Canon S1 won't turn on - E16 error - HELP!

[StarFilter]

Hello!

I have a Canon S1 IS that is of course outside of the Canon warranty and I didn't get an ext. warranty on it. While I was in the middle of taking pics, my camera's red light on the back above the menu button started to blink and then turned off. I thought it was low batteries, so I replaced them a few with fresh ones (both rechargeable and regular) and I still couldn't get it to turn on. I'm able to get the on button to blink, and can hear the lens mechanism start to move, but cannot get it to turn on (to take pics). It does show an E16 error code and then blinks off, but won't actually do anything else in camera mode.Camera does work as a pic viewer.

Having googled Canon problems I stumbled across the E18 error and tried the varied fixes of using canned air, hooking it up to VCR inputs, using a diff CF card, but nothing helps. It doesn't seem worth it to pay Canon $150 just to look at, but not necessarily be able to fix it....so any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks in advance!

[nwyman]

I can't afind anything exact on E16, but I wonder - have you checked the little battery that runs the date/time business? That can need replacement from time to time, and I understand it causes some problems when it dies.
I don't have my S1 anymore, but I do remember reading about that battery.

[StarFilter]

I haven't checked the date battery and don't think that would be the cause of the problem since it still was the current date on record when going to the menu in the playback mode. Checked the manual and the only thing it mentions about the date battery is that it will bring up the "set date/time" message when it's running low. Thanks for the suggestion.

[lakiluno]

E16 Error code means (on all canon compacts) that there is something wrong with the lens mechanism and it cannot contract/extract/focus etc. Basically, if the problem is not fixed by removing the batterys then you'll have to take it into a shop or get a friend who knows a lot about this stuff to take it apart (obviously thats a dangerous thing to do)

Leo

[musashikhb]

Good Morning,
I, too, have an S1 IS that has developed the E:16 error. Initially, this camera worked very well, and I took about two hundred photos total during the 18 months that it functioned. I treated it as if made of crystal; it was never dropped, bumped, nudged or mishandled in any way, and was kept in a drawer when not in use. After about 18 months of light use, the camera totally failed.
After taking some photos, I plugged in and uploaded them to my PC, then turned the camera back on in the record mode. The lens failed to extend, and the display remained dark except for an error message in the lower left corner of the display: "E:16", and the camera powered off after 3 seconds.
After repeated attempts to restart with no change in symptoms, I searched the Web for any reports of similar problems. I found numerous reports of lens failures, almost all with an associated "E:18" message, but nearly none with the e:16 code.
I e-mailed Canon tech support, and received a suggestion to remove, wait for 20 minutes, then reinstall the batteries. I confirmed that they were fully charged, and restarted the camera. The lens extended, but the LCD display is sometimes shot through with horizontal lines resembling static, which are recorded in photos taken afterwards (examples attached.). The camera now starts up randomly, and the lines come and go randomly. The only offer Canon has made after this was to offer an "upgrade" to a refurbished S2 IS for $299. That's about the price of a new one online! I have decided not to buy any Canon digital camera again. I would, however, like to try to get this one running with a degree of reliability.