Is My Camera Okay?

[Freak4Dell]

I have a Sony Cyber-Shot DSC-W80. I left it in my backpack over the Thanksgiving weekend because I was going to charge the battery and coping some pictures to my computer. I ended up forgetting about it, and when I pulled it out the next Monday, the lens was sticking out, and the shutter was open. The battery was dead, so I couldn't get it to close back up. I charged the battery and then turned the camera on and off again, and it closed properly. Now I hear a louder sound than usual whenever the lens comes out or goes back in. It seems to take pictures okay, but I just want to be sure nothing's wrong.

[Canuck935]

Perhaps the lens got subjected to impact or other forces while it was extended in your backpack. It may be slightly skewed or out of alignment somehow, thus causing the extra noise when it's trying to operate. You may want to contact Sony or an authorized repair shop about the issue.

[NoKnees]

Yep, hard to say what the issue is. If it was open for a period of time, it might just be some minor dust or debris in the zoom mechanism causing the issue, or as bad as an impact that caused an alignment issue.

How do the photos look? Focus still seem okay? Try to take a shot of a well lit, very detailed, but flat object. A good test piece is a brick wall. Make sure you are facing it perfectly perpendicular, so you are looking at it straight on. Take a couple shots throughout your full zoom range. Compare sharpness/detail in the middle to the corners on all shots. It's typical for a zoom camera to be a little softer in the corners than the middle when at either extreme, fully zoomed, or fully wide open. Other than that, you should see little difference if the lens is healthy... If you see some major differences, then you may have a problem worth checking out.

Good luck!