E18 error on A60

[juno]

i recently bought a Powershot A60 and i have noticed that it had an error message E18 whenever i power down the unit facing down while being held by my hand. the error message appears consistently only on this condition (i.e. powering off while facing down)

the E18 also comes intermittently when navigating during setup menus and it will shut itself off. though once i power it on, the camera works normally.

i did return the unit to the vendor, and it was replaced rightaway. however, it seems that the replacement i got also have the same problem.

a friend of mine also bought the same model and it has the same problem. it seems that Canon has goofed their quality of production this time.

Anyone who knows how to fix this problem??

i have seen and read in one of the previous posts here some solution :
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
E18 Error
Remove existing batt.and CF card.
Allow internal memory to run down overnight.
Replace existing battery w/ NEW BATT.
Insert NEW BATT.Switch camera on.
Insert CF card.
Problem fixed.
:::::::::::::::::::::::::::

my question is : is the batteries being referred to in the above solution the AA batteries or the internal / clock CR*** something battery??

if it is the latter, i am confused as my camera is a brand new model and i believe it has brand new batteries as well.

hope somebody help me on this.

thanks.

[AltairBK]

Hi,

I observed the same problem with my new A60:

If I point the camera down and then turn it OFF, the E18 error appears. After turning the camera back on, it works normally (at least for now).

Probably there is a mechanical problem with the camera.

[juno]

i hope it is more of a software glitch rather than a mechanical problem. somebody told me that maybe it was due to the sensors on the lens barrel being too sensitive. i just keep my fingers crossed though.

[AltairBK]

Yes, there is a problem with sensor(s) on the lens barrel - the software and electronic circuit are probably OK. In this case, there is no software glitch. My opinion is, the mechanical connection between lens mechanism and the sensors is not precise - when the camera is pointed down due to the weight of the lens barrel the barrel's position relative to the sensors is changed.

I didn't take the camera apart yet to repair this Canon's mechanical problem (I am skilled to repair such a problems!). But I will do this, if my camera will stop to operate. Currently, I avoid to shut down my camera in pointing-down position.

Best regards