Lens not retracting? Please help!

Hi,

I have a Sony Cybershot DSC - P100, which is about 15 months old (about 3 months out of the 1 year warranty period). It has been treated like gold, has never beeen dropped, never carried without a padded case. The last time I used it was 2 nights ago, and since then it has been sitting on my desk, untouched.

Today, I went to turn it on and I got a E:61:100 (I think? or something like that) message flashing up on the screen, so I checked the manual, and it said to press the RESET button, which I did. Reset the time, date etc...It then came up with "Turn the power off and on again", so I did - but when I turn it off, the lens wouldn't retract, so I turned it on again and got "Turn the power off and on again". Tried a few more times, and same problems.

So I went off to a camera store, and the girl looked at it, and said it definitely needs to be sent in for service. The price she estimated was just HUGE, and she quite rightly said that it's almost more worth it to buy a new camera.

Just wondering has anyone else had problems like this before? If so, how did you fix it and approximately how much did it cost? Any suggestions as to what I could do?

Thanks in advance.

Have you tried new batteries by any chance. Try just pushing the lens a little when you switch it off, might need a helping hand.

Contact Sony Australia yourself and get some advice from them. Maybe it is a know problem with the camera and they might fix it even though it is out of warranty. Companies have been known to do this, even in Australia they sometimes are very helpful.

I had a problem with the focusing screen on my Canon EOS film camera, they fixed it no questions asked even though it was past warranty.

Page 104 of the user manual says that the battery might be flatish, recharge it.

The error messages are E:61 and E:91 A camera malfunction that you cannont reverse has occurred. Press the reset button (page 95) located in side the battery/"Memory Stick" cover, then turn the power on again.

Then it says underneath.

If you are unable to solve the problem even after trying the corrective actions a few times, contact your sony dealer or local authorized Sony service facility.

Authorised dealers that might be worth checking out.

http://www.sony.com.au/support/deale...questid=141482

Thanks for your reply Peter. When you suggested the new battery - did you mean like replace the whole battery? Or just give it a charge and see how it goes?

Thanks also for that list of contacts - will give Sony a buzz ASAP.

I mant to recharge the battery, but it is possible the battery it at the end of it's life as well and may not be holding it's charge anymore either.

First recharge the battery.

Second if that doesn't work, would try another new battery that is fully charged.

If not resolved then, Sony.