I have a Panasonic Lumix DMC-LZ1. It's in good condition except for this - when you turn it on, the lens tries to focus but just ends up moving back and forth (leaving the image on the LCD blurry) and then a message tells me to turn the camera off and on again. Doing so, of course, repeats the problem. What's wrong? Is it worth getting it fixed? It's not the battery - and yes, of course it needs to be repaired. Come on, can't someone give me a better answer than that??
It's the lens that's the problem, but is there a specific fix/a reason why it does that? The problem with the lenses in point and shoot cameras is that they tend to be built to relatively close tolerances and the motors that they use to drive them tend to be rather weak to conserve battery power.
That combination works very well until something goes wrong. The most common cause of your problem could be a simple speck of dust somewhere in the mechanism. That's all it would take. It could be that the lense never actually extends all the way to focus on your subject and as a result the camera keeps hunting for the focus.
The advice the camera gives you is sound even if it does sound dumb. Sometimes by turning it on and off a few times whatever is causing the jam clears and the camera's fine again. I had a Sony P&S some years back where sometimes the lens wouldn't fully open. Turning the camera on and off a few times usually cleared the problem for a while.
If you can get it to stay open and steady for a while, have a look at the lens barrel. If there are scratches on it, you probably do have a dust spec or a grain of sand inside. If it's clean and dust free that doesn't mean it's not dust but alas, there's no way to prove it.
I'd charge up my batteries fully and then use them to turn the camera on and off a few times. If this clears the problem you'll be ok for a while but the problem will likely return again later. If it doesn't clear the problem you may be in for a repair.
Should it be fixed? Probably not. Look at the cost of a comparable camera at the moment. If the cost of repair is half that cost chances are it makes more sense to repalce it. Similarly if you've had the camera for a few years and have run a few thousand imges through it, even below half the cost it may not be worth fixing. I find I burn out P&S cameras after about ten thousand images, or at least I used to, at the moment I have a Canon P&S that seems incredibly durable. If you've done a lot of pictures it may not survive much longer anyway even if you do get it fixed.
If the cost is below half the value of a new one, it may be worth it (assuming you've not used it a lot over the time you've owned it). And if you do get it fixed, make sure they tell you exactly what went wrong.
If it's the camera's fault (popped a chip or something) that's fine, write that off to hard luck, things do break once in a while. But if it was dust or sand, ask them how to prevent that from happening again and then take appropriate action so that you won't get the problem back later with this or a later camera.
I hope that helps a little. probably the battery. take battery out and clean both ends, reinsert and see if that helps. if not buy another battery. remember to take old battery with you when you go shopping. it needs repaired |
