Solved! Lens cover won't close

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I have a Nikon Coolpix S51 which is a little differnt than yours but I was having the same issue. The lens cover wouldn't close when turned off and it gave me a "lens error" and wouldn't let me take any pictures. I went on to all of these forums and nothing helped out. I decided that having it fixed would cost more than the actual camera and decided to fix the problem myself, while having no techinical experience and well knowing that if I messed it up more that I was just going to trash it.

I took the camera completely apart and found that the gears that moved the lens cover open/closed was not locked into place and debris was in between the gears. I simply used an air duster to remove the debris and made sure the gears were moving...

slickrich11

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Dec 22, 2011
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I have a Nikon Coolpix S51 which is a little differnt than yours but I was having the same issue. The lens cover wouldn't close when turned off and it gave me a "lens error" and wouldn't let me take any pictures. I went on to all of these forums and nothing helped out. I decided that having it fixed would cost more than the actual camera and decided to fix the problem myself, while having no techinical experience and well knowing that if I messed it up more that I was just going to trash it.

I took the camera completely apart and found that the gears that moved the lens cover open/closed was not locked into place and debris was in between the gears. I simply used an air duster to remove the debris and made sure the gears were moving smoothly. Then I carefully put the camera back together the exact way i took it apart and voila, it works. I just saved myself at least $100 instead of buying a new camera.

Without having any experience and taking my time to remember my steps, it took me an hour an a half from start to finish. If you aren't comfortable dismantling the camera, I wouldn't take it to someone and let them know that the problem just discussed is the issue and it took about an hour and a half. Most of the electronic fix places charge by the hour and the parts. You can secure yourself in that they aren't going to charge you for 6 hours of work when it took them 1.

Hope this helps.
 
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