G3 Lens Grinding Noise?

[lapnyc]

Hi All,

After great debate (between the Oly c-5050, G3, V-1, and the Leica Digilux 1), I purchased a G3.

The first thing I noticed when turning the camera on and the lens extended was a weird metal-on-metal grinding noise. To me, the noise was nails on a chalkboard. It just didn't sound like it should be happening -- it definitely sounded like a defect. It was much worse when turning the camera off and the lens retracted. It was so troublesome to me that I immediately returned the camera right away the next morning.

Is this noise normal? Can other G3 owners tell me if they have ever heard such a noise?

Any advice is appreciated as I still really want to get a G3 -- it suits the budget as well as my needs.

Thanks much for your help,
lapnyc

[slpsms]

I have had mine for about two months and I haven't noticed any such thing. The lens extending and retracting should be smooth and without any abrasive type sounds. I'd be looking into returning/exchanging the camera unless someone more familiar is able to shed some light on this subject.

[Jack W.]

I've not had this problem, but I've read posts by others who have. Some exchanged it for a new one, the others all said that the noise eventually disappeared.

[sidebp]

Mine makes hardly any noise, just a smooth sound

[John_T]

I hear a noise in my G5 at start and on switching off. It is a mechanical noise that could be taken as something wrong, but I think it is normal. This noise is not always there and is sometimes more than others. I think it has to do with a particular function.

A good number of others in this forum have mentioned this noise. Some have returned their cameras while others have said it is normal. Until I hear definitively from a competent source that is not normal, I will take it as normal.

[stephano]

I purchased my g3 back in april of this year. The first one I got had a dead pixel in it. The company from where I bought the camera replaced my g3 no problem. The second one I got gave great pictures, but it had that bad sound. I thought it sounded more like packing material being rubbed together. Taking the advise of someone in this forum, I kept the camera and just like they said in about four days, the sound went entirely away. The lens has always retracted quietly and smoothly since that time. What a great forum!

[nguyenn_99]

I got my G3 less than 3 days. I am trying it out and got the same noise from the lense, stephano described it best, like packing material rubbing together.

Lapnyc ... has your noise problem gone away? Any recommendation?