Zoom lens wont close

See http://www.fixya.com/support/r13011856-lens_error

See http://www.fixya.com/support/r13011856-lens_error

Put a freshly charged battery in the camera. Lay it on its back on a firm smooth surface with a cloth between the camera and the surface. Hold the zoom button in and while holding it in, turn the power on the camera. If the lens moves tun the camera so the lens points down and continue to zoom in and out. That may free some grit or dirt wedging the lens in place. If that doesn't clear the trouble, look closely at the lens and the way it sits in the camera housing. Check to see if the gap around the lens is even. If it is not, gently apply pressure with your hand in the direction of the widest gap. Listen closely for a light snap. If you hear one, the adds are the guid pins snapped back in place and you may now try the zoom. If all this fails there is one more thing to try, but it may result in further damage. if you will probably trash the camera otherwise, try this. Remove the battery. Holding the camera firmly by the edges with one hand with the lens down, slap the camera into your cupped opposite hand several times. Replace the battery and try the zoom. If the zoom works this time, with the lens pointing down, zoom the lens in and out several times to try to let the grit or dirt jamming the lens drop out.

Hi,
Do you mean the lens cover on the end of the lens Is not opening properly, or the shutter inside the lens?

Same problem. The lens is stuck in the zoom position. When the camera is turned on, the lens moves a just afraction like it want to fully open or close, then the camera beeps and prompts with the "Lens Error" Restart Camera. Solutions?

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

I had sent my camera in for the same issue and they did nothing to help with it. Seems to happen when battery gets low or dies, lack of on-screen battery meter doesn't help. Typically have to manually twist the lens to close it or open it after fresh batteries installed and then seem to fix it.

BobbieJo ; just make sure your battries are full charge .

if you spill any thing, like a soft drink,tea,coffee,etc. anywhere around the camera, when the lens barrel is open, it will cause it to stick when it is closed. so when it dries, you are stuck. put fresh batteries in, and with a rubber mallet, lightly tap on the face of the lens, when the camera is powering-up. do not hit it hard. after two taps, my camera lens opened up. you can clean the barrel with some wd-40, with a q-tip swab. use very sparingly. and next time, be very careful where you lay-down your camera. you never know......

Mine shuts off when I press the shutter button. I put in new batteries and I can get the lens in then. But it shuts off when I try to take a picture. These cameras are notorious for having a zoom problem. They say the Zoom error appears and the camera dies. There is a fix of gently pulling the lens out all the way till the cover open then twisting it gently clock wise till it clicks. They say this fixes this problem but I don't think that is what is wrong with mine. Do a search on Fuji E550 zoom problem fix. It should show up.