Lens stays out

usually caused by particles in the lens advance and retraction mechanism.may need cleaning by expert.but first try to GENTLY pull the advanced lense out up to fully out position.note the word GENTLY,otherwise the camera will be ruined.

I found this on cnet.com Hope it helps.

E18 quick fix

I'm sure that every1 looking at this right now would love to be able to do a quick fix for the dreaded E18 error. Well, I have fixed mine several time in less time that it takes to take a picture. So here it is: This error occurs when the lens is "stuck" or not extending "straight". The error can happen in 3 ways: either when the lens wont "come out", or "comes out" and then retracts, or does not retract at all. Mine did all of these at one stage or another.
1) If the lens doesn't extend at all or it extends, but then retracts again, do as follow:
Turn the camera off. Place the camera on it's back with the lens facing up and have a look at the "spacing" between the lens and the lens housing. You'll probably notice that the gap is NOT EVEN all the way around. To fix this, simply -VERY GENTLY- press down on the side where the gap is the biggest. You will hear a "click" as it pops back in place. Try powering it back on.
2) If the lens is extended all the time and won't retract at all, do as follow:
Turn the camera off. Take the camera in one hand and with the other gently, in turn, take the two part of the lens and gently move it round in a circular movement. Do so with both sections of the lens. You will once again hear a little "click" as it pops back in place. Power the camera on.
This has worked for me many times and it seems to happen when the camera has been carried around and possible had a little knock. I hope this is of help to someone else.

Hi,

"E18" indicates an error that involves the lens unit or lens cover in your camera .This error appears where the lens is prevented from properly extending or retracting .The error may also be displayed if the lens camera has been subjected to an external shock, or if a foreign substance (i.e. liquid, sand, dirt) enters the camera.Hold the camera so that your fingers do not touch the lens unit when you are shooting. Make sure the camera is off before the camera is placed back in the case. Exercise caution to ensure that the camera does not accidentally power on while the camera is stored inside the case.If you cannot clear the error code by turning the camera off and then on again, or if the error code is displayed frequently, a camera malfunction may have occurred and might require service from canon. Or else try pressing the power button on and held it down while extending the zoom lens. The lens will extend out and the camera will be freed from the error.

Thank you !!

Hello there,
The E18 error is related to the LENS not able to retract fully. If it is still under warranty, I would advise you bring it to the nearest service center. This is to avoid further damages. Otherwise, you can try a few things below.
There are a couple of things you can do.
1. Turn it on and then off. Spray canned air around the lens.
If trick 1 will not work out, try this.
2. Make sure the battery is fully charged. Turn on the camera and then give it a couple of firm whacks on the side. Make sure nothing is blocking the lens and wait for it to fully retract.
Let me know how it goes.

Hello there,
The E18 error is related to the LENS not able to retract fully. If it is still under warranty, I would advise you bring it to the nearest service center. This is to avoid further damages. Otherwise, you can try a few things below.
There are a couple of things you can do.
1. Turn it on and then off. Spray canned air around the lens.
If trick 1 will not work out, try this.
2. Make sure the battery is fully charged. Turn on the camera and then give it a couple of firm whacks on the side. Make sure nothing is blocking the lens and wait for it to fully retract.
Let me know how it goes.

Hello there,
The E18 error is related to the LENS not able to retract fully. If it is still under warranty, I would advise you bring it to the nearest service center. This is to avoid further damages. Otherwise, you can try a few things below.
There are a couple of things you can do.
1. Turn it on and then off. Spray canned air around the lens.
If trick 1 will not work out, try this.
2. Make sure the battery is fully charged. Turn on the camera and then give it a couple of firm whacks on the side. Make sure nothing is blocking the lens and wait for it to fully retract.
Let me know how it goes.

Canon Powershot's error E18 has to do with the lens:
If it appears on a black LCD with E18 written on the corner, it is mostly due to the lens getting stuck while trying to extend. The camera will beep a few times and the LCD will display a little E18 in the lower-left corner. The lens gets stuck in the extended position, and refuses to move either to focus the lens or to retract when powered off.
I am giving below a link which will help you with E18 problem.

http://www.e18error.com/repair.html

Hope this helps, let me know if you have a proble.

You can Try the following also;
Remove the batteries from the camera, wait a few minutes. Put a fully charged batteries back in and turn the camera on. if it doesnot work then,

2: Remove the batteries again, as also remove the memory card. Then install the newly charged batteries, when you turn it on it should come back to life.
3: Insert the cameras Audio/Video (AV) cable, and turn the camera on. Inserting this cable ensures that the camera's LCD screen remains off during the start process. Thus extra battery power is available to the camera's lens motor during start up. This extra power can be useful to overcome any grit or sand particles that may be jamming the lens.
4: Place the camera flat on its back on a table, pointed at the ceiling. Press and hold the shutter button down, and at the same time press the power-on button. The idea is that the camera will try to autofocus while the lens is extending, hopefully seating the lens barrel guide pins in their slots.

Try the above and let me if its any help.
Please do rate and thanks for using FixYa and Best fo luck to get you camera out of E18!

Lens errors (E18 errors on Canons) are fairly common. Usually it's sand or grit interfering with the lens extension mechanism. Or the camera's been dropped with the lens extended. Or the camera has been powered on, but the lens had been blocked preventing its extension. Or the battery ran down with the lens extended ...

Here's some things that you can do to try to correct it. They only seem to work for less than 50% of the lens errors, but if the camera is out of warranty, they're worth a try:

http://camerarepair.blogspot.com/2007/12/fixing-lens-error-on-digital-camera.html

Hello there,
The E18 error is related to the LENS not able to retract fully. If it is still under warranty, I would advise you bring it to the nearest service center. This is to avoid further damages. Otherwise, you can try a few things below.
There are a couple of things you can do.
1. Turn it on and then off. Spray canned air around the lens.
If trick 1 will not work out, try this.
2. Make sure the battery is fully charged. Turn on the camera and then give it a couple of firm whacks on the side. Make sure nothing is blocking the lens and wait for it to fully retract.
Let me know how it goes.

I like Google. In an attempt to find a solution for this same problem, I stumbled upon this site. Seeing as this was posted months ago, I'm not sure if this will be checked again, but it can't hurt to have a suggestion, just in case it turns out to be right. Without opening the camera for sure, what I can tell is that the lens extends and retracts by rotating. Essentially, the lens is a series of threaded cylinders that, when turned one way, move outwards, and when turned the other way, move inwards. What you're describing, especially the bit about the clicking, sounds like this threaded bit of the lens casing has come either off-track, or snapped, or something to that effect. I would suggest (if you're feeling secure in your abilities) taking the device apart and getting a good idea of exactly how the lens retracts and extends. Once you've determined this, you may simply be able to reason what would stop it from moving. I can almost guarantee that if the lens is designed to extend upon power-up and retract upon power-down, then an attempted power-up would be aborted if the lens can not extend. I might be losing the focus a tiny bit, but the idea is that essentially the lens will not screw in or out because it's either jammed, or cracked, or just off its track somehow. This can easily happen if the camera is dropped or jostled just hard enough. So my solution, if you can consider it that, is to disassemble the camera to see whether the threads are just off-track, or if there's some sort of mechanical breakage inside. If it's the former, then it may be as simple as realigning the threads. If it's the latter, the cheapest solution would be to find another of the same camera on eBay that is broken in a different fashion, then use the part(s) that you need to get yours working again. I hope this helps someone!