Fixing a Canon PowerShot Digital Elph-Lens Error
I’ve never had much to say on a blog before, but then I found myself in an interesting situation. I am traveling in Ecuador and my camera broke. It had a lens error. A friend I met on the way has a similar camera with the same issue. It was difficult to find resources on the new to fix these issues, so I thought I’d post some instructions. My camera is the Canon PowerShot Digital Elph SD600, hers is the Sd1300. The process to fix the lens error is similar in all models of this camera.
1)Locate and remove screws from the casing. Some models have different screws in different holes so you will need to remember which screws go where. If you have a spare camera you can take pictures of the process to help you remember. I used a knife to remove the screws, but a small screw driver would be ideal.
2)Remove camera casing to expose camera guts.
3) Locate lens motor and fly wheel. The casing in the electric motor that works the lens retraction is a silver colour. Next to it is a small slot where a you can access the fly wheel. On the SD600 the flywheel access is on the top of the camera, behind the flash. On the SD13oo the slot was on the bottom opposite the battery access hatch. In each case it is a slot next to the motor. I used the tooth pick from a swiss army knife to turn the fly wheel which is mounted sideways in the slot and shaped like a small propeller.
4) Turn the flywheel many times. The lens should begin to move very slowly. You will only notice the lens moving after you have turned the flywheel dozens of times. If you don’t notice it moving, try the other direction.
5) One you have given the flywheel a few turns, the gear jam that has created the lens error has probably been fixed. However, for best results, continue to turn the flywheel until the lens is fully extended or retracted (depending on the position it was stuck in).
6) Try the power button. The lens should be working now. This method has fixed every lens error I have ever had on several Elph models. If it doesn’t work then there is little else I can help you with. Good luck. Put it back together before you forget how.
7) If it worked, then you can put back the camera casing and replace the screws that hold it all together. Be careful to get the casing on right and don’t cross-thread the screws.
8) I hope this is helpful to all you Canon lovers who are stuck with the dreaded ‘lens error’. Happy shooting!
JHRDRN 
The information is great. However, I have a SD630 which I am unable to locate the gears on the motor or lens. I have not removed the flash assembly. Any help would be appreciated.
Thanks,
john
It’s difficult to say exactly, however judging by the pictures I could find on the net the lens assembly is similar to the sd600 and the motor is located in the same place.
Here you can see the motor is similarly placed.
Also, this picture of the lens assembly shows the same. Without a shot of the top of the camera I can’t really say where the slot for the flywheel access is located or if it even exists on this model. If it does, it might be a small rectangular hole in the black plastic casing near the flash.
If you can get me a picture that would be ideal. Good luck.
Just wanted to say thanks for this post. It was very helpful. My SD700 was dropped over the weekend and since then I had been getting the lens error. As it is out of warranty, the cost to repair far exceeded the cost of a new camera so I decided to try and repair it myself. I picked up the SD1300 on sale for $109 (reg $179) since the SD1400 is now entering stores at ~$199. Since I already bought the new camera I had nothing to lose.
After manually and gently “reseating” the lens back into place after the drop it would work on/off but kept giving me the lens error. The SD700 didn’t give me access to the flywheel but there is a small pin hole on the front of the camera which I had tried earlier to use to reset the camera (before I realized the ‘reset camera’ option is in the control panel menu). I found that if I inserted a paper clip into that hole and powered on the camera the lens would move in small increments. (I guess my b/g as a PC tech and opening enough CD-ROMs in this fashion led me down this path.) Anyway, when I used your detailed post to get to the guts I found that the button I had been depressing was now off center and I think that was causing the problem as it would sometimes be making unintended contact and throwing off the movement of the lens. With the guts exposed I was able to see this and gently reached in so separate this piece enough so that no contact was being made. I’ve powered the unit on/off about 50 times and closed it all back up and have yet to have the lens error return so I’m hopeful that this is fixed.
My wife has the new camera so she’s happy, and now I guess I inherited our old one for as long as it lasts. THANKS AGAIN! 🙂
Great job. It’s always good to have a tinker, especially when there’s little to lose. I’ve done the same with a few similar cameras. I fixed the SD600 quite a few times before the lens error started coming up too often. Then the camera was stolen out of my luggage coming home from Ecuador, so that was the end of that. My next project is to pop a new screen into my SD800.
OMG, thank you for the pinhole tip. I have the Canon Powershot ELPH 100 HS. I couldn’t find the flywheel either, but I did see that little pinhole and poked it while turning on the power and the lens came back to life? Crazy. Whatever works! Thanks!
Genius! Just repaired my Powershot SD950 that was stuck open. Sand was the obvious culprit.
It’s a little tricky getting the front and back covers apart. With all the screws removed, the covers are free at the bottom but not the top. The covers can be pried apart above the flash where the front snaps into the rear, but the rear is held in place by a tiny screw on the top in the corner opposite the flash that is only accesible once the front cover is removed.
THANK YOU! I was able to fix my camera out here in the Alaska Bush right before a big school trip and I could never have done it without this post! I can’t believe I had the nerve to open the case and then actually found the flywheel! Killer! I have Canon SD1300 IS model and I found the flywheel by looking at the pictures you posted- which was a brilliant idea… dunno if I would have been successful without the pics. Anyways… thanks again! And I got it all back together again. First time I ever did anything like that. I love the internet!
Thanks for this blog. I was just able to fix my sd1300. Not sure why I got this error though. No dirt or anything. But none the less were back to taking pictures again. Thanks again.
I have the powershot sd1300is and was super bummed when I saw the lens error. After a month of trying to figure out what to do, I came across this site and THANK YOU SO MUCH for the pics and description. My camera is back in action and I don’t have to deal with the a-holes at canon. thanks again!!
Thanks alot! Your tutorial fixed the problem on my wife’s SD1300 IS. I should mention that, for me, rotating the flywheel (in either direction) didn’t move the lens even though I did over 48 rotations. Still, it worked. Thanks so much.
The first time I used this method, I turned the flywheel for a very long time.. maybe 20 minutes to bring the lens to full extension. Subsequently I realized that just a few rotations will usually be enough for the gears to realign and fix the lens error. Unfortunately, subsequent to that, I realized the fix may not be permanent. The error itself may be an indication of damaged gears from a grain of sand or whatever. So, if the gears are damaged to a certain extent the error may reoccur occasionally. After fixing my SD600 several times the fix ceased to be effective. Then the broken camera was stolen out of my bag by security at Quito airport (luckily I had uploaded my photos elsewhere). Anyhow, hopefully your fix will last a while. In any case, it’s nice to get an extra year or so out of your camera.
I received my SD1300 IS as a gift at the end of last year. By Sept this year,the poor thing was getting lens errors left and right, the zoom stopped working in Oct although the camera would take pics, and finally in Nov it stopped mid-close and refused to do anything more. It took great pictures the entire time and has documented my life over the course of a year, so I was sad to think it’s life expectancy was over. All of us are feeling the pinch of reduced funds. Repair costs and buying replacements aren’t always in the budget. Resourcefulness becomes a byword. You’ve helped enable me to be just that. Thank you just doesn’t cover it. I have a camera again, and I owe it to your post. The time you took to post this is going to be appreciated a 100 times over.
Thanks for your posting, I fixed my stuck lens. Ben
Thank YOU!!! just fixed my SD1300 IS. FYI – Pulling on the lens also help me…
I ignored a lot of web advice that advised my to wack my camera and force the lens open. Then I found this post. Awesome! I fixed my SD1300. The flywheel was a bit hard to locate because you can only see the edge of a blade through a thin slot about 3 mm long and 1 mm wide, but it was right where it was supposed to be according to the above. I bent a paper clip open to rotate the wheel. Thank you very much.
Anyone had a successful experience with this procedure on a Elph100 / Ixus115? Can´t seem to locate the little slot where you can access the fly wheel on that model. Could it be on the back of the motor, pointing inwards, so I have to remove more parts to be able to access it?
Hi, I have the same camera and am also unable to find that little slot. Any idea where it is, or how to fix an elph 100?
Not sure. I’d need to check it out in person. Try surfing the web and see what you find. There’s probably a solution out there.
I fixed the lense problem… however… the shutter button’s not working…
I’m sorry. I can’t help you there. Try to google it. There must be a resource out there for you.
Just did this to my SD 1300 IS. Works again…thanks so much!! I thought for sure I’d be buying a new camera. Now if only there were a way to get the pics that I missed when it wasn’t working, lol.
Awesome fix-worked on my daughter’s sd1300is —-she was at beach so I saw visible sand granules near lens mechanism. I shop vac’d that out. Still did not work. Rotated the flywheel with a paper clip, for ~ 3 minutes, and voila– IT WORKED!
Muchísimas gracias John . He podido arreglar una Canon IXUS 105, siguiendo tus maravillosas instrucciones . Una vez localizado el motor (que está situado en este modelo debajo y no arriba) y dando muchas vueltas al eje, el objetivo se ha desplazado hacia el exterior. Después se ha bloqueado pero en las ranuras del objetivo le he pasado un papel muy fino (de fumar) y ha funcionado!! Saludos
Google traductor:
Thank you John. I could arrange a Canon IXUS 105, following your wonderful instructions. Once you have located the engine (which is located in this model below and above) and giving it much thought and axis, the focus has shifted to the outside. Then blocked but objective slots I have spent a very thin paper (smoking) and it worked! regards
I have the SD 4500 IS and I know sand is the problem as it went to the beach with me. I unscrewed the screws but the front casing still does not come off. The top of the case has little indentions where it appears to be somehow held in place. Should I pry this apart? So afraid to break the casing. Any ideas?
I’d have to hold the camera in my hands to know for sure, but I can give you this advice. Try tapping the camera and gently bumping it to move around any sand that may be in the gears. Put the screws back in and take advantage of the warranty if it is still good. Try to blow in the cracks with compressed air to dislodge anything blocking the gears. If all that fails…
Make sure you remove the memory card and battery. Check in the battery hatch for any hidden screws. Once you’re sure you have all the screws out, if it still does not come apart, you can try some gentle prying. Don’t give it so much force as to break the casing. It should com apart without too much trouble. Usually getting it open is the easy part. Good luck.
Had the same issue on Canon powershot SD1300 IS. I took a chance and when turning on when the lens tried to go in I forced it in to close completely. This resolved the issue.
This method worked great. As long as you are mechanically inclined to dissemble the camera and locate the flywheel slot. My Canon SD1300 IS was jammed. I was unable to take the front case completely off for some reason. The side near the flash would not come off. But I was able to lightly pull the case away from the lens motor and spin the flywheel. Holding the camera with the bottom facing you and the lens pointing up, you spin the fly wheel in the direction away from the lens.
Thank you for the post and the help.
Thanks for your guide! I was able to fix my SD1400IS with a lens that wouldn’t retract. The flywheel was located in a tiny slit just below the lens (there was a tiny no “2” stamped in front of it). Mine didn’t turn but I guess I moved it enough that when I tried turning the camera on, the lens moved a bit. I did that a couple of times and the lens finally moved back into position!
Hi, i have a broken elph sd1300 and sd1400 both with lens error and i can’t find the flywheel for unlike in the picture your camera had a viewfinder while the newer cameras have instead a larger screen bloking access to everything. thanks alot.
See flee2010’s comment. He/she located a flywheel just below the lens.
Good luck!
Thanks so much! You totally helped me save my SD1300. The whole procedure above took a newbie like me about an hour to complete the first time. The flywheel didn’t move the lens very much, but after a few turns and putting the battery back in, the on/off switch started moving the lens again. I really appreciate your post – thanks again!
Hi,
I too have an SD 1400 IS and have been unable to locate the flywheel, the screen is blocking most of the back and I don’t see a slit anywhere in the front any thoughts?
Thanks!
Thanks for the instructions. Just fixed a Canon SD 1300 following your guide!
Just to add my thanks to this, and a few details in case it is of any use to anyone else. I fixed a friend’s Ixus 220HS using a similar method.
The 220HS I looked at had the lens stuck out and would give the “lens error” when it was switched on. I took it apart and had a brief look, but it all looked a bit tight in there. But reading this post spurred me on to try it again, so I gave myself lots of light and space and carefully took the case off again (the back comes off first, and reveals a screw at the top holding the front on).
On this model the electric motor for the lens (at the bottom) is pretty wedged in and partially covered, and I couldn’t see any slot for a flywheel. But I could tell that the large LCD screen was covering the most interesting and integral parts of the mechanism, so I gently teased it out with a small flat headed screwdriver – it is held in place by small sheet-metal tabs at the top and bottom, and as long as you’re delicate you can remove it without any problems. Looking under the screen (being careful with the ribbon cable) there are a few slots and access points, and a gentle prod of one of these freed up the mechanism and it then turned on fine.
Needless to say the camera was out of warranty, the LCE had said it wasn’t worth fixing and Canon themselves would charge £50 just to have a look! It is always worth a tinker!