Before you disassemble your camera try the following: [1] With the camera switched off slide the 'Zoom lever' to the right (T) position and hold down the 'Shutter' button for a few seconds then switch the camera on. You need to still be holding the 'Zoom lever' and 'Shutter' button. This seems to force reset the zoom to full extent. Then switch off the camera, the zoom may stay fully extended. Try cleaning the outside of the lens barrels to make sure there is no dirt on them. [2] Then With the camera switched off slide the 'Zoom lever' to the left (W) position and hold down the 'Shutter' button for a few seconds then switch the camera on. You need to still be holding the 'Zoom lever' and 'Shutter' button. This seems to force reset the zoom to minimum extent. Then switch the camera off. Hopefully the camera is now in is normal closed off position. Switch the camera on and it should be operating normally. If not repeat the above a couple of times.
FANTASTIC. YOU ARE A GENIUS. IT WORKED - I tried - Then With the camera switched off slide the 'Zoom lever' to the left (W) position and hold down the 'Shutter' button for a few seconds then switch the camera on. You need to still be holding the 'Zoom lever' and 'Shutter' button. BINGO - IT WORKED . THANKS DUDE
oh my you are a genius thank you so much grey , my camera is now fixed , my zoom kept doing what was in this video , but i have a panasonic lumix DMC-TZ3O and hasnt worked for a while all good now thanks to your advice :)
Thank you so much Gray, this fixed my camera first time. I was assessing the worth of repairs or replacement when I decided to check the internet. So glad I did! :)
Thank you for the tip of sliding the zoom lever to the right and switching the camera on while still holding the lever. It worked for me. You have to try it several times though to loosen up the zoom system. Now, it functions again. You have saved me the costs of a new camera.
Thank you so much Thyagarajan Paramasivan. I tried this, and indeed, it worked! Thank you for your research! I really did not want to part with this camera ; despite this being the 2nd time exactly the same trouble with 2 Lumix cameras. The first time it was fixed under warranty, this time it is out of warranty. Here in Oz, labour is so expensive that camera stores suggest replacement as the labour cost to fix, wouldn't be worth it. Now it is fixed, thanks again. Regards Sarah Thyagarajan Paramasivan 3 months ago (edited) With the camera switched off slide the 'Zoom lever' to the right (T) position and hold down the 'Shutter' button for a few seconds then switch the camera on. You need to still be holding the lever. Voila . It solves the problem Yes, this really worked. Thank God I searched the net and did not open the camera .
I had a brand new ZS3 that one time fell on the ground (lens was closed). From that point it would take blurry pictures. I set it aside until today. I want to fix it. Something rattles inside, any idea how to fix it?
Tried all these solutions but still couldn't get the problem to go away. Didn't feel like taking the camera apart so tried only other solution I could think of. Managed to get the lens barrel fully extended and then applied a TINY bit of silicone lubricant onto barrel with a cotton bud. I know cameras and oil aren't a good combination but so far the problem appears to have gone away.
Same error, no water issue. I pressed down on the left side of the movable lens barrel (the part that moves in and out, turned on the camera, and all was OK again. Must have been stuck a little. Try this before you take your camera apart.
I tried all these suggestion on a ZS20 also, couldnt get the lense to zoom or move at all.Tried the hold button/turn on thing on all the buttons, nothing. Still has the same error. Any other ideas?
We had the same error on a different model of Panasonic and managed to sort it by moving the mode dial into a different position and then VERY quickly moved the on/off slider. It switched off before it displayed the error message in the new mode.
I am really hoping this works! I love my little camera. :o( And I'm with pa ma, the music made it hard to focus. I would have rather had your voice teaching us how to do it. Anyway, thanks for taking the time to do this and share your smarts. :o)
They don't make little cameras with GPS anymore, so I HAVE to stick with this older model (yes, I've written to the camera makers, people doing citizen science NEED GPS in their cameras). My camera did not get wet. Failed temporarily once before finally failing altogether. Interestingly, if I plug the camera into the computer, it opens and closes the lens without any problem whatsoever. So, I question that it would be anything mechanical. I've tried Gray's tip several times and it just behaves the same as it does when I'm not manipulating the lever/button. I will break down and open this camera up (or maybe just try forcing it the way one person suggested) because at this point, what have I got to lose? Fortunately, it so happens that I had just ordered a "new" used one of this model b/c I wanted to be sure to get one while I still could, since I had the temporary scare the other day. Either way, I should have a working camera, but I sure would rather get this one working again and reserve the "new" one for when after getting every bit of life out of this one that I can.
I have the Panasonic Lumix DMC-FH2. Someone drop it on the floor and the lens got some ding here there on the lens and also system error. The lens will not come out when power on. I use a knife to slide round the gap on the front of the len to make sure nothing is blocking the lens from opening. Wow-la, the lens open up fine now and back to normal operation. Hope this help someone out there,
I had witn TZ31 exactly same error during travelling. Witch on-off did not help, touching zoom did not help. But what helped for me ? I switched ON. Then removed battery, and put battery back, removed again and inserted battery back again and voila, suddenly problem dissapeared. Didnt need to open camera at all.
I didnt get my camera wet it just broke whilst i was deleting alot of pictures - i tried Gray's way...see comment below & it worked, so try that way first.
So I'm kind of sad right now because I have a different model and it looked totally different when I opened it up. I was only able to blow dry the front a bit, but I couldn't zoom it in and out at all. We'll see in 24 hours. :o( (model dmc-zs20)
Kristi - Try to rotate the mode dial and the zoom in/out to see if it moves. I think there is something prevents the zoom motor from moving in/out completely. If you can extend the zoom motor out fully, then it resets the camera electronics and it will work. I'm changing the music... You can also mute the music. Thanks,
3dogs1monkey Your music is NOT a big deal! :o) I tried what you said. Thanks so much for replying! It still won't extend the zoom. I'm sure there is something I am missing on the front by the zoom lens. :o(
With the camera switched off slide the 'Zoom lever' to the right (T) position and hold down the 'Shutter' button for a few seconds then switch the camera on. You need to still be holding the lever. Voila . It solves the problem Yes, this really worked. Thank God I searched the net and did not open the camera .
Before you disassemble your camera try the following:
[1] With the camera switched off slide the 'Zoom lever' to the right (T) position and hold down the 'Shutter' button for a few seconds then switch the camera on. You need to still be holding the 'Zoom lever' and 'Shutter' button.
This seems to force reset the zoom to full extent. Then switch off the camera, the zoom may stay fully extended. Try cleaning the outside of the lens barrels to make sure there is no dirt on them.
[2] Then With the camera switched off slide the 'Zoom lever' to the left (W) position and hold down the 'Shutter' button for a few seconds then switch the camera on. You need to still be holding the 'Zoom lever' and 'Shutter' button.
This seems to force reset the zoom to minimum extent. Then switch the camera off.
Hopefully the camera is now in is normal closed off position. Switch the camera on and it should be operating normally. If not repeat the above a couple of times.
OMG you're a genius! I was not going to attempt take my camera apart so i tried this & i worked! thank you so much
FANTASTIC. YOU ARE A GENIUS. IT WORKED - I tried - Then With the camera switched off slide the 'Zoom lever' to the left (W) position and hold down the 'Shutter' button for a few seconds then switch the camera on. You need to still be holding the 'Zoom lever' and 'Shutter' button. BINGO - IT WORKED . THANKS DUDE
Works perfectly now. Thanks!
oh my you are a genius thank you so much grey , my camera is now fixed , my zoom kept doing what was in this video , but i have a panasonic lumix DMC-TZ3O and hasnt worked for a while all good now thanks to your advice :)
Thank you so much Gray, this fixed my camera first time. I was assessing the worth of repairs or replacement when I decided to check the internet. So glad I did! :)
Thank you for the tip of sliding the zoom lever to the right and switching the camera on while still holding the lever. It worked for me. You have to try it several times though to loosen up the zoom system. Now, it functions again. You have saved me the costs of a new camera.
Thank you so much Thyagarajan Paramasivan. I tried this, and indeed, it worked! Thank you for your research! I really did not want to part with this camera ; despite this being the 2nd time exactly the same trouble with 2 Lumix cameras. The first time it was fixed under warranty, this time it is out of warranty. Here in Oz, labour is so expensive that camera stores suggest replacement as the labour cost to fix, wouldn't be worth it. Now it is fixed, thanks again. Regards Sarah
Thyagarajan Paramasivan 3 months ago (edited)
With the camera switched off slide the 'Zoom lever' to the right (T) position and hold down the 'Shutter' button for a few seconds then switch the camera on. You need to still be holding the lever. Voila . It solves the problem Yes, this really worked. Thank God I searched the net and did not open the camera .
I didn't drop my camera in the water either but Gray's 2 step solution worked for me also. Try this before disassembling your camera
IN FACT,THANKS TO GOOGLE, i COULD SOLVE MY PROBLEM IN ONE TRY AND LESS THAN A MINUTE. Mr. GRAY , HATS OFF TO YOU . GREAT
This worked - Thanks so much. Love this camera and hated to part with it.
Try gently forcing the lens. Twist them around, push on them, very very gently. It worked for me.
Hate the music. OMG
I had a brand new ZS3 that one time fell on the ground (lens was closed). From that point it would take blurry pictures. I set it aside until today. I want to fix it. Something rattles inside, any idea how to fix it?
Tried all these solutions but still couldn't get the problem to go away. Didn't feel like taking the camera apart so tried only other solution I could think of. Managed to get the lens barrel fully extended and then applied a TINY bit of silicone lubricant onto barrel with a cotton bud. I know cameras and oil aren't a good combination but so far the problem appears to have gone away.
Same error, no water issue.
I pressed down on the left side of the movable lens barrel (the part that moves in and out, turned on the camera, and all was OK again.
Must have been stuck a little.
Try this before you take your camera apart.
+Peter Lech Thank you very very much, it worked
I tried all these suggestion on a ZS20 also, couldnt get the lense to zoom or move at all.Tried the hold button/turn on thing on all the buttons, nothing. Still has the same error. Any other ideas?
We had the same error on a different model of Panasonic and managed to sort it by moving the mode dial into a different position and then VERY quickly moved the on/off slider. It switched off before it displayed the error message in the new mode.
I am really hoping this works! I love my little camera. :o( And I'm with pa ma, the music made it hard to focus. I would have rather had your voice teaching us how to do it. Anyway, thanks for taking the time to do this and share your smarts. :o)
They don't make little cameras with GPS anymore, so I HAVE to stick with this older model (yes, I've written to the camera makers, people doing citizen science NEED GPS in their cameras).
My camera did not get wet. Failed temporarily once before finally failing altogether. Interestingly, if I plug the camera into the computer, it opens and closes the lens without any problem whatsoever. So, I question that it would be anything mechanical. I've tried Gray's tip several times and it just behaves the same as it does when I'm not manipulating the lever/button. I will break down and open this camera up (or maybe just try forcing it the way one person suggested) because at this point, what have I got to lose?
Fortunately, it so happens that I had just ordered a "new" used one of this model b/c I wanted to be sure to get one while I still could, since I had the temporary scare the other day. Either way, I should have a working camera, but I sure would rather get this one working again and reserve the "new" one for when after getting every bit of life out of this one that I can.
I have the Panasonic Lumix DMC-FH2. Someone drop it on the floor and the lens got some ding here there on the lens and also system error. The lens will not come out when power on. I use a knife to slide round the gap on the front of the len to make sure nothing is blocking the lens from opening. Wow-la, the lens open up fine now and back to normal operation. Hope this help someone out there,
I had witn TZ31 exactly same error during travelling. Witch on-off did not help, touching zoom did not help.
But what helped for me ? I switched ON. Then removed battery, and put battery back, removed again and inserted battery back again and voila, suddenly problem dissapeared. Didnt need to open camera at all.
I didn't drop my camera in the water either but Gray's way worked for me. Try this before disassembling your camera
Thanks for the great video tip! ... and that was great background music!
I didnt get my camera wet it just broke whilst i was deleting alot of pictures - i tried Gray's way...see comment below & it worked, so try that way first.
wich screwdriver did you used?
Just a cheap mini driver set from harbor freight or any dollar store...
So I'm kind of sad right now because I have a different model and it looked totally different when I opened it up. I was only able to blow dry the front a bit, but I couldn't zoom it in and out at all. We'll see in 24 hours. :o( (model dmc-zs20)
Kristi - Try to rotate the mode dial and the zoom in/out to see if it moves. I think there is something prevents the zoom motor from moving in/out completely. If you can extend the zoom motor out fully, then it resets the camera electronics and it will work. I'm changing the music... You can also mute the music. Thanks,
3dogs1monkey
Your music is NOT a big deal! :o) I tried what you said. Thanks so much for replying! It still won't extend the zoom. I'm sure there is something I am missing on the front by the zoom lens. :o(
What is that horrible noise?
With the camera switched off slide the 'Zoom lever' to the right (T) position and hold down the 'Shutter' button for a few seconds then switch the camera on. You need to still be holding the lever. Voila . It solves the problem Yes, this really worked. Thank God I searched the net and did not open the camera .
Use your words.
Oh. My camera is waterproof :(
couldn't you just leave it in a bag of rice for a week?