Canon A550 and A560 have the same body and most of the internal parts, including lens assembly are the same. Canon won't sell individual parts within the lens assembly. There could be two possiblities. One is (unlikely) that the lens assembly components have been knocked off from their position. The other is that because of a knock, or dropping the camera, the gears in the gearbox of the lens assembly are broken. These gears are the same as the ones in A530/A540, and are available from ebay for $12.50 including shipping. Checkout my site for how to open up the camera and the lens assembly to replace these:
http://pkrobot.freehostia.com/MiscElectronics2.htm
For A550 and A560, if you take it to the professional repair shop, it might not be cost effective, since it might cost around $90. Canon does not sell gears, so they might have to replace the entire lens assembly. The new camera is available these days for around $140.
Lens will not retract. When powered up, I receive the "lens error restart camera" screen and then it automatically shuts off.
I as well have recently dropped my camera and I am receiving the same screen message. The Camera only turns off when I try to focus the camera or take a picture. The lens is all blurry as well. I think the camera needs to be taken in to re-align the lens and re-focus it, but I am not completely sure. I hope the problem can be easily fixed because I am in Europe for the year and have no access to my camera warranty.
camera says lens error restart camera
×