Is my S400 dead? "E18"

[simonaward]

Hi, I´m hoping someone can help me out of this one, but I doubt it...

I´m on my first day of my holiday in Tenerife, and the Mrs has just dropped the camera (canon ixus 400) on the floor and it´s not happy! It was in it´s case, and in a (very thin) bag, but hit the tiled floor.

When I now turn the camera on, the starup sound plays, and the start up picture displays, but after a moment, it beeps what I think is 6 times (fast), and a message appears in the bottom left corner of the screen: "E18" for a few seconds before shutting down.

During this, the shutter opens and the lens extends, but I´m sure it´s not as much as it should. This then retracts and closes when the camera shuts down.


I´m now downloading the manual to see if that helps, but if not, would appricate any advice anyone may have.

Has anyone had this before? Is it fixable? If so, is it fixable easily (and hopefully cheaply).

I live in the UK, but like I say - I´m on holiday in Tenerife for a week. There are lots of shops selling canon cameras here (i´m in one that doubles as a cypercafe right now) but how "canon official" any of them are, I am unsure.

Please help!

:(

[simonaward]

umm... doesnt look good.

I did find this, but I´m not sure I´d want to have a go without looking at other possabilities first:

http://www.ixus-world.de/index.htm?tips/repair_guide/e18_01en.htm

It has also been translated from German, and I´m worried they´re not that clear...

If anyone has any experience on getting an E18 error message fixed in the UK, and it´s cost - I´d be very interested. Insurance may pay out - but if not, it might be worth looking at getting one while I´m here, as they seem alot cheaper than back home...

[Belmondo]

Oh, it's clear enough. That's a terrifying prospect---taking the thing apart and trying to put it all back together. My biggest fear would be that if something was broken (either in the fall or by me in the disassembly), how hard would it be to get new parts. Also, is there any calibration required after reassembly.

That's a shame, but it was a similar event that got me into EOS photography. I was getting off an airplane in Hawaii, and dropped my Canon F1 from the overhead compartment of the airplane to the floor. The impact bent the mount on the big Vivitar Series I lens, and I didn't feel I could trust the body (which turned out to be okay). I ended up buying an EOS 650 so I could take pictures of the vacation. I actually went back to the manual focues cameras for several more years after that, but I will say the Hawaiian photos I took that year were some of my best. (forgive the digression)

Good luck.

[Perfect_10]

Simon

Does it look dented/damaged ?? If not, then try getting it fixed under warranty .. you may get away with it :twisted: :)

[silber1]

I have the same trouble: my Ixus 400 is dead only showing error code E18 for some seconds.
Nothing happened with the Ixus. Does somebody knwo what error E18 means?
Gerhard Silbermann, Germany

[eastcoast909]

As far as I know E18 is a generic Lens fault, I get it when my S45 has problems extending (using a lens adapter) and it sometimes jams on the lens adapter. Once the obstruction is cleared then the lens will extend all the way and everything is ok.

Is it fixable where you are? Not sure, You might want to get a camera shop there to venture an opinion.

The best thing is to send it back to Canon, which doesn't help you now. :cry:

This might be a good opportunity to see if you can get the 300D kit. :twisted:

I just did a quick search for camer shops in Tenerife and came across this link


http://p216.ezboard.com/fholidaytruthscommunityfrm26.showMessage?topicID=2 199.topic

In general the topic suggests that you watch out for purchasing cameras in the Canary's, this is a quote on the one shop that the above thread would reccomend.

Visanta have shops in PDLA Torviscus (by Tucan bar), in San Eugeune shopping Centre, P. Santiago sh/centre as well as Los Cristianos as well as others (including Lanzarote).

Good luck, sorry I can't be of much other help.

[simonaward]

thank yuo for your replies folks.

I returned from tenerife without doing anything with our 'poorly' S400, or buying a new camera...

I did find the whole 'Digital Camera Scene' in tenerife 'interesting' though.

I actually found a shop that quoted me equ. of £110 for a brand new S400! Of course i was 'interested', but when I explained I had a fully charged battery from an identical camera and would he like me test the camera - this chaps english suddenly became bad, and he started waffling about wrong voltage! I knew something wasn't right then and left him to it...



Back to my broken S400, I spoke to someone from the Currys (UK) helpline, who explained the camera could be fixed under warranty - as long as it wasn't accidental damage. I told her I had no reason to believe it had been dropped or anything, and could see no reason why it stopped working. They're sending me the packaging for me to send it back to them - so fingers crossed. (could take around a month to resolve).


Anyone else ever get an E18 error fixed under warranty? Will there be anything they can use to suggest it had been dropped?