Zoom Hi My c 8080 was dropped on the grass out side and landed on the edge of the lens it now makes a grinding noise when you use the zoom and you have to help move it either in or out. Can you help please Mark.

It sounds like some part of the power zoom mechanism has failed. It could be repairable but with the age of the camera I doubt it would be worth it- something else may fail and a newer camera would also provide improved image quality.

sand or dirt may get inside your lens or may be you or or someone drop it. send to nikon for cleaning cost 50-70 bucks.

The grinding noise is the zoom head trying to match the focal length of your lens. A brand new one should NOT grind. It should be silent. It sounds like you got the one that fell off the pallet during shipping. Exchange it for another one.

yes dust in mechanism or broken gear but ti not easy

Have you tried manually trying to pull out the part that is pushed in?

in any case where the lens makes a grinding noise, something is in the channel and causing the lens to not extend all the way... you will need to send to a repair shop

I had this problem and managed to fix it. The camera was dropped on a stone floor and the zoom error was present every time it was turned on. A ring or other piece of the lens was bent or damaged, in my non professional opinion. A profesional repair is my advice. However you may try my fix at YOUR OWN RISK.

Switch camera on, when zoom extends, but before it closes down due to zoom error, gently but firmly push lens back in. Drop batteries for camera to reset itself. Repeat, if necessary.

My camera now operates fully and when the lens extends it now no longer makes the slight grinding noise.

Good luck and remember at your own risk.

It may have jumped a tooth, something like a car timing chain. The Zoom in this camera is a barrel that has 3 cams that rides inside another barrel that has "tracks" for the cams. The motor rotates the the outer barrel via gear teeth, forcing the inner barrel to extend or retract. There is a tab on the gear teeth that might index the position of the zoom lens. If this tab is in the wrong position, if the gear jumped a few teeth, the camera may not know where the zoom lens is in relation to the inner focusing lens, and cause the "zoom error" If that is the case, I can help you get it back into position. This is a theory, but does explain the tab on the gear and the constant zooming.

well i had the same issue and i just slammed it (carefully of course) on the desk and it started working.... does it still zoom or does it just click and grind? also try zooming in and turning the lens faster outward or the oppsite direction to see if you can jump it back into the correct place on the gears.... my best guess is that it got dropped or the kids sat on it... and it made the gears slip into a bad place....

Lee
Founder Of Free Tech Associates
www.whypayforhelp.org

If you can get to the ribbon cable that the zoom lever is attached to, you can use a multimeter or a continuity tester to see if the lever is actually shorting any traces on the ribbon. the zoom lever acts upon a motor that rotates the iner lens barrel, possible the motor lead is open or the switch under the lever is dirty/faulty.