens cover has been unable to move itself ever since I used a dry tissue to clean the lens - I imagine a tiny piece of the tissue went inside the mechanism. I tried using the edge of a sheet of paper, a thin copper wire, and a very powerful vacuum cleaner to try and get it out, all to no avail. Then I googled the problem and found this site. I really didn't want to disassemble the camera as it is not mine, but after taking a look at this post I realized that I can take the silver ring off the end of the lens with just my fingers. The mechanism is also a lot less exposed at this point than the A400 in the picture which made me feel safer about it. :D After blowing air forcefully into the mechanism a couple of times, the lens cover is now working like new, and the silver ring popped back into place without any messy gluing needed. Thank you very much for sharing your knowledge! :) Without this site I'd still be manually opening the lens cover every time I wanted to take a picture, getting my fingerprints all over the lens! :S
Thanks! Blowing around the lens cover allowed it to work. You saved me from having to use the warranty service!
omg :O thank you so much. i panicked like crazy when i realized the lens cover was stuck. i tried everything, it worked with the piece of paper after about 5 minutes?
thnxx.
Here's problem...how easy is it to replace the camera lens cover. I have two Canon A620's - one that the lens is stuck which I am going to sacrifice for parts (after I try the vacuum cleaner to clear it) and another camera which has a broken/missing lens cover. Is it difficult to replace the lens cover? HELP!
okay gang...gave it the old one-two with the vacuum cleaner. The lens fully extended but that was it... so guess it will become the parts camera unless somebody else has something to try. And still waiting for anyone to tell me if it is possible to replace the lens cover myself. Thanks.
Thank you Jeff for your insight and caring to share it sorted my camera...saved me a whole bunch of Benjamins..espeacially at these time...
Vacuum cleaner worked on my Canon HV20 camcorder too! Genius! I'm on vacation with my family and lens cover stuck and I was SOL for videoing the 2nd half of our beach vacation! Did a google search and found this website and your ideas and it worked like magic! THANKS! Not only did you save me hundreds of dollars but also allowed me to continue capturing priceless moments on video of my family vacation!!
I have a Canon A630 and the top-left part (out of the total 4 "curtains")of the lens cover would not close when the camera was turned off.
The vacuum trick worked for me the first time, but when it started acting up again, the vacuum trick popped a small spring out of place the second time I tried, so I HAD to open it up to fix it...
If you're going to open up the A630 (and probably later models), note that you DON'T NEED peroxide or something as such: THERE IS NO GLUE! Just turn the top silver part clockwise and try to lift it.
*** BEWARE!!! ***
I've never seen springs so small and it took me about 10 minutes to figure out how it was supposed to work; I have delicate fingers and the springs were a torture to put back in place (tiny pliers were no help at all)! The worse part was trying to put the top cover back on the camera lens: it kept popping the curtains out of place... it took me about 1½ hour!
Now the top cover is back on, but not as tight as it used to be... and the problem only seems half fixed since I sometimes have to slightly "tap" the top cover for the curtain to fall back in place. So if you're thinking about doing this yourself, either be VERY patient and delicate, and don't expect miracles... or forget about it!
Cheers! ;)
Thanks to Jeff and the original author of the article. I have a Canon A710 IS and the lens cover would only occasionally close (like less than 10%). Sometimes it would close about 1/2 way. Sometimes 1/3 of the way. Or sometimes not at all. So first, while it was in the closed position I took a swab of alcohol and cleaned the exposed blades carefully and the surrounding area. Just on the theory that maybe something sticky was jamming things up. Then, while the blades still were closed, I used the vacuum. Then I powered the camera up to retract the cover. Then I vacuumed the lens opening with the blades fully retracted. Then powered down at which point the blades only closed halfway. So I used the vacuum on the half-closed lens opening. I was a little scared as the force of the vacuum was pretty powerful and I thought it could suck up the delicate blades. But nothing bad happened. I did this for a few more times. And voila! I'm getting 100% success now when powering down the camera. The blades now always close all the time. So maybe there was a little bit of dirt stuck somewhere in between the blades.
At any rate, I'm a happy camper. Thanks again.
i dropped my kodak v1073 on the lens. the camera turns on and makes the sound, but then turns off again. the lens is stuck in the out position. i tried the can of compressed gas duster but that didn't work. any thoughts?\r\nThanks
Vacuum trick worked for me! Thank you so much.
I have a GE A735 camera which had the lens cover stuck half open after my toddler son threw sand around on the beach. I have just tried your vacuum hose trick (after many other attempts to unstick it) and it worked first time! Many thanks.
Thanks to your blog my Sony DSC-W70 was saved from the trash can! A thin piece of paper just did the job. Thank you very much.
My friend's Sony Cybershot S650's lens cover got stuck by sand when we went to the beach and half of the lens cover won't close. Many thanks to your blog it's back to normal now! I'm so relieved! Keep up the good work helping other people. :)
I have got a camera... Powershot A470. The problem is when i turn it on... the screens turns white and than it shuts down. While this process the Zoom lens get stuck at half with the open shutters.
Spot on: the paper trick enable the shutter to close once again.
Thanks.
I just dropped my camera on the lense, the lense wont zoom to 3x and the focus is messed up. IDK wat to do. this is the second time, i dont want to buy a new cam, and i dnt want to tell my parents that i did it again. SOMEONE HELP PLEASE!
anonymous, who dropped the camera. Your looking at the wrong article for the problem you describe. View this article instead, it may or may not help (you got a 40% chance). Either way, good luck!
CR
Hi - I have a Canon SD400 and the lens cover "wings" never open all the way when I turn the camera on, and never close all the way when I trun it off. They will open/close by hand though.
I took the ring off, but I do not see any springs in this model. There are posts on the back of the "wings" that appear to go into holes around the lens. Does anyone have a diagram that shows exactly how the small posts in the "wings" need to be placed back so that it works correctly?
Thanks very much, great blog!
I am SO glad I found this blog! I am so thrilled that the repair method here helped me fix the stuck lens cover on my Canon Powershot A620. It took me under ten minutes total time. I used all three methods mentioned above, except used a vacuum cleaner hose instead of compressed air. After doing all three things once, I repeated the one using a thin piece of paper. Next thing I knew, I turned on the camera and the lens cover opened perfectly! I have to admit, I was doubtful that these recommendations would work, but they did!!! Thank you so much...you saved me much frustration and $$$. You mentioned that keeping your camera in a case is a bad idea due to the lint and fibers getting into the lens cover and jamming it. I had just bought a new case which fit quite tightly--probably too tightly--around the camera. I'm not sure whether I should truly blame the new case, but I think I won't be using it anymore just to be safe.
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