Panasonic Lumix DMC-TZ55 freezes on shutter release

Question

I bought a Panasonic Lumix DMC-TZ55 last year for my vacation to Florida. It is now out of warranty. It worked as expected before, during and for some time after my vacation.

I experienced no issues with the camera until about a month ago after about 5 months of storage when I noticed the lens would sometimes get stuck, and it would extend and retract about three times before being able to use the camera. At this stage, it would still capture pictures and video.

Moving on about a week later, I took a picture and the camera just locked up. I had to remove the battery before I could get the camera to respond. I checked the storage, and the picture had not been stored. This now happens every time I attempt to capture a picture or record video.

I have searched on Google for any similar incidents, however I have found none and I am a bit miffed about having spent over £100 on a supposedly reputable camera for it to fail 12 months later. Interestingly, a relation has the older version of this camera for nearly three years, and has had no issues at all.

At the moment, I am unsure whether this is software or hardware related, however given the lens issue I have a feeling it's hardware related.

Could anyone give any advice on an attempt to fix this issue without having to go through an expensive repair?

Answer 1

S. I worked in a camera store for many years. I worked on many brands with lots of issues. First off I can't see the camera..."in action", so this is my best educated stab in the dark.

I don't believe you have any debris in he lens. The reason is that the lens won't close when it powers down or want to move at all when you do get a obstruction in the lens path. Don't poke or pick at the lens, they won't benefit and you can cause more harm then good if you knock the lens out of gear or out of alignment! It sounds like it's not stuck in one place, correct. If it is stuck in one place it's the lens that is wearing out the battery by trying to get free.

Do you have TWO Batteries? Try the other one.

One big problem with the little cameras that have long lens' is their short battery life and total recharges they will take. How many pictures have you taken in the time you've owned this camera? When you turn on the power many cameras might cycle out and back to get ready to shoot. How fast is the zoom speed? You might zoom in and out many times by the without actually taking any images. Then there is the auto focus and the exposure the brain needs. In other words...The battery can die very fast and they can only accept a finite amount of recharges before you must replace them.

You mentioned the camera "sat for a while." It also worth mentioning to look at the battery and the charger contacts. The contacts on either item can oxidize. there can be a light haze on the metal. When this happens there is not transfer of power to the battery. And the battery won't recharge and of course won't work! Many times a pencil (light cleaning) or pen (heavy cleaning) eraser can help remove light oxidation from contacts. Then use some compressed air to clean the area of eraser debris.

Ok, these are the only physical issues you could easily fix yourself without a trip to the camera repair tech. At that point a new camera is a much better choice. Hope this will help find the issue.

Kind Regards, Scott

Answer 2

To rule out an issue with the software - you could check if you run the latest firmware. If not you could update it: http://av.jpn.support.panasonic.com/support/global/cs/dsc/download/

If it is hardware related, it could be that there is dirt or dust in the camera. To get rid of this you could try to get rid of it by blowing compressed air around the lens area.

Another idea is vacum the dirt or dust out. For this you could point the camera into a vacum hose when the vacum is on. Instead of blowing dust and dirt further into the camera it sucks it out.