I have a Canon PowerShot A3100IS digital camera. I was taking pictures but turned it off with the lens still open. I turned it back on, it loaded then made a beeping sound then a black screen came on with white letters stating:
Lens error, will shut down automatically, restart camera
and it turned off.
Any idea on how I would go about restarting the camera or fixing this issue?
It's possibly a mechanical issue with the retraction, but it could be a variable issue in the camera's software as well. You can try a few things to 'unjam' it, as such.
A non-randomly chosen example:
Fix #2: If the camera's batteries ran down completely while its lens was still open, the camera may show a lens error or not start properly when new batteries are installed. Remove the memory card and keep it removed, then install the new batteries. When you turn the camera on with the card removed it may come back to life, as this triggers a reset in some cameras. Error E30 (for older Canon's) means that you don't have a memory card installed, so turn it off, slip in the SD card and turn it on one last time
Here are some troubleshooting steps that you can try that may (or may not) correct your problem. They only seem to work for less than 40% of the lens errors, but if the camera is out of warranty (or repair cost approaches that of the camera), they're worth that try. Some of the later steps do involve some risk to the camera, so carefully weigh your options before deciding to conduct them:
And here's a video summary of the steps:
My Sony point and shoot sometimes needs a push to retract it when turning it on. Normally it does it itself and then restarts. Other times I gently press the lens while starting the camera, then it retracts, goes out and retracts again and reboot.
