G3 Lens Grinding Noise?

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

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.

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.

Mine makes hardly any noise, just a smooth sound

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.

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!

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?