G1 Malfunction! "The lens is not attached"...please help

Hi,

I bought the G1 with both kit lenses and have shot about 1000 images. I'm very pleased with the quality and camera until today when I switched it on and received a black screen with the message "the lens is not attached properly". Needless to say the instructions told me to detach and reattach the lense. No change. It's been like this for a day.

If I leave the "shoot without lens" setting off then there is no picture and the setup menus are accessible for a few seconds before the msg appears.

If I switch the "shoot without lens" setting on then there is a blurred picture and the camera appears fully functional except that manual and auto focus does not function and the aperture does not change.

It would appear that there is no communication between the lens and the camera. I've checked for dirt in the connections between lens and camera and they are clean (the camera is only a week old) and there is no dirt at all within the senser housing.

The situation is the same with either kit lens.

I've tried the reset option within the menu - no change.

Can anyone offer any suggestions at all as to a way around this. I'm thinking a factory reset might be possible with some combination of buttons or that this might be a reasonably common problem with detachable lens cameras / DSLRs and someone might be able to help. Although I've shot with SLRs before, they were 35mm and didn't have the level of electronic communication between the lens and the camera that this has.

The simplest way around this would be to take it back to the shop but unfortunately, I am half way around the world!

Thanks to all who can help...I'm really stuck here!

All the best,
Cromm

I can't help you except to let you know that I had the same error message two times. Both times it cleared up with a reboot of the camera. Hopefully yours is as simple....

John

I also got this message twice, right after I had first purchased the camera, both times it happened was after taking a shot, and the picture was being written to the card, the message popped up briefly, and then cleared itself. It has not happened again in the last two months.

Seems to be a common thing to happen.

I had the same message several times, so removed and re-mounted the lens, switched off on and it then worked fine.

--
Kind regards,
Rich Simpson

Thanks john, can I just check that by 'reboot' you just mean switch off/on rather than something else? I've switched off/on and removed the battery overnight and this hasn't cleared it. Thanks, crom

Maybe the lens contacts look clean to the eyes while they still don't connect properly to the camera connectors.
I would try to clean the contacts gently with micro fibre clothing.

--
Jonas

Press the center button to access the shooting menus, then look for the menu set that's headed by a little "wrench" icon on the left. On the second screen in that group, you'll find "RESET" which will reset the camera to all default parameters.

Another thing you might try is changing the memory card, if RESET doesn't do it for you. Good luck!
--
Just cruisin' ...



GeeOne, EffZeeEighteen, TeeZeeThree

Be careful when gripping the camera on the left side that you don't press the lens release button. This can give you the error message.
--
http://photos.schophoto.com/

I was going to mention this, as it is a quirk of the Oly 4/3rds bodies. If you push the lens release button on the E-1 or E-3 (the 2 that I have) the camera stops working normally. Removing and remounting the lens will correct the problem. I'm not sure about Panasonic bodies, but it is worth a try. The camera should be turned off when changing lenses or doing the remount described.
Hope that is all that it is.
--
Bob

This was my first thought.

I found on the G1 with the DMW-MA1 adapter that it was quite possible to lightly depress the adapter's lens release button, which has a microswitch and engages the contacts.

Perhaps a tiny bit of dirt has gotten into this switch and just taking the lens off and pressing/releasing the button several times will clear it for normal functioning.

G

Ross said:

I was going to mention this, as it is a quirk of the Oly 4/3rds
bodies. If you push the lens release button on the E-1 or E-3 (the 2
that I have) the camera stops working normally. Removing and
remounting the lens will correct the problem. I'm not sure about
Panasonic bodies, but it is worth a try. The camera should be turned
off when changing lenses or doing the remount described.
Hope that is all that it is.
--
Bob

Click to expand...

--Turn off and on works for me.

While it may not be visible, there is likely a bit of something on the electrical contacts, use some sensor cleaning fluid on a cleaning stick with cloth wrapped around it to give all of the contacts a good cleaning. Don't be afraid to rub harder than you do with a sensor. The sensor cannot take it, but the contacts can. The cleaning fluid used on sensors works great on electrical contacts too.

Check the pins to make sure they are all straight with none bent out of alignment. If they are bent, try to gently unbend it if sending it back is not an option.

Otherwise there is a piece of something preventing the lens from fully engaging the body. Check for any crud in the slots.

Also as suggested, try to work the lens release button a few times in case it is slightly stuck.

-Mark
--
My pictures...
http://12.168.34.68/photos/default.asp
http://www.markwyman.com/photos/default.asp

Thank you for all your suggestions. I have cleaned the contacts with microfibre cloth and there are no bent pins. It happens with both lenses so it is almost certainly something on the body itself that is the problem. I'll get hold of some cleaning fluid and try that as soon as I can.

I have tried the reset trick a number of times to no avail but will try swapping memory cards.

What is worrying is that if I set the camera to be able to shoot w/o lens attached I get exactly the same error even though the camera shoots for about 6 seconds until the message appears and screen goes black. This could certainly indicate a problem with the lens release button so I'll try working that up and down a few times.

Something strange I noticed is that if I do the above and set tha camera to manual and set the shutter speed to 8 seconds, it succesfully shoots (out of focus and without shutting the aperture down, of course) and that after the 8 seconds and the processing (egg timer graphic) time I get a split second of motor noise from the lens. No idea what this is. I can't see that this is doing anything but it could be that the lens is getting powe and is trying to open the aperture back up again but failing because the control connections (as opposed to the power) are disrupted somehow.

I'll get cleaning and report back...but any other suggestions are more than welcome.

Thanks for your input so far,
Cromm

One further question...other than leaving the battery out until the internal battery runs down, is there a way of factory resetting the camera (so that the time/date need resetting)? I'm guessing that this might help the camera to 'start again'...but I'm only guessing!

Thanks again,
Cromm

Please show your e-mail adddress if you would like us to assist.
Thanks

You must be thinking of a LONG trip! The little button battery inside the camera is there to preserve camera settings and clock timing while the main battery is discharged or absent. Kind of like the battery in a wristwatch? Don't expect it to exhaust itself soon!

Cromm said:

One further question...other than leaving the battery out until the
internal battery runs down, is there a way of factory resetting the
camera (so that the time/date need resetting)? I'm guessing that this
might help the camera to 'start again'...but I'm only guessing!

Thanks again,
Cromm

Click to expand...

--
Just cruisin' ...



GeeOne, EffZeeEighteen, TeeZeeThree

Let me add 2 things to the other tips......I do not own a G1 but these work on my Nikon DSLRs....

1. clean the contacts on both the camera and lens with a contact cleaner.....Deoxit is the best.
2. do not use the lens release button when mounting lenses.
--
Gene from Western Pa

http://imageevent.com/grc6
http://grc225.zenfolio.com/
FZ10....20 and 30 and FZ18

D50 ....D80 - 18 to 200VR- 50mm 1.8 - 80 to 400 OS



Just trying to learn and it's slow going!

--hi

since i loaded the firmware upgrade, the g1 no longer displays any warning ,upon taking of the lens, just a mf/q logo in the right hand bottom of screen strange ?
best julian

Hi Panasonic, I have made my e-mail viewable and I would be very grateful if you can get in touch so that I can sort this out quickly. I will wait for your e-mail.

Thanks to everyone else who has tried to help. I have got no where so far but hopefully Panasonic will be able to help.

Regarding the cleaning. I have cleaned contacts and they are perfect. I have been to two quality camera shops and they cannot help either.

A poster said that they received a MF icon in the bottom right of the screen. I get that too...before the screen changes to the error message :-(

I'll report back when I've spoken to Panasonic.

In the meantime, I'll soon post some of the shots that I've taken so far. I am generally v impressed with the quality but I'm (obviously) v disappointed with the malfunction. Hopefully it is a one off and it can ben sorted quickly.

All the best,
Crom

Hello there!

I dug up this old thread after using my GF1 with the 45-200 in tropical circumstances. Before I never had any problem with this lens, but in Suriname the dreaded message kept coming back, making the lens unusable at times.

I wonder whether anyone came up with a solution for this problem already, or whether anyone knows how Panasonic handles the issue.

The problem is that I bought the camera at one shop and the lens at another. So, I don't know where to go to claim a solution for the problem. Another thing, I need tropically humid conditions!

best, blauwemac