G3 Lens Problem ... I'm sure you heard it before ...

Ok, so its my last day of vacation and I pull out my G3 for some last minute shots. As soon as I turn it on I hear clicking and grinding and the zoom is no longer functioning. "Lens" error comes up and the camera shuts off.

Half hour later I pull it out again and it works fine as long as I dont use the zoom, otherwise viewfinder zoom doesn't work and 'lens' error again. Ok, I manage to take some nice pics without the zoom.

I get home later that day and first thing I do is turn it on. I hear some clicking at first and then it works fine. No problems with the zoom at all so far.

Is this a common problem? Should I ship to Canon just to be safe?

P.S. The camera is about 10 months old.

If I were you I would send it in pronto.
My g3 had a problem a few times in the beginning of the warranty period. I figured ok if this is just once or twice it'll be ok (when I zoomed in fully the camera completely shut itself off)
2 months after the end of warranty I got this fault all the time. I had to pay 190 euro's (+/- dollars) to get it repaired.
Better let them check it out for free now.

gina