All of a sudden and out of the blue, my Canon PowerShot SD1000 camera lens will not open. One second it opened and the next it did not. Just like that. Nothing happened to it, I did not drop it or smash it or anything. It just quit working.
My biggest complaint about the whole thing is that after searching the “Lens error, restart camera” message that my PowerShot SD1000 keeps spitting out, the troubleshooting suggestions offered by some seemingly reputable camera sites amounts to
- taking the battery out for a couple of minutes and trying to open the lens again, or
- banging the living hell out of the thing on a hard surface to see if that will knock some sense into it.
Seriously, the experts at the various camera sites that shall remain unlinked are unanimous in their advice that the best thing to do is to smack the side of the camera repeatedly on a hard surface and hope the lens error goes away and the camera lens opens back up.
Notice none of the experts suggest sending the camera back to Canon for repair. Apparently the issue costs about $200.00 for Canon to fix because Canon will look at the camera and declare that the camera has been “abused” and thus not covered by any manufacturer’s warranty.
Imagine that - “Abuse”. After following the expert advice on so many camera websites that tell me to pound the tiny SD1000 on a hard surface repeatedly, Canon might think I’ve abused my camera.
I hope this works for you, but if it doesn’t you might want to head over to PixelsAndSuch.com and get some camera buying advice. They have a good recommendations on what companies you should buy your replacement digital cameras from.
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I had the same problem with my Nikon and was about to buy the Canon until I saw this website. I sort of thought the pounding the camera repeatedly on a hard surface was a joke, so I took my dead Nikon and decided to try it as a joke, figuring it couldn’t hurt it anymore.. to my surprise, it worked! thanks
Liz on October 10th, 2007 at 3:46 pm | Link
I have a canon SD400. My shutter for no apparent reason stopped working. It made a funny noise when opening….then I closed it and couldnt get it opened. I emailed canon and they gave me the same answer they always give no matter the product, no matter the problem. Send it in for repair or buy a new one. Anyway, I was searching for a new camera….I found this site. I banged the heck out of my camera and what do you know, it opened. It still makes a funny noise so I am not sure how much longer it will work…but it is working now. THANKS!!
Stacey on October 14th, 2007 at 8:19 pm | Link
I got the same problem with Canon SD1000. This is 5th canon camera and got this error for the first time. Guys, first I thought you were joking about the banging. Anyway, Instead of hard surface, I shake the camera several times in the air and it opened up! Thanks.
Naimul on October 24th, 2007 at 11:03 am | Link
This happened on a trip to France and Switzerland, preventing me from getting photos of families and friends. I haven’t spoken to the camera shop, except to take it in the first time the issue occurred (and it did not reproduce). My Swiss friends call it the peut-etre-li — the little maybe maybe device, since sometimes it works. I would not buy another. Any suggestions for a different one. Btw, I only got the lens error report once. Sometimes it just doesn’t open or opens just a little bit, shuts, opens m ore, shuts, doesn’t open…you know the drill. Not worth the trouble.
jlockley on November 8th, 2007 at 11:12 am | Link
Same problem here. For no apparent rreason, it just stopped working. I tried everything suggested, but no luck.
Tom on November 14th, 2007 at 4:51 pm | Link
The lense on my Cannon SD400 suddenly stopped opening while on vacation in June. It has been sitting on my dresser ever since - Canon wanted over $100 just to look at the camera. After finding this site and reading that I should bang the camera against a hard surface, I gave it a try. It tottally worked. Thanks!
Sara on November 18th, 2007 at 10:43 pm | Link
I’m glad that everyone is having such great success banging the crap out of their Canon and rubbing the success in my face with a “thanks”.
My SD1000 still won’t open.
The lens on my Canon Powershot SD1000 is stuck open with a lens error!?
Jr on November 29th, 2007 at 9:21 pm | Link
same here! i thought banging the camera on a hard surface was a joke but tried it and it works now! the lens came out fine. great news to save money around the holidays..no new camera needed!
kay on December 9th, 2007 at 9:45 pm | Link
I keep trying to beat my lens open, but it isn’t working! Not happy, but I’m glad to see that it’s worked for so many people. I’m just worried about damaging it further (though … when it won’t open, the damage is pretty much done…)
Angi on December 13th, 2007 at 6:31 pm | Link
This error occurred with my last canon camera. I bought a newer version- the SD1000 to replace it. What do you know? Same error after 6 months. Nothing harmful was done to the camera. It is a shame the lack of quality with canons cameras these days. I love the image quality but I am skeptical about dropping another few hundred on something I’ve already had an awful experience with. Maybe I’ll drop/throw/swing/smack/bang my sd1000 one more time. So far though it has not worked and dissecting it looks too painful.
Melissa on December 27th, 2007 at 4:46 pm | Link
I think I’ve set a record. I got a Canon PowerShot 650A IS for Christmas. I used it for one day and loved the quality of the pictures. I also tried it in movie mode but the sound only worked half-way through the movie and then there was no sound during the second half! I thought maybe I did something wrong or pushed a button I shouldn’t have, so didn’t think any more about it, but I went to take a picture today, and now the lens won’t open! I have done nothing to abuse the camera so I don’t want to bang it on anything. I guess I’ll have to take it back and buy something else, but it sure won’t be a Canon!
Judy on January 4th, 2008 at 12:38 am | Link
Cannon is a joke when it comes to standing behind there products!
There famous “E18″ error problem and there multiple problems with there Sony-made “CCD’s” they just will not admit they are wrong. I will never spend another penny on any Cannon product. For me it’s been an expensive lesson learned.
Manny on January 7th, 2008 at 3:52 pm | Link
Got the same LENS ERROR on my new SD1000. Tried the battery removal and pounding it on the side techniques but they both did not work. I then fixed it by following the following steps:
Turn off the camera. Place it on the back with the lens facing up and take a look at the spacing between the lens and the lens housing. If you notice that the gap is not even all the way around the lens, the problem should be easy to fix. This type of a problem usually occurs if the camera was dropped while the lens was extended. Simply - VERY GENTLY - press down the lens on the side where the gap is the biggest. You should hear a “click” as it pops back into place. Try powering the camera back on.
Good luck
Don C. on January 15th, 2008 at 11:01 pm | Link
I have been using my camera for about a month next week my lense is going out and zooming in but its clicking and when I go to shut it off it will only click and make funny noises so I tried slamming it on a hard surface and now my camera is scratched I tried waving it in the air and it won’t work please if you have any tips leave a comment!
Katie on January 20th, 2008 at 8:35 pm | Link
I can’t thank you enough for taking the time to tell me the “correct procedure for fixing a lens that’s stuck on my SD1000″. This is my 5th digital camera with similar problems and the ultimate sucess story is when I beat the hell out of it on the table. After only a few very substantial strikes it works perfectly. Canon needs to change their line of bull and list the CONSUMERS proven method for fixing their product. Returning a digital camera to the manufacturer is pointless. These are throw away products in their eyes.
Don May on January 24th, 2008 at 2:17 pm | Link
i was so disappointed to learn that so many people are having problems with their cameras…i’ve been in love with my SD1000 since i got it a few months ago. but at least i was able to get some good advice. my lens was stuck open. i thought it froze, as i was taking pictures of ice sculptures. the tapping trick worked for me…i turned it on, and before it could give me the error message i lightly tapped the body a few times against a table. problem solved…for now?
ryan on January 25th, 2008 at 11:42 pm | Link
So glad I found this page. I would never have had the guts to bang my Powershot A540 or to push on the lens but I did and it seems the latter solution did the trick. Thanks Don C.!
Matt on January 30th, 2008 at 3:00 pm | Link
i think it’s a great camera and i gotta admit it’s my own fault that the lens error occurred. i had it in a little case and threw it around such that the lens would open but get stuck in the case so it was stopped mid-open.
if it still doesn’t work tc3, place the camera on a flat surface lens up. if the lens area is not 100% level, push gently on it until it is. if you can’t tell which side is unlevel just guess.
then try turning it on.
it worked for me. ::shrug:: don’t forget to try the old nintendo method too. just blow on it and bang it on its side a couple times. there could be some dust or something in there jamming it up.
vida on February 6th, 2008 at 9:12 pm | Link
Yes indeed, it also worked for me. I smacked my sd 600 against the table and it now once again works. Note that it only began to work again when I smacked the lens side of the camera against the table. Hitting against the sides and bottom had no results.
Randy on February 16th, 2008 at 2:19 pm | Link
brand new G9 just use less than an hour with 20 picture took!!
suddenly the zoon lever not working any more, camera shows “lens error restart camera” then few seconds later you can switch off the camera the lens can goes back , switch on and off the lens functioning ok but just the zoom lever didn’t work and the msg keeping coming out while i use the zoom
took it back to the shop the sales req said i should dropped but i didn’t and they wouldn’t swapt another item for me.
they just send the camera to canon base for a exam…
Do I have a right to change a goods that i just used for half an hour?
lou on February 18th, 2008 at 11:59 am | Link
DUDE!!! i went to vegas and on my last night there when for the first time i was sober enough to take really good pics, lo and behold i got the “lens error” crap and my camera would open but couldnt focus and then the screen would go black….i banged the crap out of it since i figure i might as well since i am buying a new model anyways and yipppie!! it works now….sorry to whoevers out ther that this didnt work for…i am elated and i just had to thank this web site for the help!!
L:ilypad on February 27th, 2008 at 1:29 pm | Link
SD1000 here - only a few months old. I don’t abuse my camera and have never dropped it. I keep it in a very thick and well cushioned handknit pouch. I think perhaps a stray fiber of yarn from the pouch got caught in the lens.
I was scared to bang my camera on a table. So I debated it for a while, then I put a thick wool sweater on the table and folded it in half. I banged the bottom of the camera firmly (but not hard) once on the sweater and WHOOSH - the lens popped open!
Thanks to all the previous comment authors for giving me the nerve to do it!
Monica on March 5th, 2008 at 4:26 am | Link
Totally just banged my sd1000 on a heavy 25 lb dumbell, i just tried banging the camera at every possible angle, and what do you know, after about 50 whacks, she works again!
Cannon on March 9th, 2008 at 8:57 pm | Link
I have had my SD1000 for 2 months now and my problems started a month after I got it. First lens would be half open then it stuck shut and now its stuck open giving me the LENS ERROR RESTART CAMERA message.
It really pisses me off as I use my camera daily for work. This will be the last Canon I purchase.
sam on April 18th, 2008 at 11:19 pm | Link
So my camera spazed out and it did the whole “Lens error, please restart.” I stummbled upon this site trying to figure out how to fix it. “Hit it repeatedly on a hard surface” It worked. Thanks.
Melanie on April 26th, 2008 at 9:14 am | Link
At first I thought the ‘bang your camera around’ thing was a joke. But it actually worked. And I think that’s scary. Especially considering we haven’t even used our camera much yet (we just bought a memory stick today, so we couldn’t take more than a few pics)…
I’m thinking of exchanging it, as it hasn’t been a month since we bought it…
kat on May 6th, 2008 at 9:35 pm | Link
Indeed, banging works. Seems sketchy, but hey, it’s fixed (for now)! This is actually my second Canon SD1000. The first one I had for about half a year before it was stolen and never had any problems with it. Whenever I had the lens error on that camera, it only took a restart of the camera to fix it. No such luck this time, hopefully this won’t be a repeating problem.
froeschele on May 7th, 2008 at 12:43 pm | Link
I was at a wedding over Memorial Day Weekend when the whole “lens-error” thing happened to my SD1000. It went on the fritz just when the blue-grass band started playing, moonshine was being passed around, and all of us LA/San Francisco/Detroit slickers were having a good ol’country time. Came home lamenting to my roommate the lack of documentation of the revelry, and he looked online and found this site. We read the testimonials, shrugged, then slammed the camera onto the desk. Good as new. No ****.
Deonna on May 27th, 2008 at 2:20 pm | Link
i broke my camera following the instructions given in the internet.
Kindly do not hit on the hard surface. if u do so, u will get a crack on the display as i got….
ippdiku
sd 1000 nalan virumbi
mahesh on May 29th, 2008 at 2:23 pm | Link
I canot thank everyone on this site enough for suggesting hitting the camera when the lens didn’t come out.. When I got the “Lens Error Restart Camera” notice on my camera, I panicked! It just wouldn’t open! I was so frustrated so I came and found the site, tried hitting it a few times (with my hand.. NOT on a hard surface), and IT WORKED!! I LOVE this camera so I was slightly disappointed when that error came up.. but I’m just glad it worked
I just hope it doesn’t happen again!!
Joy on May 30th, 2008 at 10:32 am | Link
This is the second Powershot A540 I had gotten for my daughter - the first one the lens stuck open and I returned it under warranty - this time the lens was stuck closed. I was a little squeamish about banging it on a hard surface, but I gave it a couple smart whacks on the palm of my hand and it works. Now only if I can teach the technique to her without her smashing it to smithereens! (PS - getting it to work again so simply made me laugh insanely for about 5 minutes. If nothing else, it’s apparently good entertainment and a way to blow of steam when you’re p***ed off at the stupid thing!)
jorzo on June 10th, 2008 at 2:55 am | Link
PS - I will probably NOT buy another Canon.
jorzo on June 10th, 2008 at 2:55 am | Link
unbelievable….whadya know? a couple of whacks on the couch…and boom…SD750 is ready to go! WOOHOO!
thanks for the help….i still can’t believe this….
kyla on June 15th, 2008 at 2:37 pm | Link
THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR THE BANGING TIP! i really thought my camera went to waste!
Dianna on June 21st, 2008 at 12:43 pm | Link
Had the dreaded lens error on my wife’s Canon SD1000 with the lens stuck in the extended position. Went through the 7-step process and nothing worked until I whacked it (base side down on the palm of my hand. It took four or five whacks before it retracted. Fixed!!!
John on June 26th, 2008 at 7:38 pm | Link
also, nervous since i’m traveling in mexico now and didn’t want to send it in, i had my friend wrap my SD1000 in a t-shirt, bang it, and it worked–not too surprising after reading all these entries and I decided to contribute as well. (i had dropped my camera and attributed the lens problem to that)–but sure enough it’s fixed. gracias a todos.
mselainels on June 28th, 2008 at 2:50 pm | Link
same problem here! I am in japan right now and yesterday the lens error happened to me. I has happened before but usually fixes itself after a few minutes and some shaking. yesterday nothing would work so I gave up and bought a new camera. lo and behold today when i woke up i tried it and POOF magically fixed. I lost a day of pictures thanks to that thing, and a lot of money buying a new camera (which it turns out i dont like as much as the quality of the cannon despite the obvious lens issue)…argh i am frustrated
millie on July 2nd, 2008 at 12:29 am | Link
I see im not the only person whose had the lens error on my sd1000….. So the my lens is stuck out and won’t retract…. tried banging it on my palm and all i got was a bruised palm with a lens that won’t retract, but then i shook some sense into it and it worked good as new!…..
jconstant on July 3rd, 2008 at 10:22 pm | Link
I just had the same error on my SD100- camera, knocked it 1ns not too hardly on a hard surface(a book) and it was fixed.
Thanks for the help
Guy on July 14th, 2008 at 11:54 pm | Link
I have the same problem but when I took the back off of my A540 I could get the lens to come out. When I put the back, back on, the lens will not come out….tried it several times and this is what happens. What could be pinching the camera?
pat on July 20th, 2008 at 11:10 am | Link
Alright, This is ridiculous. I have been trying to fix this piece of s*** for 2 weeks. I took the camera, wrapped it one layer deep in a sweatshirt and pounded it hard on a sofa cushion twice. Works. I hit the side of the camera on the cushion if that helps anyone. GREAT TIP and I really dont think I risked hurting the camera at all.
Drew on July 22nd, 2008 at 6:11 pm | Link
OMG it worked. My camera was stuck open and making this funny clicking noise and wouldn’t close. (lens error - restart camera).
I banged it a couple times, tried to turn it on, same thing. Banged it again.. IT WORKED!
THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU!
Kat on July 29th, 2008 at 2:19 am | Link
My PowerShot SD1000 showed a lens error on the screen. It kept making an odd beeping sound and then lens would not retract. I went to a local camera repair place that told me it would cost $98 plus tax to repair the lense. I rejected the price, did some research online, and found this site. A few forceful taps to the side of the camera fixed the problem! Thanks everyone!
Kimberly on August 1st, 2008 at 7:11 am | Link
If this method does not work for you, you might not be forceful enough! I couldnt believe it actually worked. I was worried about doing more damage, but trying this was a better deal than sending it to Canon for $100-$200. The glee I experienced from this fix-it yourself technique was better than the glee I experinced when I recieved the camera for Christmas. Hopefully, I will have no other problems.
Thanks Again!
Tami on August 5th, 2008 at 5:25 pm | Link
I tried again and again and again to make my lens error go away - which I got after only two weeks of purchasing my SD1100. Firstly I tried tapping it lightly on the USB side, then I tried pushing in the lens, then I tried taking the batteries out (all suggested repairs on the internet). Tried again and again but nothing worked. So I gradually started whacking it harder (a good form of stress relief when your 2 week old camera won’t work). Only when I whacked it really, really hard, on the front, on to a hard wooden surface, did the lens finally pop out. I had virtually given up hope. How screwed up is this product? I’m happy it is working again, as it takes the most amazing pictures. Just a pity it is so unreliable.
Barry on August 9th, 2008 at 9:50 am | Link
I had the same problem this morning…read this page…gave it a few smacks on the palm of my hand…et voila! it reopens.
Rubeun on August 12th, 2008 at 10:43 am | Link
i had the same problem two days ago when i *hardly* dropped my canon g9 2 feet away from the ground. After reading through these posts, i thought this whole banging your camera was a total joke, but after 2 unsuccessful attempts at trying to return/exchange it, i figured what the heck - i’m going to have to pay a crazy amount to have it fixed if banging it doesn’t work anyway, so i did. I was a little leery at first, so i started off by shaking it in the air, then banging it on my palm, on the table. When that wasn’t successful, i did what one of the users who posted previously did, i wrapped it in a sweater and bang the living crap out of it on the sofa and VOILA, it worked!!
I am extremely floored that this method actually works!! Thanks guys!
sophia on August 12th, 2008 at 6:28 pm | Link
i had the same prob days ago and i happened to see your solution before i ship it back for fix. It works amazingly! Aften a few dozen side smacks with medium strength, the lens went in. I started the camera and then it issued the same error. After several other bangs, it operates well, and hopefully this will last for a while.
That is utterly amazing! Thank you!
Kaizi on August 15th, 2008 at 7:43 am | Link
My Canon Powershot SD 750 Digital Elph lens isn’t coming out. It just keeps saying “lens error. Restart Camera.” I try restarting and it does the same exact thing. I am getting frustrated and it never works. What do I do to turn it back on? This has happened to me many times before, but it starts working again. It has never done it for this long. What should I do? Please help me.
Olivia on August 17th, 2008 at 1:35 pm | Link
WOW! i tried banging it with my hand and it starting working again!!!!
Anyone who has this problem just bang it against your hand, it works!!! THANKS!!!
Olivia on August 17th, 2008 at 1:38 pm | Link
My 4 months old Canon Powershot SD 1000 Digital Elph lens stopped coming out today during birthday party. It just kept saying “lens error. Restart Camera.” Great! When I got home I found this thread of messages and tried shaking it. It worked right away without banging against any surface. Thank you very much!
Boris on August 17th, 2008 at 7:57 pm | Link
Yes!! Problem solved. I banged the bottom of my camera against the palm of my hand. It didn’t work at first. But since my camera has a full warranty I decided that it didn’t matter how hard I hit it since I was going to have to send it back anyways. A few more hard hits and now it works. All I can do now is hope it doesn’t get stuck again.
Andrew on August 19th, 2008 at 9:43 am | Link
canon sd1000 - lens error, restart - i took the technical approached and banged the heck out of it against a wooden desk, tried first on the bottom and no luck, then face first a few times and it opened right up! if anyone does not feel comfortable doing this with their camera, send it to me and I’ll happily do my best to not smash your camera to tiny little bits for $50…
steve on August 24th, 2008 at 6:04 pm | Link
I don’t believe this…… I thought that this site was a joke. This trick ACTUALLY worked. Not at first…and I had to bang the lense of the camera in a bit, but after about 10 minutes of shaking it and slamming it on the dest, the counter, my hand (ouch), and finally the floor, the thing turned on. It doesn’t look like it has been beat up either. We’ll see how long this lasts. Thank you thank you thank you all.
Michael on August 26th, 2008 at 6:37 am | Link
I have 2 of the sd1000 cameras with “lens error” messages. One is here at work in my drawer collecting dust. I fiddled with the lens and centered it as suggested above. Put a fully charged battery in and turned it on. It made a grinding noise and gave me the same error message. I wacked it on muy leg a few times(3-4) and now the camera works again! I turned it off and on many times and feel that it’s resolved! Can’t wait to try the one sitting at home now…
Lukeskytoker on August 26th, 2008 at 10:20 am | Link
I had the same lens error problem, lens stuck out making funny noise and then telling me (lens error-restart camera)
After no success with the battery trick, banging the camera and lens push, i simply threw the camera off my table fairly hard and it works again, thank you to the person earlier who suggested the desk trick
Dallas Reid on August 26th, 2008 at 2:24 pm | Link
My SD1000 was stuck with lens in extended position. No abuse, nothing happened that would have hurt it. I had used it just fine about an hour before.
After reading all the success stories listed before me, I tried whacking it on my palm. Nothing. Then I whacked it on our kitchen counter a few times on the base with the camera on. I heard a funny, muffled click and was worried, but miraculously IT WORKED! The lens retracted and is now functioning normally.
Don’t call Canon…. just wham it!
emily on August 30th, 2008 at 1:01 pm | Link
hahahhaha. so i took the battery out of my sd powershot 1000. it was still the lens error. then i hit it against my knee for a while, turned it on and it worked. hah never would’ve thought that’d work. thanks!
Tim on August 31st, 2008 at 6:34 am | Link
Of course like everyone else here my Canon sd1000 lens error. It was stuck in the open position. I too was nervous to bang the camera. My 6 year old son said Dad would be mad if we broke the camera (which he would be). I tried doing the battery thing to no avail but shook the heck out of the camera and now it is working. Phew!!!!!
Thanks for the advice.
Rita on September 1st, 2008 at 5:39 am | Link
Dropped the camera when i was about to take a picture, hit the ground on the upper right hand corner (near the flash). The lense is stuck out and will not retract. I have noticed that when you look at it from the side, the lense is uneaven: the final ring is slightly more pushed in on the bottom than at the top of the ring. Looking at the bottom of the camera, near the camera-mount slot, you can see that the camera has come apart slightly. I can apply a small amount of pressure to this gap and open it barely see the the inside of the camera.
When i turn on the camera, it makes a mechanical noise and retracts ever so slightly before it makes the cannon “power on” noise and shows the cannon blue screen on the LCD screen. Immediately after, the screen turnes black and makes a couple of beeps before it shows “lens error, restart” while it goes back to its fully erect and slightly crooked position.
I tried wiggling the outer ring while turning it on, as stated on another website and the lense retracted more than normal. To my surprise it turned on to the preview screen. So i switched it to the picture taking seting and it worked; however, it was VERY blurry. So I tried to focus by zooming out but it immediately gave me the lense error again. I have tried gently banging the USB pad and hitting against the palm of my hand but i really doubt that physical abuse will fix the slightly crooked 3rd and final part of the lense or whatever else is wrong with the camera.
Any advice?
Brian on September 2nd, 2008 at 11:40 am | Link
Powershot SD850 IS: Dropped the camera when i was about to take a picture, hit the ground on the upper right hand corner (near the flash). The lense is stuck out and will not retract. I have noticed that when you look at it from the side, the lense is uneaven: the final ring is slightly more pushed in on the bottom than at the top of the ring. Looking at the bottom of the camera, near the camera-mount slot, you can see that the camera has come apart slightly. I can apply a small amount of pressure to this gap and open it barely see the the inside of the camera.
When i turn on the camera, it makes a mechanical noise and retracts ever so slightly before it makes the cannon “power on” noise and shows the cannon blue screen on the LCD screen. Immediately after, the screen turnes black and makes a couple of beeps before it shows “lens error, restart” while it goes back to its fully erect and slightly crooked position.
I tried wiggling the outer ring while turning it on, as stated on another website and the lense retracted more than normal. To my surprise it turned on to the preview screen. So i switched it to the picture taking seting and it worked; however, it was VERY blurry. So I tried to focus by zooming out but it immediately gave me the lense error again. I have tried gently banging the USB pad and hitting against the palm of my hand but i really doubt that physical abuse will fix the slightly crooked 3rd and final part of the lense or whatever else is wrong with the camera.
Any advice?
Brian on September 2nd, 2008 at 11:41 am | Link
For my birthday one month ago I was given a Cannon Power Shot SD1100 - Just like the rest of the posts my lens froze and stopped working. After banging, at first softly but progressivly more and more hard, it finally opened up. Peice of crap…
Lyndsey on September 5th, 2008 at 10:20 am | Link
Just bang it on your knee a bit.
Use the same amount of force as you would shuffling a deck of cards, or “packing” a new box of cigarettes.
Shake a bit in the air.
But dont bash it about.
This is still a really great camera.
Good luck
Miguel on September 8th, 2008 at 9:08 pm | Link
heyy my lense is stuck open..and ive tried banging it every which way..but no cigar..does anyone know what restart your camera means…? is that even a thing to do..someone from may said they only needed a restart to fix thier camera before..anyone know what that means?
lauren on September 11th, 2008 at 12:46 pm | Link
This is probably not the official “restart” method but it worked for me after my camera stopped working altogether after getting a bit damp - not submerged, but enough to short out a brand new battery. Anyway, I remembered reading on a website about opening the entire case and removing the internal battery for a few minutes, then reinserting and reassembling. Sounds scary but it worked! I used one of those eyeglass repair kits with the tiny screwdrivers. This will probably void the warranty but if you’re beyond warranty who cares. Here are the instructions:
Remove the external battery. Otherwise, you could possibly cause a short.
Remove 9 screws in total: 2 from the left side, 4 from the right. side, and 3 from the bottom. Keep track of where they went - they are not all the same size and need to go back in the right holes. If you make a mistake it will be obvious, but you’ll save yourself time by being a little organized about it.
Gently pry open the case.
The internal battery is small (less than 1/4″ diameter) and round, located in one of the corners. Gently pry it out. After a couple of minutes, replace it and screw the case back together. I’ve actually done this several times with no ill effects. The first time I did it, I was so startled when it actually turned back on that I almost dropped it on a tile floor. Good luck!
JayeCO on September 24th, 2008 at 10:44 am | Link
oh wow, I had the same error msg with the same camera–slightly banging it really works!!! Thanks.
key on October 1st, 2008 at 8:03 pm | Link
dont buy canon camera any more because once it fall the lens error will come so if u buy also be carefull
sai prashnath on October 7th, 2008 at 2:37 am | Link
My Canon SD1100 is having the same problem. I wish banging it around a few times would help it, but it doesn’t. Oh well, no more Canons for me!
Chelsea on October 12th, 2008 at 11:41 am | Link
So not to sound repetitive, but I also got the lens error message, after dropping my camera from maybe 3 feet. I even took it apart because I wanted to fix it so bad. Tried the “banging” method, hit it against my hand 4 or 5 times, and the lens opened up like normal.
Eric on October 18th, 2008 at 12:44 pm | Link
Same problem with my S1000 today. Banged to ground for twenty times, finally back to normal! That sounds crazy though!
richard on October 25th, 2008 at 4:51 pm | Link
I have a SD890 IS. I have tried banging the **** out of it to no prevail - the thing says lens error restart camera. Canons troubleshooting on the phone is useless, its only 6 weeks old!!!!
What a joke! I haven’t dropped the camera, and the lens will not come out. Can anyone suggest anything, the thing takes great pictures but right now all I hear is clicking and then “lens error, restart camera” my email is allye@shaw.ca it would be GREATLY appreciated if someone could toss advice my way, coz right now this thing is a 400 dollar paper weight
allye on October 31st, 2008 at 10:05 pm | Link
as many other people have said on here, I thought the “bang your camera response” was a joke. (I have frequently used that method in the past on other devices, to no avail). I tried banging it but that didn’t work, so I closed my eyes, crossed my fingers and dropped it on the floor from about a foot up. Voila! Working. Who knows how long this will last, but at least it’s back for now!
Robin on November 3rd, 2008 at 5:33 pm | Link
I shook it hard, and the lens retracted! It’s fixed.
Carlton on November 8th, 2008 at 6:51 pm | Link
Man, whoever is reading this: I wouldn’t buy a Canon. This is a lot of people, myself included, whose cameras are all doing the same thing wrong, the company is not honoring it’s warranties and everybody is resorting to just banging holy hell out of their cameras. Personally, I’m trying the banging of the camera and getting nothing yet. I’m going to try taking out the internal battery as described above, but it shouldn’t be coming to all this. These cameras are obviously all having the same issue and I would look to another brand if you’re in the market for a camera.
Scott on November 20th, 2008 at 6:09 am | Link
Umm wtf… banging on the side totally worked when my Canon SD1000 wouldn’t shut close saying “Lens error, please restart camera”….
Pred on November 23rd, 2008 at 9:11 pm | Link
I just tried the ‘last resort’ as mentioned below many times to save my Canon SD Powershot by banging the camera on a hard surface. I was not sure at first how the camera was to be hit/ on or off/ or how hard.
IT WORKED! The way that got it in the end as I slowly increased the impact of each hit, I had the camera (switched on, not sure if this is necessary) but hit the table flat and flush w the surface lens side down.
This is obviously a recurring mechanical problem that Canon will not spare a moment’s attention in the R&D lab. I took some regular veg oil (I’m sure any will work) and applied very sparingly to the outer rim of the lens, applying and wiping lightly with a tissue.
The motor still continues to make a ‘gritty’ noise but slowly lessened as I turned the camera on and off…zoom in and out.
But in the end….who knows how much longer it will last.
Words of advice: “cameras are like relationships, although inevitably problematic, invest your money in one that won’t drain your wallet in the same area.”
Andrew on November 27th, 2008 at 2:10 pm | Link
My g9 had the same problem. I had to take it totally apart. I found out it had grit in the lense assembly. I worked it back and forth. Put it back together. Somehow I had extra screws, and i broke a not needed button, But my 400 camera works now.
ejc on November 28th, 2008 at 4:28 pm | Link
Here is the fix I found that worked like a champ:
Turn off the camera. Place it on the back with the lens facing up and take a look at the spacing between the lens and the lens housing. If you notice that the gap is not even all the way around the lens, the problem should be easy to fix. This type of a problem usually occurs if the camera was dropped while the lens was extended. Simply - VERY GENTLY - press down the lens on the side where the gap is the biggest. You should hear a “click” as it pops back into place. Try powering the camera back on.
Happy on November 28th, 2008 at 5:40 pm | Link
Get this- my one year old powershot 1000 died a couple months ago, of the “lens error” message. I was sad, but I really HAD abused the camera, and wasn’t surprised (left it in the sand, threw it down a cliff, it is missing some corners). I really liked the image quality, and replaced it with a 1100. Not two months in- lens error. Found this site, and banged the first one (back when I was trying to fix it, I went as far as needlenosed, really making it look bad, nothing to loose). I took 3 good whacks. It works! I’m now going to beat my 1100. Anyone want to buy a camera? Thanks website!!!! I hit it on a wooden dresser lens down 3 times. I also had pressed on one uneven side before the beating. Good luck!
molly on November 28th, 2008 at 5:43 pm | Link
Banging a g9 will damage the 3 rotors. I opened up mine fully. The motor system is different than the sd 1000s. It is controled by 3 plastic teeth. If you bang it may work, but the teeth are cheap and have small teeth, which would strip them, making them too smooth to catch each other. Taking it apart worked, but I think brain surgury would have been easier.
ejc on November 29th, 2008 at 5:36 pm | Link
I was way sketched out about trying to hit my camera to get it to work. But it was broken, and I figured, “Hey why not?” so I tried it and it started to work. The camera turned on, but still wouldn’t zoom and the picture was incredibly blurry. I turned it off and then on again, and it worked like new. I’ve been waiting to get it fixed for seven months and I’m SOOOOOO happy I don’t have to spend $170 to take it to a camera shop to get it fixed. I’m way excited!
Jennifer on November 30th, 2008 at 10:35 am | Link
I have the SD870 IS ELPH and got the LENS ERROR. I was able to fix that with a few gentle bangs - nothing too crazy - but now the picture is super blurry. Any suggestions? Thank you!
Tina on December 11th, 2008 at 5:59 pm | Link
Canon Powershot 750, had the same trouble. Tried smacking the side, didn’t work.Hit the front, thought I broke it, and voila!!!! it worked! Thanks
Shy on December 12th, 2008 at 5:44 pm | Link
I have a canon sd750 that had the lens stuck out and would not work and kept saying lens error. After reading the post to bang it on something hard I thought what the hell and smacked it on my coffee table and it started working. So thanks for the post I was getting ready to spend 150 dollars on a new camera.
liz on December 13th, 2008 at 6:04 pm | Link
When I turned my Canon Power Shot SD850 camera on to take pictures of my kids with Santa, I got the same lens error. I was apprehensive about banging it because I was told by the clerk at Circuit City if I did that I would end up with a $300 piece of plastic. I guess he was trying to sell me a new one. Not this time, I shook the camera hard (as someone recommended) and the lens retracted. It now works! Thanks for the advice.
M Forgione on December 21st, 2008 at 4:20 pm | Link
ahah this is crazy i went to Henry’s and asked them what i could do, and there like ” oh just send it to canon to get it fixed or you can just get a new camera it will probably be cheaper.. so then i got home not to long ago and tried to see what i could do by searching anything that could help me figure it out , and they said the shutters motor was broken , but then i found this web site and gave my cameras a few hits on the desk ( not too hard of course) and i tuened it on and it worked!
THANK YOU SOOO MUCH!
ahaha
- Cat
Cat Elizabeth on December 22nd, 2008 at 12:50 pm | Link
Yup same problem with my sd1000 the lens would not come out. i did the smacking thing several times, it couldn’t get any worse as it did not work as it was, and yup it worked….. Merry Christmas to me!!!!
Pat
Pat on December 24th, 2008 at 7:41 pm | Link
my canon G9 had the same problem. It wrote ‘lens error. restart camera.’
I was so frustrated because I only bought the camera 4 months ago. Repairing it will cost a lot of money. I tried to shake it, but nothing happened. Then I banged the lens surface to a smooth surface and sands started to come out. But not all, by the way. I can still hear sands stuck inside when I shake the camera. So maybe next time the lens will be stuck again..
hidayah on December 25th, 2008 at 8:47 am | Link
Lens stuck opened? Try this. Hold power button in and see if the lens cycles in and out. If it does, have the battery cover open and when the lens is in the retracted position, pop the battery release and remove the battery. May take a couple tries to time it right Wait 10 seconds or more and then insert battery to reboot camera. Hope this helps, it worked for my canon sd750.
R McAfee on January 3rd, 2009 at 6:18 pm | Link
haha LMAO before I found this site I just hit my camera in my hand and it started working. I was actually looking for a way to repair it cuz I figure it will break with no repair before to long
hb on January 8th, 2009 at 12:52 am | Link
my camera gave the same dreaded error this afternoon and would not open and the 12-mth warranty expired just before Christmas. I admit I was worried about banging in on the table, so I just tapped it into the palm of my hand, lens-side down a few times (not even particularly forcefully) and what do you know, it worked!
I can’t believe the amount others have written that Canon want even to look at the camera! What a joke!
Anyway, thank for the advice….we’ll see how much longer it works for!
Anna on January 8th, 2009 at 11:37 pm | Link
Me too! Me too! My Canon G9 was working fine and then when I whipped it out of its case at Canterbury Cathedral planning on taking some fab pics…. “Lens error” popped up. Have not been able to get it to work since. A friend has identical camera with identical problem. She took it to a Canon dealer who promptly blamed her for the problem and said it will take some time and a fairly large whack of cash to fix it. Damn them! I will never buy Canon again after buying only Canon till now…
Emma on January 13th, 2009 at 5:46 am | Link
Holy ****! I am thinking you all are nuts for banging your camera but it bloody well worked!! I am shocked!!
Thanks!!
DeDe Aspery on January 13th, 2009 at 3:42 pm | Link
I have a cannon SD1000 went to take a picture and the lens opened half way and i got lens error. I just banged the side nothing then banged the lens part flat on the table and holy crab it worked. so try it!!!!
Jake on January 19th, 2009 at 11:03 am | Link
Wish I would have seen this website before I tried to pry the lens open with my knife. A few parts broke off and I still got the lens error message. After reading these posts, I banged it and it works. No longer have the auto lens cap though. It’s Obama’s fault.
stan on January 20th, 2009 at 4:42 pm | Link
I was admiring some video i took at the inauguration when all of a sudden my beloved SD750 made a few strange chirping noises and flashed me the dreaded “lens error, restart camera” message. I thought all was lost until I found this website. a few well placed smacks on a solid book and it’s working (for now) just fine! Thanks!!!
Laura on January 21st, 2009 at 12:25 pm | Link
I got the lens error message and panicked. After gently pushing the lens back, it retracted and I was able to see my photos again. But problem — the camera won’t take photos now. I have tried several different settings from menu, but nothing. Any ideas?
Aliza on January 24th, 2009 at 9:14 am | Link
I’m about to pee in my pants!!!!!! I just game my camara a good crack on a desk and what do you know, it opened right up.
Soli on January 25th, 2009 at 3:47 pm | Link
I have canon SD 850 IS. got lens error restart camera. time after time of restarting. I rapped the camera several times against a book. Wala it now opens and the camera functions!
david Paul on January 26th, 2009 at 7:02 am | Link
Kids playing with the Wii one smacked the camera playing golf. Pieces flying. Lens stuck at an angle and you guessed it ‘Lens Error’. Now this is no fault of Canon and I have had my camera for years with NO issues. Tried banging on the side but lens wouldnt go in. Decided to manhandle it back into the case. front third at an angle and jammed. Bent it until str8. still not working. Banged on teh side some more, off on, battery out, battery in. no luck. decided to just push teh lens back in by banging it lens down. Banged it down till lens was flat inside the case. Powered on and its working. Still have to get pieces in, may need new springs. Might cost me all of $5 off ebay, already checked. Stop the Canon bashing and I will suggest my children do the same!!! cheers
Happy Cannon Guy on January 26th, 2009 at 6:37 pm | Link
I just experience the same problem with my Canon Powershot sd750. I fixed it my laying it flat on a table with the lens pointing up and turned clicked the shutter and power at same time a couple times and it worked!
Al on January 29th, 2009 at 3:18 pm | Link
Yeah, my 580 had the same problem, stuck Open, i thought all was lost! So i banged the hell out of it and it actually worked!!! Thanks!!!
Tiger on February 3rd, 2009 at 11:04 am | Link
Thank you to Don C. on January 15th, 2008 at 11:01 pm for your comment
My wife dropped our powershot A560 and the lense would not go back in. I was able to take the batteries out and force it back in firmly but not over forced. popped the batteries back in and camera works fine. thanks again. saved over $200 from canon repair.
Steve on February 3rd, 2009 at 4:35 pm | Link
Banging the camea defenitely worked for my camera
Thanks
natalie on February 8th, 2009 at 8:25 pm | Link
Thanks for the advice, but unfortunately my SD600 is now a really nice playtoy for my 7 month old. The banging trick didn’t work for me, and neither did attempting to twist the lens back in. My lens was originally fully extended and banging it got it back in, but crooked. Further banging (and I was giving it a good effort) resulted in some dings, and the lens eventually going all the way in, but it still doesn’t work. I am really re-thinking my decision to buy another Canon.
Maria on February 9th, 2009 at 4:26 pm | Link
I am currently down in venezuela studaying abroad…. my camera stopped working just as we started to paraglide off the andes mountains. I was sooooooooooo mad. 3 days…. and several shady camera repair shops later i looked online and found this sight.
I suggest you bang it with your hand until it works. bang it on the lens side with a your hand cupped….
thank you…. you just saved me 200 dollars and more memories!
Zane on February 10th, 2009 at 11:33 am | Link
Usually the problem with stuck lenses is a few grains of sand have worked their way into the mechanism. Pounding it can dislodge them. Then use a air blower to clean and other tiny pieces of grit out.
If you return the camera to Canon, the post office will do the pounding for you, and Canon will not see a problem. It it is badly stuck, and they find grit in the lens, then it is not covered under warranty. Keep your camera in a sealed case when you are not using it, cleanliness is absolute essential due to the lens zoom mechanism in them.
Ed on February 10th, 2009 at 5:05 pm | Link
No way! My friend’s camera was freaking out, so I looked up solutions and tried the battery thing (which totally didn’t work) and then I tried the smacking the ever living digital crap out of the thing (which of course she was -quite- hesitant about) and…it worked! Haha! I feel so victorious. Well, thanks to all the commenters too, about the advice on keeping it clean. That’s probably…a nice idea…
:}
Remy on February 12th, 2009 at 9:06 pm | Link
It worked! I had a Powershot SD1000 and I was testing my batteries. popped the last one in and got a lens error. I freaked. This was the first Google link, and I figured what the hell. Thank you, it worked! I slammed it on the end closest to the lens three times on top of a notebook on my computer desk and voila! If that worked with my credit card I’d buy you a beer, but apparently you don’t get a new pin number if you smack those.
Doug on February 21st, 2009 at 10:28 am | Link
This camera was a gift for my wife. It stopped half way between open and closed and would not budge. After reading this site I started tapping it on the desk. When that didn’t work I started smacking it pretty hard. It took about 20 smacks and it moved a little. I smacked it once more and it started working again. Make sure you have fresh batteries. It might also help if you try it while it’s pulled to the computer to get extra power.
Joe Momma on February 26th, 2009 at 6:28 pm | Link
My niece had been playing with my camera turning it on and off and suddenly my lens wouldnt close. An error message came up telling me to restart my camera and when i did it made a weird noise. So after reading these posts and deciding banging my camera was better then paying $200 to get it fixed I began hitting it on the side of my couch. It now works again!!!
Erin on February 26th, 2009 at 8:31 pm | Link
We had the same problem–our Canon power shot S50 lens was stuck open just a little, wouldn’t open fully or close, and would beep a few times then turn off. Shaking it didn’t work, but banging it on a carpeted surface sure did! Thanks for the help!
Tracy Johnson on February 27th, 2009 at 3:40 pm | Link
After lots of times beating the camera on my hand, on the floor, on the desk, and on my leg - my last desperate attempt was tossing it down the steps. It worked!!!!! Thanks for the tip. I was on the verge of plopping down $200 for another camera.
shawn on February 28th, 2009 at 4:14 pm | Link
After charging the battery fully, I put it in the camera, turned it on and took a couple pictures. As I flipped from view mode to picture mode, the camera simply turned off and the lens was stuck expanded. I removed the battery, charged it again, inserted it later, and the camera still won’t turn on. Help!
I also tried tapping/smacking/banging it on the counter and nothing happened. This sounds like a different problem than just a “lens error”. Can anyone help me?
brooke on March 5th, 2009 at 9:21 am | Link
Couldn’t zoom and had the lens error but then removed battery and put it back in then tapped it against my hand a bit (on the left corner) and it STARTED WORKING AGAIN!! Thank you!
scott on March 7th, 2009 at 12:16 pm | Link
I have a Canon PowerShot A570 with the same problem, a few good hits on the desk got it to work again, at least for now. It started to work once I hit it on the hand strap end. It makes a grinding noise, like gears striping, but at least it works
J on March 8th, 2009 at 9:30 am | Link
oh, one more thing. The ginding is only when the camera is shutting down. If I “assist” the lens in with my hand it doesnt grind
J on March 8th, 2009 at 9:33 am | Link
Yeah, hi, wow. At first I found this and loved it because I of how sarcastic the post was. Then, when everyone else was doing it I decided I’d give it a try. It just totally worked. Hit the front, right, top corner. (The side without the flash.) Best solution.
& yes, if everyone else were jumping off a bridge I would probably do it too. You know, if it were working for them like this was.
Rebecca on March 9th, 2009 at 12:53 am | Link
hey it does work i guess but can someone give me advise because i pushed my lens in and now it is stuck how do i fix this problem
teirra on March 9th, 2009 at 4:46 pm | Link
I have been banging my brothers camera powershot sd600(because it doesnt work) for 2 hours and and nothing works what should i do now.
anthony on March 12th, 2009 at 11:41 am | Link
So this just happened with my canon sd1000, and I was starting to get really pissed. and what do you know? I banged it on the desk, and it’s open..lol. amazing.. thanks.
Phillip on March 13th, 2009 at 12:40 pm | Link
my canon sd1000 was suffering from black screen syndrome (lens not working). so i just found this and decided to bang it around and turn it on 5 or 10 times and what do you know, now it works! THANKS!
Mahmud on March 13th, 2009 at 10:18 pm | Link
hahahaha I can’t believe it!!! I just banged my camera into the table…(after trying the pushing gently the lens advice) and the camera is working fine now!!! I really think it’s a mix of both advices (pushing the lens and banging the camera…) Try it!
DMM on March 14th, 2009 at 2:44 pm | Link
I too had black screen syndrome on my sd1000….banged it off the floow a few times, and it didn’t work…..banged it on the table 4 times, and my screen magically works again! Wow….
Jenna on March 14th, 2009 at 10:58 pm | Link
i CANNOT believe that banging it actually just worked…..this issue has happened before. i’m glad i now know how to fix it. wish i had known earlier today when i was unable to take pictures at my event………….
Sarah on March 15th, 2009 at 2:54 pm | Link
I was reading through all these editorials, and thought no way this is going to work - and this is the second time this happened, first with a Sony lens not opening and now with a Cannon not closing! But, then with a lot of banging on a hard surface and turning it off an on repeatedly and it’s working again, ahh! Oh ya, shaking didn’t work!
t on March 15th, 2009 at 10:00 pm | Link
Wow! Had the error same problem - probably caused by my 4-year old paprazzi with “sticky syrup fingers.” Was about to contact Canon when I searched and found this post. Three wacks on the table later and viola! The camera is working again. Thanks!
Chris on March 17th, 2009 at 11:25 am | Link
This banging method did not work at all, and now my flash is broken. AWFUL. DO NOT RECOMMEND.
Owner of a broken Canon on March 18th, 2009 at 4:06 pm | Link
I just had my lense stuck out and it would not retract. I banged it on battery door (bottom) side whilst pressing the on button and it works.
Damon on March 20th, 2009 at 3:59 pm | Link
Funny…. It really does work. I have the Power Shot A560.
I loved this camera, used it for a year when I was dropped at a school play. Never worked again. I had it stored in a cabinet for almost 2 years. I messed with it with no luck, Finally found this post… and the rest is history!
Gavin Harrison on March 21st, 2009 at 1:12 pm | Link
My Canon PowerShot SD790IS is less than 3mo old. NEVER dropped or abused. Got the same error everyone else did “Lens error, restart camera”. The lenses was stuck closed. I lightly tapped it on a hard table, flat-rear display side, and it works. Unbelievable… Thanks.
Mike M. on March 22nd, 2009 at 2:02 pm | Link
I hate to say it but i tried banging it softly for a while and got no wear but after putting a little more muscle into it, it opened. I just hit the side of the camera against a table with quite a bit of force and wallla
James on March 22nd, 2009 at 2:18 pm | Link
Had a 750 that the lens stuck in the OUT position on, with the error message. Read all the posts……hadn’t paid for the extended warranty so…..
1) Charged the battery to the max
2) Turned it on, go the message..
3) Dropped the camera on it’s side ….from waist high
a) once on carpet
b) twice on hardwood floor
STILL DIDN”T WORK
4) Smacked it on the desk about three times, back side flat…(like a gavel)
5) twisted the lens a little (not too hard)
6) Repeated (4)….turned it on…and the lens moved just a little
7) Turned it off, then on again….and
IT WORKS PERFECTLY……
I was ready to toss the camera until I found this blog…..
SO…..don’t give up…(don’t hit it with a hammer….) but you can rough it up a bit and may have good results.
Good Luck.
Paul on March 23rd, 2009 at 11:03 pm | Link
THANK YOU ALL!! I read how everyone was smackin’ & droppin their cameras. I joined the game!!!! Now my Canon SD400 lens is working perfectly!! Still a little grinding noise, but I think that will get better in time. I had tears running down my checks laughing at Paul’s comments that he left on March 23. I have a 17 & 15 year old boys who were laughing at me thinkin I was gonna psycho by droppin the camera !!! But now they are as proud as peacocks of their Mother !!! Thanks so much !
Nancy on March 29th, 2009 at 6:38 pm | Link
one quick smack against my palm (didn’t wan’t to go for something to hard right away) and presto!! thanks!
gab on March 30th, 2009 at 6:36 pm | Link
I am GIGGLING to myself, because it really did work. It didnt bang the crap out of it, just tapped it a little and it closed.
Christina on March 31st, 2009 at 9:08 am | Link
I had my Canon SD1100 for a little over two months, didn’t buy the extended warranty, so when the lens stuck I read the banging comments and tried it. It didn’t work. I was soooooo mad for losing almost $200.00 that I banged the heck out of it and now it definitely won’t work again. VERY DISAPPOINTED IN CANON.
Tina on April 1st, 2009 at 7:05 pm | Link
i had a lens error in my sd750. Thanks to the bangin advice, it now works!! I tried banging it for the longest time on the bottom of the camera with no success. the I banged the backside with the lcd a few tiems against my hand. I heard some particles mixing around and voila, I turned on my camera and it worked!!! Still can’t believe it. Cannon still sucks though.
rajan on April 1st, 2009 at 7:16 pm | Link
Yeah….. banging worked. I banged the sides of the camera while turning it on about 10-15 times and to my suprise it worked……
thank u ppl for the gr8est solution I have ever seen
Canon rox. we need not go service centre for these kind of probs.:P
srikanth on April 3rd, 2009 at 12:03 am | Link
WOW! I was really afraid to bang my camera on something hard, but I figured wth, I haven’t been using it anyway. It WORKED!!!!!
Thank you!
Jen on April 7th, 2009 at 12:59 pm | Link
bang the **** out of it. It works. Seriously. Thanks to all previous 145 posts that gave me the balls to bang my nice camera a while to make it work. Take that Canon!
jess on April 8th, 2009 at 12:26 pm | Link
My 4 year old just brought me my camera and told me it was “broken”…Little bugger.
lens error.
After reading this site I thought, what the hell…I bangged it hard on my palm a few times, pressed on the lens and now it works fine!
THANKS!
Lisa on April 8th, 2009 at 3:26 pm | Link
Canon SD1000, had it about a year. Lens got stuck OUT when I was in the middle of taking a picture. Tried all the battery in/out stuff, that didn’t work. I started reading here about smacking it, which I started doing on the sides and the bottom and shaking it in the air. No good. I read the post about checking to see if there’s a gap around the lens which there was, so I “CLICK”ed the lens back into place and still no results. The lens was just STUCK. More banging, no results. Then I read the one that said to bang it on the lens side. Which I did. After 10 vigorous blows, the camera finally started to sputter and the lens retracted. Then I realized I’d caused additional damage to the telephoto portion of the lens during my banging. SO. Bang on the lens side only if you plan on getting a new camera anyway. It opens and closes and takes pictures now, but it won’t telephoto out all the way w/o getting stuck. This will now be my backup camera. Oh, and it’s my 3rd Canon, never had an issue before.
Jen S. on April 11th, 2009 at 8:51 am | Link
I have the Canon PowerShot SD1100 IS in blue and out of no where, everytime I tried to turn my camera on, it displayed a message saying “Lens Error, Restart Cmera”. I was like great!(the same week i had an issue with my ipodtouch and had to erease everything and restore it). So i tried everything to get it to work. I charged the battery for the camera, I tried “cleaning” it(i live near the beach. maybe sand was the problem????) but what worked was banging the camer really hard on the side. It took several tries cause each time I did it, the lens would gradually open alittle bit more. Thelens fully extended out but the image was beyond blurry. Then i just turned i off and then back on and it was like new again! Thanks for all of those suggestions you all put out there! Although, we are takng it back to Best Buy and getting a new brand of camera Canon seems to have alot of issues with all of their cameras….
thanks!!!!!
Twiggy on April 13th, 2009 at 8:10 am | Link
Same thing is happening with my SD 1000, except it is stuck open. Wish i woulda read this before I got it. I’ll try smacking it harder.
Mar on April 14th, 2009 at 8:38 pm | Link
wow thank you so much! i was so worried… today i had a fieldtrip and it would be a waste if i couldnt have a way to keep those memories other than in my long term memory. at first i was a little esceptical about your method, so i tried banging carefully? haha
later, i started going harder and harder until it went back to normal! xD
thank you! ( i have a Canon Powershoot A1000)
D. G on April 16th, 2009 at 7:21 am | Link
I found this site on Google after I had the “Lens error, restart camera” happen with my Canon SD850 IS a week ago. Since the warranty expired long ago, I figured whacking the camera on the kitchen counter couldn’t hurt. So I did, lens side down. 16 times. The camera works good as new now, and the error is gone.
Debi on April 17th, 2009 at 12:17 am | Link
Thank you so much. I have Canon SD1000 with same problem” Lens error restart camera.” After looking at this website I tried whacking the camera on my computer table. It started working after that. NO more errors.
Rajan on April 19th, 2009 at 9:11 am | Link
my sd750 had the same problem, after reading the comments here, i simply banged it lightly, battery side down and it started working again.
im gonna donate to the guy and buy him a beer now!
kyle on April 20th, 2009 at 10:21 am | Link
Are you kidding me? I guess NOT!
Smacking my camera (lightly) repeatedly on a granite counter top fixed the camera!!!! WOW!!!
AngeliaS on April 26th, 2009 at 9:33 pm | Link
Never a canon again.
This is my second canon with lens error a few days after the warranty period.
Gave it a few smack’s but won’t work.
Gonna buy something with digital zoom only.
The worst is that canon says they do not have complants about their lenses.
It is always the user that is being rough with cleaning the lens.
richard on May 2nd, 2009 at 8:59 am | Link
I too have the “lens error, restart camera” problem, so I did as suggested on this website - banned the camera on hard surface from the usb-side. Now the camera can take pictures, however the pictures are totally out of focus - lens totally messed up.
Betty on May 3rd, 2009 at 5:20 pm | Link
same problem with my canon pssd750. I have hardly used it and lens just stopped working-
wish they made stuff like they used to on May 3rd, 2009 at 6:46 pm | Link
wait……I finally gave it a few good smacks and it worked!!!
wish they made stuff like they used to on May 3rd, 2009 at 8:10 pm | Link
Holy crap!! I was online looking for possible way to correct this same problem on my canon powershot 750. I too thought that it was a joke when I read that banging it on a hard surface could solve the problem. Much to my surprise I did it and low and behold it worked…
But I am kinda worried if it keeps happening I will really damage my camera.
Lisa on May 4th, 2009 at 8:41 am | Link
Well, SD1000 with the lens stuck out and error message as above … no gentle taps, no blowing on the lens, no pushing on the lens worked, so I tried whacking on the table, first gently, and then so hard my dog ran outside. Still nothing. Finally, I turned it on and dropped it from my hand to the wood kitchen floor, nothing. Next time I turned it on, I heard a click, so I dropped it two more times and turned it off. Finally, after the fourth drop from a height of about four feet, when I turned it on, the lens closed. Thanks for all the posts - I never would have had the guts to do this if I hadn’t read about it first.
Rebecca Tatum on May 6th, 2009 at 10:21 pm | Link
my camera for weeks has had the error lense problem, after i searched online for hours on trying to get help to fix it i cam across this and saw the “bag it a few times.”
i gave it a slight tap and it miraculously worked. wow i payed all that money for that?
Anna on May 16th, 2009 at 7:45 pm | Link
Well I was taking pics and i dropped a helmet on my moms camera… i hear snap….. im freaking out… she calls asks what im doing… i said oh putting some stuff up.. im frantically trying to fix it.. she walks in my room… She says you didnt break my camera did you… no no… i just dropped this helmet… i lay the cam flat when she leaves, the leans was leaning like the tower of piza… i give it a push opposite of it leaving.. I hear a snap.. I immediately take a pic of myself smiling… it looks beautiful. Thanks so much for saving my life my mom would have pwned me….
Links234 on May 17th, 2009 at 10:51 pm | Link
My SD800 did the same thing. Banging is only temporary solution. It will stuck again. Bang, more bang, then you will hear rattling from inside where the banging resulting in breaking parts into pieces. After repeated banging and restarting mine refused to start with banging any more. These cameras have serious engineering flaws. I might use a hammer to finish it. I went to Best Buy and asked for a good camera other than canon. There were several beautiful canon there. Thrust me I don’t even want them for free for now.
mengistu on May 22nd, 2009 at 11:44 pm | Link
THANK YOU SO MUCH
I didn’t actually believe banging the stupid thing would fix it!
Its a bit out of focus but better than losing $200!
mo on May 24th, 2009 at 7:54 am | Link
OMG….I could not believe it but it worked…I shoot the crap out of it in the air and the first time it opened. Get this…I had another camera that did the same thing…took it to the “camer expert” store…told me, it would cost over $200 to repair…so what did I do…go and buy this Canon Power Shot SX100….if I had know then to shake the crap out of it, I could have saved me some money…..who would have thought. THANKS!!!
Karla on May 25th, 2009 at 3:06 pm | Link
holy hell it worked!
Erik Hansen on May 30th, 2009 at 9:40 am | Link
Got the same lens error and after reading all the reviews here, tried smashing on my legs little harder and wow it worked!!! Thanks a lot for the suggetions.
Meens on June 2nd, 2009 at 4:17 pm | Link
Lovely… I’ve beaten my camera like a sassy stepchild, and nothing. I’ve also sucked, blown, patted, twisted, shoved, jammed, bitten, and plugged everything I can think of. I’m off to a repair shop…
Brett on June 2nd, 2009 at 10:16 pm | Link
Amazing. Between the “Canon doesn’t stand behind its products” crap and “beat the hell out of it” craziness (unless you’re out of warranty), I’m shocked that no one else had my experience: I went to the support section of Canon’s web site, I answered a few questions about my problem with the lens, they gave me an address to send the camera to, and after sending it I had it back within a week, new lens and related parts, no charge. Within a week of me sending it. That’s actually standing behind your product and making things right.
If you’re in warranty, send it in. Don’t beat your camera and void your warranty. If you want a camera that will work all of the time, without a battery, get an old rangefinder or SLR. Bang that around instead.
David on June 5th, 2009 at 6:59 pm | Link
I had an SD750, and after giving it to my girlfriend to replace her old SD100, I bought another SD750 for myself. It was a newer model with a newer firmware, and all seemed well — until I started getting random “Lens Error, Restart Camera” messages! Luckily I have not had to go banging the camera on anything just yet, taking out the battery usually fixes it pretty quickly. I’m surprised to hear this is somewhat common! Thanks for the info.
shea on June 6th, 2009 at 12:26 am | Link
SD700 same problem. Lens would not open. Had to throw the camera away. Shame…I loved it up until this point. =(
Anon on June 6th, 2009 at 5:32 am | Link
HOLY ****! I read the comment below me about banging the camera so i was like what the hell, why not? so i did it and then it started working again! Thank you everyone! Im happy again. this camera is my baby
Logannn on June 7th, 2009 at 10:24 am | Link
Sounded a little doubtful — but I gave the camera 2 solid bangs on my mousepad (so that damage would be minimized) and voila! the lens came out again. I just had to burst out laughing!
This is awesome!
G B on June 8th, 2009 at 11:25 am | Link
Well, I’ll be! Thanks for all the posts. I would never had tried roughing up my Powershot A540 without the other success stories. I was reluctant but hit it against my cupped hand a couple times with it off, then took the batteries out, smacked it a few more times (moderately hard), then put the batteries in, tried to turn it on (lens error wouldn’t really let me) so I smacked it again, and this time it appears to be working. This is fantastic news! I use it for work and need it tomorrow - wasn’t looking forward to spending $200 to get me buy. Thanks!
Judy A on June 8th, 2009 at 5:04 pm | Link
How funny SD600 needed a good wack and got it going……..now we know why it is in the protective metal case!
Thanks much.
Tony B on June 17th, 2009 at 4:59 am | Link
wow. I’m so glad i read this. I was about to go get it fixed cuz i had no idea how to get it to work. I had tried several times to bang it against my hand and my legs to soften the hit cuz i dint want to further damage it and have to pay more. And then when i read this I tried it against a hard surface but it didnt seem to work. Then I also read
>
I tried that too and then banging it. That did the trick:) I’m so glad I didnt have to spend 100$ + to get it fixed. THANKS!
Ada Y. on June 21st, 2009 at 9:27 am | Link
I had given up hope on my SD1000/Ixus70 with the lens stuck in outer position. After reading this thread I started tapping it quite gently and soon progressed to nothing-to-lose-whacking-it-silly, virtually smashing it on my living room carpet.
Now works perfectly.
Thanks!
Nibo on June 25th, 2009 at 12:17 pm | Link
Oh my goodness, I also thought banging the crap out of it would just make it worse or break it, but i desided maybe it would work. It did!!! Crazyyy.
Larry on June 27th, 2009 at 2:53 pm | Link
Awesome. Banging my PowerShot SD600 didn’t do the trick, but retracting the lens and just futzing with it made the “lens error” go away. I could see the lens was infinitesimally off center - took an exacto knife blade and just jiggled it a little. I didn’t hear anything, but when I turned it back on, VOILA! a working camera. AMEN and muchos gracias to this website!
betsy - Money Changes Things on June 30th, 2009 at 11:07 am | Link
I was reluctant to do this until I figured it couldn’t hurt. I banged it before it gave me the error message and surprise! It opened right up! Thank you!
Bob on July 3rd, 2009 at 8:02 am | Link
I had a cannon that the lens froze during a trip to Alaska. (SD 600?)
luckily I was able to use my mom’s cannon for the remainder of the pictures and it was on my last day of Vacation- the camera was eventurally lost as I would still carry it around with me to see if I can get it fixed.
I ended up buying a new SD1000 a month later, now that lens froze,
I cannot get it to close, Trust me I tried banging the crap out of both.
I recently purchased a Cannon SX110 IS and I hope I do not have the same problem, as this camera cost more.
I will still continue to battle with the SD1000, and hope that I can get the lens to retract, I thought I had sand in it, but apparently this happens alot after reading these posts, what a shame, I really like the cannon camera’s
Babs on July 5th, 2009 at 10:51 am | Link
Just to heap on my own surprised reply: I took my SD600 with a lens that was stuck in the extended position (it happened after the camera fell while the lens was extended), and during the brief period that the power was on (before it gave the lens error and turned back off), I banged the bottom part of the camera a few times hard against the palm of my hand, and then the lens retracted!
It sounds pretty bad while it’s retracting now, but, for the moment, the camera is working again.
I suspect it will fall again soon, because it’s so narrow and curvey and slippery. I do dislike the physical design of this camera!
Ken on July 7th, 2009 at 6:41 am | Link
I have a Canon SD750 and within hours of bringing my new baby girl home from the hospital this afternoon, the camera suddenly and unexplicably ceased operating and gave me the “lens error, restart camera” message. After reading through the posts on this site, I removed the battery, closed the case, then gave the bottom of the camera two decent whacks against my desk. To my astonishment, the camera came back to life! Thanks a million and a heartfelt thanks to everyone that has taken the time to post to this site!
Charlie on July 7th, 2009 at 2:51 pm | Link
OH MY FREAKIN GOSH!!!!!!!I I HAVE THE CANON POWER SHOT S3 IS AND I HAD THE SAME PROBLEM AND IM GOING TO CAMP IN 3 DAYS SO I DID WAT THIS SAID AND BANGED IT JUST 3 TIMES AND THE LENS CAME OUT MY CAMERA WORKS NOW!!!!!!! THANK THE LORD ALMIGHTY!!!!!!!!
Renae on July 8th, 2009 at 7:27 am | Link
Banging it works! Wow, saved me $200 for a new one!
Jill on July 9th, 2009 at 12:45 pm | Link
Not getting a Canon again - smacking it didn’t work, ripoff $200 repair. Its in the bin - around a year old. Great timing.
Timed obsolescence or something? Very angry.
Martin on July 10th, 2009 at 1:43 am | Link
Lens error message out of the blue. Tried battery out - on-offf; prayer etc. Nothing. Went to internet and got to this site. Tried banging it as suggested against my hand and presto - working again! It is a miracle
MJW on July 10th, 2009 at 4:19 am | Link
Hola everyone..
i have a Powershot SD 110 CANON camera. i’ve had it almost a year now. its been great.. but i’m having the problem where it lile turns on, and has the starting pic, then it makes a really weird noise.. and the lens dont open & it says : ” Lens Error.. Restart Camera “…
Why??
i need Help anyone
i need it fixed in like a week i’m going to FiJi
tasha on July 10th, 2009 at 3:11 pm | Link
sorry SD 1100
tasha on July 10th, 2009 at 3:20 pm | Link
That was the best advice ever..after one good smash against my hardwood desk, pictures came to life again….THANK YOU!
Phylecia on July 11th, 2009 at 9:10 pm | Link
holy crap thanks for helping me out with this…i just got a free camera im effin ecstatic
ez on July 11th, 2009 at 10:31 pm | Link
I had my powershot sd1000 for about two years and I take a ton of pictures all the time so I was devistated when the lens just would’nt come out at all. When I read all these comments I was like no way is beating it to death going to work with mine when I tried everything else I guess I thought the problem with mine was different cause every now and then I would hit it a few times and shake it a lot but then I gave in and wrapped it in my scarf and just smacked it against my harry potter book like 30 times and when i tried again it sounded like it was about to open but didnt so I decided to hold down the shutter and then open it and it worked both me and me mom cannot believe it. thanks everyone!
Kate on July 12th, 2009 at 10:31 am | Link
Thank you very much! Smacked by camera in the air and now the lens opened. Yeah!
Vanessa on July 18th, 2009 at 9:48 pm | Link
i’ve tried everything, nothing works!
someone help!! what can i do? i dont want to spend money to get it fixed
gabby on July 19th, 2009 at 9:59 am | Link
i must say thanks for EVERYONE ON TIS WEBSITE!! i have a purple canon powershot sd1100is camera
alll i really did was messs around with my camera and it worked i just hit it againbst my hand afew times thanks sooooo much!!! now i dont have to worrry about sending my camera to canon!! woooooooo
seriously try it/!! it works and if it doesent will canon willl just tell u you damaged it even b4 u even hit it b/c the warrenty wont cover it trust me! =) mad props thanks again!
clairebear on July 20th, 2009 at 4:38 pm | Link
my canon powershot sent (lens error) for over two weeks of trying it. Then i read these comments and gave it three smacks on the table and yes it does work.
Thankyou people…
jason k on July 21st, 2009 at 11:25 am | Link
I TRYIED BANGING MY LENS ERROR CAMERA AND IT FELL APART THIS DID NOT HELP
Bob on July 29th, 2009 at 2:50 pm | Link
It worked! Canon SD1000 - My daughter came to me with camera. Lens stuck in full open position. Lens error… When nothing else worked I took the advice here. I did a lot of banging. Since folks here said bang it on the side, I banged all sides. I first put a towel down, doubled over to make it thicker so as to keep from scratching or denting the case. I banged it 10 times on the right side, then 10 times on the left, then 10 on the bottom, 10 on the top, 10 on the back. Everywhere but the front where the lens was out. After each time I turned it on and got the same message. I went through it all again. When I banged it on the back for another 10 times, I turned it on and it worked. Persistence paid off and I figured it can’t hurt at $200 for a repair. The camera didn’t cost $200.
Tom B on August 1st, 2009 at 11:48 pm | Link
After taking a picture at the beach my lens wouldn’t retract on my SD630. I tried compressed air around the lens and that didn’t work. I found this site and tried banging the camera on different sides.
Didn’t work.
I decided to be a bit more aggressive and bang the actual lens against my desk. It went in, crooked at first, but all three bronze-colored pins on the interior of the lens became lose and now rattle around inside the lens.
The camera still doesn’t work and I believe I’ve broken it beyond my ability to repair it.
Fail.
Alan on August 6th, 2009 at 10:11 am | Link
I just smacked my SD1100 against the palm of my hand a few times and … Voila! Lens error GONE! Since you just saved me some time and money, a DONATION will be accompanying my THANKS!
Jerry on August 9th, 2009 at 12:32 pm | Link
haahahah!!!! it does work!!!! amazing!!! I was really scared at the beiggining but then I really enjoyed the smacking!!! and now it works!!! thanx so much!!!
Carlos Barruti on August 10th, 2009 at 10:21 am | Link
The banging worked! Sweet!
Ashley on August 12th, 2009 at 9:36 pm | Link
Accccccccccck!!! Same problem, I just smacked the camera with my hand (not on a hard surface, would never do that to a camera), and guess what? It worked!!! Cannot believe it worked!!!
Radha on August 16th, 2009 at 10:27 am | Link
I can’t BELIEVE the banging actually worked! LOL
Angela on August 20th, 2009 at 7:41 am | Link
Amazing. Face down worked.
Rio Karma’s had a freeze with the same fix. I was amazed then, and I’m amazed now.
Jim on August 20th, 2009 at 11:22 pm | Link
I have always had great success with canon’s elph series…they go through a lot for my job and come out working every time-except for this fickle little camera. The battery life after one year is great-except the lens always seems to get stuck open or shut with a lens error warning. I tried smacking it on my palm and sure enough it is back up and running. I am guessing there is some catch in the lens or the motor is weak and stops if it feels any tension-say by a random piece of dust. Still a great camera for $150.
kris on August 22nd, 2009 at 11:26 am | Link
My SD700 had the same problem. Lens was partially retracted, Banging it on hard surface helped open it completely. It still does not close when I turn it off. Any suggestions.
Glad I found this site. Thanks.
AP on August 23rd, 2009 at 9:19 pm | Link
My SD1000 lens still open, but no image, is there anyone who can help me?
lisa on August 27th, 2009 at 12:43 pm | Link
I have had this problem, and bought probably 5 new cameras.. My PS 1100 all of a sudden would not even turn on ..just displayed the lens error (i had not dropped.. had any trouble ever.. with this camera from day one)
so i took the advice and BANGED THE LIVING HELL OUT of the little girl.. and now she is functioning just fine.. luckily i did not buy another one today.. now i am going to try to fix all my old canons…
good luck!
kendall on September 1st, 2009 at 6:41 pm | Link
I did EXACTLY as you guys suggested d/t the lens not operating and BAM!!! It worked !!!! The lens now works!
Sorry camera…but great advise!
I will never again buy a Canon camera
Robert on September 4th, 2009 at 8:19 pm | Link
I told my husband (a mechnical engineer) about BANGING, he doesn’t believe and against. I did BANG several times anyway, as your guys said, BANGING worked for my SD1000. Thanks guys for saving my money, I almost finished ordering a new camera.
lisa on September 7th, 2009 at 1:07 pm | Link
I just gave a firm bang on the counter top and it opened and worked. Thank you.
Todd
Todd on September 7th, 2009 at 2:17 pm | Link
That was amazing. It took a couple slams to get it, but it worked. I found that I had to slam it face first into the desk. Thanks for the post!
Eli Duke on September 14th, 2009 at 6:34 pm | Link
well exactly the same thing happened to me out of nowhere, I will try the BANGING method now and I really hope it will work…
sena on September 18th, 2009 at 9:36 am | Link
It’s amazing to see so many people who would rather bang their camera around when in actuality that is what caused the problem in the first place. No one ever admits they dropped it or lent it to someone who dropped it. Camera lenses don’t simply jump off the track, something has to cause it like sand at the beach or some drunk staggering into you at a bar while you try to take a photo. 99.9% of the time it’s user error, but then this is America and no one ever admits they were wrong about anything…just like O.J.
bugga-bugga on September 18th, 2009 at 2:37 pm | Link
Hi, I have a Canon power shot A540 that the lens just stuck opened everyone has the problem with it staying close, any way I kept taping it lightly on the table with a towel several times and I put the batteries back in turned it on it works like new again. Thanks for the advise! Jim W
Jim W on September 22nd, 2009 at 7:13 am | Link
I have a brand new Nikon Coolpix S220, and I realize that this is not the greatest camera, but I knocked it off a counter when going to pick it up a week after buying it, and the lens partially retracted - unevenly. After reading to bang it and/or put gentle pressure on the lens, I tried banging first. I had already tried twisting it and so forth. Banging had no effect. I finally put the camrea LCD screen down on a cushion and gently, yet firmly, pressed down on the lens (the outer circle part) with thumbs on each side. It immediately pressed all the way in nd I thought I’d broken it! I turned the camera on and it is LIKE NEW!! IT takes pics like it did prior to the drop. Try this before banging, if you’re scared to bang it.
Becky on September 23rd, 2009 at 1:09 pm | Link
I had the lame lens error message restart cmaera, bang on my palm perhaps not so damaging bnut it WORKED!!! Tank you!
laurie Olson on September 24th, 2009 at 2:55 pm | Link
i’ve banged my camera like 500 times against the couch, the floor, a desk a chair my hand throw it in the air, shake it push the lens in IT DOES NOT WORK
im so saadd today is my birthday & i wanted to take picturees my lens is stuck opeen ! i hit it with my necklace going upstairs & ever since its not going in 
! canon suucks
maci on September 25th, 2009 at 2:51 pm | Link
WOOWWW after 1000 hits on the bed floor threw it down the stairs on the desk on my hand pressed the lenss so it would go in i almost wanted to smash the darn camera with a hammer cuz i was so mad it wouldnt work i hit it real hard on the lens side sticking out then on the bottom two hard hits and the lens started going in again ! i was frustrated because i tried everything & it didin’t work but be patient and keep hitting it
maci on September 25th, 2009 at 3:51 pm | Link
i bought a Canon sx 200is and the same thing happen i just banged it with my hand and viola it works perfectly fine now
Piandoo on September 27th, 2009 at 7:39 pm | Link
I hurt my hand, my knee and dented my desk trying to get that lens to come out (nikon coolpix s550) and….woohooo!!!! it works! Just try to avoid hitting the lcd screen. I’m definitely not going to get drunk and accidentally force the lens down again. hopefully. also, sand was also a major factor!!! Thanks for this dude, I do hope you get your camera working.
peas
Nadia on October 2nd, 2009 at 5:08 pm | Link
The banging trick works! I’ve been carrying my PowerShot SD1000 in my purse and yeah, I could have protected it better but have never had any problems with it until now…
Googled my problem and voila, I’m seemingly not the only one with the same problem.
Thank you so much for the advice! This entire thread is just hilarious but in a cool way!
Edith on October 5th, 2009 at 6:32 pm | Link
SMACKING THE SIDE OF THE CAMERA WORKED!!! We’re getting ready for our friend’s wedding and were devastated when the camera stopped working…thanks so much for the help!
New York Bridesmaids on October 10th, 2009 at 7:23 am | Link
I had this issue and I tried smacking it hard on the desk. It started to work but I ended up having more issues with the camera. I ended up going to camerasandparts.com and they were awesome. They installed a brand new lens and totally serviced up my Canon for almost nothing. If anyone here needs help, that site is amazing and they just specialize in these powershot’s. I’m just getting ready to send in my G9 that won’t power on anymore. I had such a great experience with them and my Canon is totally perfect again.
Anthony on October 11th, 2009 at 1:19 am | Link
Lens stuck open on Powershot SD1200IS:
Banged it gently against the table. Note that it only began to work again when I smacked the lens side of the camera against the table. Hitting against the sides and bottom had no results.
Tom on October 12th, 2009 at 12:57 pm | Link
I banged mine once on the lens side, and it fixed it! Thank you!!!!
Ellen on October 24th, 2009 at 1:38 pm | Link
this absolutely worked! Instead of a hard surface (for fear that it wouldn’t work and then if I had to take it to the shop and it would look like I dropped it) i smacked in on the palm of my hand very hard a few times….WORKED LIKE A CHARM!! Thank you so much!!
Sarah on October 31st, 2009 at 9:53 am | Link
fix ya didn’t help at all, don’t bother with the whackjobs on that site. The “bang the camera” advice does nothing for me but piss me off bigtime. It’s what a bunch of frigging rednecks would do. It also doesn’t work.
polly on November 8th, 2009 at 12:28 pm | Link
grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr so true i have a canon 2 they are sooooooo rubish i have tried everything baging the life out of it, taking ot the battery and lots more plzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz help me its so fussssstratingggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggg
mel on November 9th, 2009 at 12:46 pm | Link
I originally found this webstie 4 years ago and read with amusement, empathy and sympathy the experiences of the complaining party.
Having taken the advise of smacking my 1000 on a table top, knee, board etc. I have had many instances of having to use this technique. In all instances I have simply followed the advise of others and have been very satisfied with the results. Two experiences of sending the camera back to the company taught me in a hurry this was not cost effective, frustrating and not necessary. I now detest any recommendations and literature printed by manufacturers in regards to their product.
For those that are new to this website, just “breath”, rap the camera and keep on taking pictures.
Don’t worry about the manufacturer and the manual.
Don May on November 9th, 2009 at 1:07 pm | Link
My new SD 870 IS camera lens didnt close and I couldnt focus It was very blurry ..So I tryed the banging technique and twisted the lens It took a few tries but IT WORKED!!! THANK YOU everyone for posting this info!! My camera is completely back to normal :)))
Angel on November 21st, 2009 at 9:46 pm | Link
This is fantastic… I hit it really hard and it came back to life!
Rod on December 5th, 2009 at 7:25 pm | Link
Banged it about 10 times. Works now! Thanks all
DoctorGee on December 6th, 2009 at 7:25 pm | Link
wow- it worked! We’d tried compressed air, tapping it gently, and really pounding it on a granite countertop- no go. Then I identified the gap in the lens rings and pushed HARD where the gap was largest- I figured that the camera was ruined anyways, so why not give it one last effort. When I powered it back up, the lens extended out and it now works perfectly. Hooray! Great suggestions.
christie on December 8th, 2009 at 11:56 am | Link
OH MY FREAKING GOD!!!! My SD1100 IS has been sitting in my closet for about 6 months…For some reason I bought a Rebel XSi and thought, what the hell…the SD1100 is junk. Banged the hell out of it with my palm…didnt work…did it on the table and BAM! It opened! Thanks guys!
Brent on December 8th, 2009 at 6:20 pm | Link
how can your post be from july 30, 2010 when it’s only dec 13, 2009?
proof of space people!?!
my camera broke while on my vacation,during this time the lens suddenly jammed its self or something because it says it has a lens error. what can i do to fix it.
ANGEL MONTES on December 21st, 2009 at 4:56 pm | Link
Have Cannon G9 Powershot–lens stuck half way out. Banged hard on palm of my hand. Good Lord it worked–making odd noise when closing. Will bring my Sony too for family Christmas pictures in case Cannon gives out again. Thanks so much
lynsie on December 22nd, 2009 at 10:16 am | Link
I didn’t believe it. But it really worked. We’ll see how long the camera works for… THANKS
G. Su on December 24th, 2009 at 1:23 am | Link
I banged the camera against my hand and it fixed it!!!! Thank you!
Mindy on December 25th, 2009 at 11:13 am | Link
Received SD750 last Christmas from my children - not used all that much. This Christmas gave up on me with Lens error - Lens stayed open and wouldn’t retract. Pushed in hard and it finally retracted but would not come out again. Could not bring myself to hit it but when I read about the cost of fixing and hassle from dealers about returning, gave it a few good hits on a magazine. The lens came out. Amazing. Thanks everyone.
Marg on December 28th, 2009 at 10:27 am | Link
Even I have a SD100 Powershot that was handled very carefully for over a year. A week ago suddenly the screen went black when you switch on the camera. everything seemed to work fine including recording the clicked images with date/time on to memory card except - the image was black. After 3 bangs it started working fine. On enquiring regarding this symptom, I later found that there is an inner lense shutter that somehow failed to open everytime the lens comes out. Reason explained to me was since i keep the camera in my belt pouch for long duration, oil went into its components through sweat. Well, I keep the camera in my handbag now.
Riffy Thomas on December 30th, 2009 at 4:48 am | Link
OMG, i dropped my camera last night, and i got the lens error message, and my canon g9 would not open all the way or close all the way, i was so depressed. this morning i went on this site, and decided, hey if its already broken, why not bang it around to see if it works. IT DID!!!!! im so happy, i can’t believe that it worked! i pretty much dropped it twice on a hard surface, and it works!!!!!!
karafina on January 1st, 2010 at 2:12 pm | Link
You rock - it works! I did try to donate but the link failed …..
Thanks!!!
Shanny on January 2nd, 2010 at 4:15 pm | Link
I cant’ believe it, but banging on my camera fixed the problem!! Crazy!!
lisa r on January 3rd, 2010 at 6:46 pm | Link
I bought my Canon Powershot SX 100IS about a year ago. It worked fine for a year. After that it lens cover won’t open fully. Initially, I thought that it could be due to batteries and replaced them, but it didn’t help. It seems that this problem is in many models of the Canon.
Bob on January 5th, 2010 at 12:22 am | Link
I had a Canon Powershot G9 that had a lens error. I was referred to www.camerasandparts.com and I wound up using them to fix it! I just got my camera back and it’s totally like new. All Serviced too and it works amazing again. That’s a great site if you have a lens error problem on a canon camera. Good luck to everyone with this problem, I’m really glad I have my canon working again
Patsy on January 8th, 2010 at 12:30 am | Link
I have a Canon PowerShot SD600. It fell on the floor while the lens was extended. I got the “lens error, restart camera” message. While reading all of these comments, I thought people were being mean and said bang the **** out of it to damage the camera because it wasn’t their camera. Well, I thought I’d have to buy a new camera because no one will fix it for cheap. I took out the battery and memory card. Charged the battery for 10 minutes then put both back in. That didn’t solve the problem so I banged it on my palm. No good. Gradually I banged it on all sides of the camera on my palm and book. But remember to pressed the power button on after each bang to see if it worked. I got mad and started banging it with the lens facing down on my palm (gradually increasing the pressure of the bang). It retracted and extended. Then I started to lose hope and banged it even harder on my palm with lens facing down. I pressed the power button and BAM! It’s fixed ^_^ It took 30 minutes of hope and banging but now I’m so happy!
Natalie on January 10th, 2010 at 2:45 am | Link
Unbelievable! Canon PowerShot SD1100 IS…. best camera I ever had… but after only 8 mos got the lens error message. I’ve pried it open with fingernails for a couple of months. Now upon reading this string of posts believe I have fixed the problem by pressing gently but firmly on the uneven side of the lens. Thanks so much!
Laura on January 10th, 2010 at 11:12 am | Link
Hurray.. Smacking worked for us on our SD1000 canon camera..
We have given and did a last try before buying the new camera..
Thanks.. it is working fine now..
Tom on January 10th, 2010 at 2:02 pm | Link
Amazing. I had sent our Powershot SD850 back for repair 2x while it was under warranty for exactly this problem. Now it’s out of warranty and Canon wanted $129 to fix it. I rapped the camera three times against my desk and voila — no more lens problem.
David on January 14th, 2010 at 6:02 am | Link
I banged it, and it worked! Praise God!
Ling on January 16th, 2010 at 8:57 pm | Link
Wow, it worked with my sd1000 digital elph! I had tried everything, battery, warm, off and on, I hit the windowsill 3 times with my camera, not too hard as I didn’t want to break it, and what do you know, it turns on and works after with no “lens error, please restart camera”
Cristina on January 21st, 2010 at 5:32 pm | Link
sd1000 bought in summer 2009 and december same year the damn thing not turning on, wtf, it is so expensive should work for a year or so. can anyone help me please?
AoP on January 21st, 2010 at 6:12 pm | Link
Cant believe this. Its actually true. Just banged my powershot AS1000 to the carpeted floor and it worked. No error!!!
tarun on January 22nd, 2010 at 6:25 pm | Link
THANK YOU! It works now. It hadn’t been working for a few days - little did I know it was such an easy fix!
Sarah on January 23rd, 2010 at 10:16 am | Link
Thank you all soooo much! I can’t believe that beating on my G9 would actually fix the lens problem…but it did…and I am so happy!
I don’t know how long it will last…but hey…it’s working now!
Thanks Again!!!!
Annette on January 24th, 2010 at 1:10 am | Link
I can tell you from experience that beating the camera is the worst thing to do. I did that and my lens worked temporarily and now the flash has gone out only a couple of weeks later weeks. Pictures were getting blurry when I developed them and now my lens error is back. I’m getting mine serviced right by a shop. There are a lot of shops out there that do great work, my friend used www.camerasandparts.com and hers came back like new again. I’m using that shop based on her perfect experience but I checked online and there are many more shops out there. Get it done right rather than to have more problems later. Take it from someone who went through this, it just makes more problems when you beat and abuse the camera.
Arthur on January 24th, 2010 at 1:19 am | Link
You may be right that more issues may arise now, but I was kind of at the point that I didn’t want to put out over a hundred dollars to fix the thing. I was thinking I would rather just buy a new one. So hopefully I will get some time out of it still. I hope I get more than a couple of weeks. Time will tell! I think it’s good you posted your experience….for those who are considering having theirs fixed!
Annette on January 24th, 2010 at 1:26 am | Link
I also used camerasandparts.com and mine came back cleaned and serviced and as good as can be. That’s the place to get help with this, Canon has a defect in these cameras as far as I’m concerned. For those who need help with a Canon Powershot problem, go with camerasandparts.com since this is all they do and they really do it well. I am completely satisfied with the way they took care of mine.
Cal on January 24th, 2010 at 11:04 pm | Link
Hello,
I have Canon PSG9 digital still camera bought a year ago and apparently few days ago it fell off the shelf giving an error”Lens error please restart the camera”. I couldn’t think of anything but panic. The warranty period was also over so i thought of giving it to servicing center rather than trying out some stunts on the camera. Now the people from the servicing center says that the lens is damaged and i need to replace it for which it will cost around $200. i dont wanna put in that much and i regret for not going through this site earlier and not trying the so called “banging”technique. Do you’ll think i should get it back from them and try the banging stuff before spending $200? I’m so confused…don’t wanna spend $200. Please help.
AN2010 on January 27th, 2010 at 2:07 am | Link
Don’t pay $200.00 just to fix the lens. By the way, that hitting thing won’t work on a G7 or G9, that’s mostly for the smaller powershots but if it even makes it work, it’s usually temporary and it does more bad to the camera than good. Have you tried camerasandparts.com for help with this? That’s the site that most people use for problems on these powershot cameras. They have a service package on their site and it’s only $89 for everything. With that, you don’t just get the repair, they do all the servicing for the camera too and the shipping back comes included. They also do that correction for the common no power problem that sometimes comes up on these G9’s. Try that site, they’re really great if you have a canon problem. Get it back from that other place and decline their repair, that’s too much when you can get it repaired and serviced for less than half of that elsewhere. good luck
Matt on January 27th, 2010 at 4:12 am | Link
Thank you guys so much!!!! I was going to buy a new camera because my lens was stuck open but then I read this, turned the camera on and banged it twice and the lens went right back in! I’m so happy right now!!!
Hannah G on January 27th, 2010 at 6:51 pm | Link
Thanx Matt and the others for your suggestion….. i did decline them to go ahead and repair it. When i got it back from them i was surprised to find it working with a single bang on its side with my hand of course
. The lens that was earlier jammed and wouldn’t go to and fro actually started working however it still showed that lens error before i could off it completely. With lil more power on and off that lens error also disappeared and i could actually take pics from it again. But as it is said good things dont lasts long. i actually broke the shutter during that hitting but I’m glad that there was no damage to the lens as per the canon service center. I was so disappointed that these people actually quote you a huge servicing amount even without checking out the actual problem. Few days ago i found another repair shop and they said there was some screw missing inside due to which the shutter isn’t working properly. I’m waiting for a final quote from him on the pricing though. But i hope it doesn’t end at $200.
AN2010 on February 1st, 2010 at 11:42 am | Link
Thank you It really works
Vicky on February 3rd, 2010 at 7:41 pm | Link
Thanks, totally worked.
Duncan Beevers on February 4th, 2010 at 1:30 pm | Link
Searched numberous things trying to find a something like this site and just happened on it. Glad I did. I just purchased an A630 on ebay. Seller said only problem is lens is stuck open. As soon as I get it I’ll try your fix.
Pegbigcomplaint on February 9th, 2010 at 6:46 pm | Link
I have had the lens error problem twice now. The first time I took it in to a repair shop and they relaced a gear. They said that this can be caused by a particle of dirt in the gears. A couple of months later the problem hapened again. No success with banging the camera.
chris barratt on February 11th, 2010 at 11:36 am | Link
I got a lens error while taking a picture. The lens was still out. I tried turning the camera on and off for an hour with no luck. However, once I found out that it wasn’t going to be covered under warranty anyway, I LITERALLY banged the bottom side of it on a counter (2 or 3 times). It worked!!!! Lens went back in, camera’s back to regularly scheduled programming: taking pictures successfully!
anonymous on February 11th, 2010 at 8:44 pm | Link
OK - got camera I ordered on ebay. It would not power up and lens was stuck out. Tried the banging trick and it turned on and took one picture. Pushed button but would not turn off right away. AFter 10 sec or so it turned off but now will not turn back on. Tried the banging again but still won’t power up. Any suggestions?
Pegbigcomplaint on February 12th, 2010 at 5:30 am | Link
Holy moly…. I tried over and over again banging it on a table, floor, and into my hand. Lo and behold i did not give up after trying and trying it did not work. But, then I smack it on that lump by the button to take a picture against a wall about three whacks(not soft and not to hard) and whalla it opened up. Thanks for the advice. It actually works.
ocfamily on February 13th, 2010 at 7:12 pm | Link
For the guy that bought that camera on ebay, you should be able to return it to the ebay seller. If you can’t, go to www.camerasandparts.com for help with this. They’re excellent if you need help on a Canon Powershot, that’s just what they do. All the best with it, try that site if you get stuck, that’s where a lot of people go for help with these Canon Powershot’s.
Trent on February 14th, 2010 at 9:34 pm | Link
Yes its real. it worked for me after 5 years of my SD 400 working great, just stopped today for no reason. I take it to the beach alot, so maybe there is sand in it and it just got jammed. Banging the bajingo out of it on a phone book seems to be the way to go! good luck. and i laughed out loud when it worked.
Dan on February 15th, 2010 at 6:23 pm | Link
My 3 year old damaged my canon SD800 lens somehow. The lens won’t go back in place or come out properly. I could still see images that it was aimed at on the screen although they were blurry due to the lens issue. I get that lens error and it shut itself down within a few seconds of trying to so anything with it. When I beat it on my palm and then banged it once on the counter it stopped showing images all together. I’ve got nothing on the screen but blackness now. So banging it seems to have made it worse. Great.
Amy on February 18th, 2010 at 10:23 am | Link
WoW! I banging my Canan SD1100 IS on the desk 3 times and it totally started work again! LOL! modern technology!
Shuantae on February 18th, 2010 at 5:53 pm | Link
You are not going to believe this…I had the lens error, restart camera. I followed your tonge in cheek comment about banging the camera on the table, and now the damn thing works. I cannot believe it. Thanks!!!!!!
Brian Williams on February 19th, 2010 at 1:22 pm | Link
I agree completely with the author. I had a Canon PowerShot 10.0MP Digital Camera until one day i had accidentally dropped the camera from about a foot. I also had the lens error and only had the camera for a month before it broke. Defiantly a disappointment because Ive had other cameras that are very durable except for this canon
Anonymous on February 19th, 2010 at 2:01 pm | Link
Same lens error restart camera for my canon powershot and after debating ways of repair I also stumbled upon this site. And although greatly afraid to try this method after sitting here ticked for awhile decided to bang it softly against my leg and then my hand and then the table and after repeated angles and methods it did start to open and works as it did before. And I sat in my seat jaw-dropped and amazed that this actually worked.
Even though I believe the camera stopped working was because I had gotten water in it from some prick in a parade shooting me with his water gun and after trying to fumble with it and dry the lens while a little drunk and dropping it open….
but Im so relieved now. and only regret not trying this before, when I wanted to take more pictures.
Maralee Violet on February 19th, 2010 at 6:45 pm | Link
It sounds nuts, but tapping the camera against a hard surface after hitting the power button does work. I turned a coaster upside down on my table so that I could bang on the cork side to have a little cushion. I didn’t bang on the lens. Instead I tapped down the side of the camera to the left of the screen (as though you were looking at it to take a picture).
Carl on February 22nd, 2010 at 7:31 pm | Link
Thanks to everyone who has posted here, when the lens on my PowerShot SD870 IS got stuck extended and open, I tried banging the base of the camera against the base of my hand a few times. It worked!
Lisa on February 26th, 2010 at 7:52 am | Link
Ha ha ha… I was trying to gently bang and push the lens of my canon sd1000 (it had stopped working for no reason!) when I got really really mad about having bought such a worthless piece of s**t! So I slammed the fu**er down with all my might on the table! Ans then it worked! Than you for the advice everybody!
Scott on February 26th, 2010 at 6:35 pm | Link
My PowerShot has been banged and dropped a number of times and worked fine. But the time that it sat in the case for over a month and worked fine before that, then it gives me the lens error message. I tried all kinds of things with the lens…holding them shut, open, wiggling them back in place, taking out the batteries, banging it against my hand, whatever. NOTHING worked. My son’s birthday party was today so I tried it again for the hell of it. Nothing. Took out the batteries and put them right back in (done that a million times) and suddenly, it’s working fine again. Great! I’ve missed a ton of priceless shots because my stupid camera wasn’t working. At least it is now, so I suppose I should shut up and be happy. Now I just gotta figure out why my other, older Cannon Power Shot turns red when I take pictures sometimes. Possessed maybe?
Angie on February 28th, 2010 at 8:36 pm | Link
This really works! My canon powershot just stopped working with “Lens error. restart camera.” I read this page and preceded to whack it againt my desk about 20 times. Just as I was going to give up I threw it hard on my kitchen floor and when I tried to retart it worked!!
alicia on March 1st, 2010 at 1:21 pm | Link
Whacking did not fix my 4 day out of warranty Canon Powershot 800 lens error so I took a chance and mailed it to www.camerasandparts.com and for about $80 and two weeks turn around I have it back and it is working great. Amazing customer service with this bunch. Highly recommend them if whacking doesn’t work for you!
Bobbie on March 5th, 2010 at 4:05 pm | Link
Banging it totally worked. Amazing. Let’s see how long it lasts now…
brandon on March 5th, 2010 at 8:53 pm | Link
If the banging trick doesn’t work, PixelsAndSuch.com has some good recommendations on who to buy your new digital camera from.
anonymous on July 30th, 2010 at 9:31 am | Link