Canon's dreaded "E18 error"

[Gilligan]

I am on the verge of finally upgrading from my Oly C4000Z to the Canon G10 but I am seeing lots of blogs on Canons lens retracting and extracting problems ending up with a non-functional camera showing an "E18 error" on the monitor.

Some of the sites addressing this are:
Canon e18 / Lens Error Experiences
Amazon.com: Customer Discussions: Beware the fatal "Lens Error" that renders this camera unusable if you are unlucky
Digital Camera Disasters: Will Yours Get Fixed? - PC World

Apparently there is a class action lawsuit against Canon!
Canon Named in Class Action Suit

Replies anyone?

 

[acooper]

Interesting that this is the first time I had heard the problem was widespread. Interesting because I had the problem occur about four months into my G9 ownership. I had done nothing to the camera, the lens just failed to deploy when I went to use it. When looking into the lens you could see something that had gone askew around the aperture stop.

Canon fixed the camera under warranty without argument, just out the camera for a couple weeks.

 

[Gilligan]

Interesting that this is the first time I had heard the problem was widespread. Interesting because I had the problem occur about four months into my G9 ownership. I had done nothing to the camera, the lens just failed to deploy when I went to use it. When looking into the lens you could see something that had gone askew around the aperture stop.

Canon fixed the camera under warranty without argument, just out the camera for a couple weeks.

My biggest concern about buying the G10 is when I go back to the Philippines in Jan or Feb 09. If the camera dies from this problem I am left with no underwater camera.

 

[MarkH]

I know 2 people with Canon point-and-shoots (not the G-series) that had the same problem. One of them had the lens stuck on zoom after only the second time he used it.

 

[emoreira]

From what I've read in the URLs mentioned, the problem arises mostly when the camera is turned on and the lens cannot fully extend. This causes the extension mechanism to stuck. This can also happen when the lens extension mechanism has dirt (sand or salt water came in).
This can happen, for example, if the camera is accidentaly turned on inside the travel case.
Perhaps a way to prevent this is to store the camera without the batteries. The power button is very handy and can be pushed accidentaly inside a soft case.

 

[Gilligan]

From what I've read in the URLs mentioned, the problem arises mostly when the camera is turned on and the lens cannot fully extend. This causes the extension mechanism to stuck. This can also happen when the lens extension mechanism has dirt (sand or salt water came in).
This can happen, for example, if the camera is accidentaly turned on inside the travel case.
Perhaps a way to prevent this is to store the camera without the batteries. The power button is very handy and can be pushed accidentaly inside a soft case.

From all that I have read so far, especially the class action lawsuit, it would appear that Canon has a serious mechanical lens problem with a high number of different model cameras and don't want to address it for whatever the reason(s)

My Olympus C4000Z is about 5 years old and I can't even begin to estimate the number of times the lens as moved in and out!

 

[emoreira]

From all that I have read so far, especially the class action lawsuit, it would appear that Canon has a serious mechanical lens problem with a high number of different model cameras and don't want to address it for whatever the reason(s)

My Olympus C4000Z is about 5 years old and I can't even begin to estimate the number of times the lens as moved in and out!

I've bought in 1993 a Nikon TW Zoom 35-80 P&S film camera with lots of electronics. A wonderful camera. It also had a lens extension mechanism. It's still usable though the film is now a nightmare compared to digital cameras. I've been using this camera until 2004 when I bought my first "serious" digital camera, a Minolta Dimage 7.
The power buttom is in fact a slide knob, so the possibilities to turn it on accidentally inside a soft case are remote.
The Minolta power is a rotary dialer, though there is no lens extension mechanism what so ever.

 

[DennisW]

Jim,

I don't know about the Canon, but last June when I was in Saba, I fell while on a trail and landed on my C4000 while the lens was extended. I thought I had broken my camera for sure. The lens was crooked and the camera kept trying to pull in the lens. So, I wiped off the camera and straightened the lens. It still would not go back in, so I pushed it in and turned off the camera. I thought, well, I should be able to get the pictures off of it when I get home. After getting back home, I turned on the camera, the lens extended and it has worked fine since then. It's a damn good camera. My next one will likely be a DSLR of some make, I haven't thought about it much yet.

 

[orangelion03]

I had a similar problem with my A95, but it stopped after I removed the plastic adapter ring cover.

 

[emoreira]

Just an idea, I store my A570IS in a soft case. To avoid breaking the extension mechanism in the event it is turned on accidentaly inside the case, the camera can be stored in the play mode, so, if it's turned on accidentaly inside the case, the lens extension mechanism is not activated and no harm is done to it.