My camera stopped working suddenly. When I turn it on the lens opens then closes, opens, closes, etc. There will be a message that says to turn the camera off and then on again, but the same thing keeps happening. It is a Sony Cybershot DSC-W80, only two years old. Any suggestions?
Hi,
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. If the camera is still under warranty, before trying any of these, please please first contact your camera's maker to see if they'll cover the repair, or to determine how much they'll charge for the repair. Who knows, you might get lucky. But if they quote you a number that's higher than the value of your camera, you may want to consider the following methods.
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.
Blow compressed air in the gaps around the lens barrels with the idea of blowing out any sand or grit that may be in there jamming the lens. Other variations include blowing with a hair dryer in “no heat” setting, or sucking the gaps with a vacuum (careful with this one).
Thank you!
Testimonial: "Thanks for the feedback! I tried this and another solution I had found, and it now works!"
I had the same problem. It had happened to me once before, but it eventually worked when I went to a different setting like the camcorder. This time, though, it didn't seem to want to stop. It kept opening, closing, opening, closing, etc. and would eventually tell me to turn the power off and back on. What I did to correct this was I set the camera on the table facing up, turned it on, and as it kept opening and closing, I used a vacuum extension to vacuum the lens and all of the layers on it, along with the buttons on the top and underneath. My camera now works fine! I suggest this to anyone before they take it into someone and pay money to get it looked at. (:
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