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G7X "lens cap" getting stuck?

Started Mar 7, 2015 | Discussions
rth23 Forum Member • Posts: 64
G7X "lens cap" getting stuck?
1

Hi, anyone else have an issue where their G7X's automatic lens cap is getting stuck mid-way when opening and/ or closing? Mine is now doing so, was not closing fully at first, now it gets stuck both ways and needs to be helped with a finger :/

This makes the camera unusable for me. Weird, there's never been any damage to it but from day one I had a bad feeling about it, the movement was jerky. My S90 seems to have been built much better...

Anyway -- anyone having this and any thoughts on resolving it?

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Donthuis
Donthuis Regular Member • Posts: 139
Re: G7X "lens cap" getting stuck?

rth23 wrote:

Hi, anyone else have an issue where their G7X's automatic lens cap is getting stuck mid-way when opening and/ or closing? Mine is now doing so, was not closing fully at first, now it gets stuck both ways and needs to be helped with a finger :/

This makes the camera unusable for me. Weird, there's never been any damage to it but from day one I had a bad feeling about it, the movement was jerky. My S90 seems to have been built much better...

Anyway -- anyone having this and any thoughts on resolving it?

No, but I feel this is a valid reason to return the camera to Canon for repair under guarantee. Do not do anything by yourself, or you invalidate your guarantee arrangement. Years ago, when Canon started the non-APS IXUS series, blocked lens or cap issues were quite common. Unless you dropped  your camera in a sandy environment repair was made under guarantee. Good luck!

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Longterm photographer from way back in the 50's via analog SLR's, three generations of video equipment towards present 2 high end compacts both with (F)HD-video included.

OP rth23 Forum Member • Posts: 64
Re: G7X "lens cap" getting stuck?

Agreed, this is good advice.

I decided against following it though -- I bought the camera for some travel photography, it broke down at the beginning of my journey; I had to service a lens anyway so I asked the repair shop if they could fix G7X as well. They did, for 20 USD. Waiting until I return home wouldn't make sense for me this time, I'd normally do that so thank you.

I still don't like the design of the lens cap on G7X -- with so many blades it's very complex and prone to failing. I'd have preferred something simpler, as on S90.

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B1ackhat Senior Member • Posts: 1,980
Re: G7X "lens cap" getting stuck?

rth23 wrote:

Hi, anyone else have an issue where their G7X's automatic lens cap is getting stuck mid-way when opening and/ or closing? Mine is now doing so, was not closing fully at first, now it gets stuck both ways and needs to be helped with a finger :/

This makes the camera unusable for me. Weird, there's never been any damage to it but from day one I had a bad feeling about it, the movement was jerky. My S90 seems to have been built much better...

Anyway -- anyone having this and any thoughts on resolving it?

Mine got stuck twice before getting stuck permanently.  At that point, I returned it to the retailer.  I wasn't about to ship it off to Canon, wait a month or more, and get a refurb in return.

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Old D New Member • Posts: 2
Re: G7X "lens cap" getting stuck?

My G7X lens cover got jammed and I had to send it to Canon for repair.  The same thing happened to a friend shortly thereafter.  Since receiving mine back, I bought a 60mm slip on lens cap to protect the front cover which, in my opinion, is too fragile.  The front diameter of the G7X is probably about 58mm, so I built up the inside of the 60mm lens cap with a bit of the fuzzy part of some stick-on velcro.  I can now slip the camera into my pocket or in a bag with other items with less worry about damaging the Canon lens cover mechanism.

FD Contributing Member • Posts: 549
Re: G7X "lens cap" getting stuck?

No problems so far but I’m using a plastic 57mm Vivitar lens cover from the 80's to protect the lensblades in my pocket.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/bigwade/16603489544/in/album-72157647813671333/

Did the same with my G9/G10/S100
Works great !
Lens clean and no problems with the blades

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FD

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OpticsEngineer Veteran Member • Posts: 7,822
Re: G7X "lens cap" getting stuck?

Mine has a developed a problem that when I power down, the lens retracts and bangs really hard against the stop, then does it again, then does it again, then displays an error message, then shuts off.   Pretty annoying.   I have been traveling a lot these last three months because my Dad has been sick in the hospital so I have not had a chance to talk to Canon service about it.  Maybe this week I can manage to do that.

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Jerrich
Jerrich Senior Member • Posts: 2,738
Re: G7X "lens cap" getting stuck?
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RoBronckers New Member • Posts: 1
Re: G7X "lens cap" getting stuck?
5

Had the problem that several blades of the lens cap did not close or open fully. I fixed it in the following simple way, no tools and a little bit of primative force:

1. switch camera on, lens will extent

2. remove battery so lens will not retract automatically

3. take the front part of the lens and pull gently but firmly. with a little bit of manipulating the housing will slide off. Be carefull to hold the lens pointed upward so the parts of the lens cap will not fall off.

4. The lens cap parts consist out of 3 blades on the top and 3 on the bottom side. The top 2 can be taken off for cleaning. Keep the one with the spring attached in position. the blades on top and bottom are nearly identical. no 3 is with the spring, no2, with big pin, no 1 is with small pin

5. Clean the inside of the lens housing and the blades with some cleaning alkohol. Blow dry

6. clean with canned air the inside of the lens if necessarry,

7. if problem was caused by a dent in the lens housing or blades, put it on a flat hard surface and press with fingers or blut tool from the inside the front of the lens cap in the original form. DO NOT use hammer or plyers.

8. assembled the blades again. no3 is still in place, place no2 with the pin down. the pin slides partly under no 3, then put no 1 on top, pin down. The whole assembly should not stick out.

DO NOT use any lubricant, oil, grease, WD40 or what so ever.

9. Slide the lens housing back over the lens. Watch the position of the printing on the housing so it slides completely in.

10. Ready, put the battery in ! and test.

Alternative if blades are damaged beyond repair, remove all 6 blades and use a plastic lens cap, or order with canon 6 new blades, hope you will get them (for free).

OP rth23 Forum Member • Posts: 64
Re: G7X "lens cap" getting stuck?

RoBronckers wrote:

Had the problem that several blades of the lens cap did not close or open fully. I fixed it in the following simple way, no tools and a little bit of primative force:

Wow! That would be great, I got quoted over 200 EUR by Amazon / Canon to fix this.

  1. take the front part of the lens and pull gently but firmly. with a little bit of manipulating the housing will slide off.

Hmm, would you mind marking where to hold, where to pull and what comes off, maybe on a photo or picture from manual?

I just tried doing this but it makes me uneasy somehow :/

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Canon PowerShot S90 Canon PowerShot G7 X Canon EOS 40D Canon EOS 7D Canon EF 35mm F2.0 +8 more
OP rth23 Forum Member • Posts: 64
Re: G7X "lens cap" getting stuck?
3. take the front part of the lens and pull gently but firmly. with a little bit of manipulating the housing will slide off. Be carefull to hold the lens pointed upward so the parts of the lens cap will not fall off.

Can someone who has attempted this clarify which part to hold and which part to pull?

Canon G7X with lens cover parts marked -- where do I pull, where do I hold to take it off?

In other words, which part is expected to stay and which part is expected to come off?

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Dan Hudson
Dan Hudson Senior Member • Posts: 1,383
Re: G7X "lens cap" getting stuck?
1

I find a case that fits the camera and then insert a very stiff card or piece of cardboard between the layers of fabric even if I have to cut some and glue. Important to isolate the lens from soft foam or what ever so the soft stuff cannot be pushed into the cover's moving parts. Use a slick card to prevent wear on your camera as you insert and remove the camera from it's case. My present solution for my G5 X is to just insert the cardboard in front of the camera in the case. No cutting, gluing, etc. I have fixed cases for 2 SX120s, an S100 and this G5 X. Might be overkill, but my lenses are intact.....Dan

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marcocic New Member • Posts: 9
Re: G7X "lens cap" getting stuck?
1

Pull part 2. Firmly but gently. It might have some not-so-strong glue but it will come out

marcocic New Member • Posts: 9
Re: G7X "lens cap" getting stuck?

Dear RoBronckers, it worked great!! thank you soooo much. I am about to go for honeymoon and I saw the blades getting stuck, but your tutorial worked great!

This whole procedure suggested me that even a little pull of the last art of the lens may do the trick. Just a touch so that some room is created and and the little blades will open completely

akwardsauce New Member • Posts: 4
Re: G7X "lens cap" getting stuck?
2

here is a video of how to do what RoBronckers is saying...enjoy! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F2qQlSctW-8

nellcanada New Member • Posts: 1
Re: G7X "lens cap" getting stuck?

Hi I am having the exact same problem -- just after the warranty expired. Any luck with fixing?

Myriam89 New Member • Posts: 3
Re: G7X "lens cap" getting stuck?

I had G7X . . But I don't face an issue like this.

Robert Snow Senior Member • Posts: 1,091
Re: G7X "lens cap" getting stuck?

Check out this video!

bob snow

Robert Snow Senior Member • Posts: 1,091
Re: G7X "lens cap" getting stuck?
1

Well, crap! Try this:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F2qQlSctW-8

bob snow

OP rth23 Forum Member • Posts: 64
Re: G7X "lens cap" getting stuck?
1

RoBronckers wrote:

4. The lens cap parts consist out of 3 blades on the top and 3 on the bottom side. The top 2 can be taken off for cleaning. Keep the one with the spring attached in position. the blades on top and bottom are nearly identical. no 3 is with the spring, no2, with big pin, no 1 is with small pin

I have a small update here -- I did just what RoBronckers said the first time I tried to fix it, i.e. I didn't remove all of them. It helped for a while but the problem returned.

Recently I was on a plane with too much time on my hands heading for my holiday destination so I thought I'd rather have the camera fully working again so why not apply the fix one more time -- this time however, when opening the cover I accidentally managed to remove all the blades; I was less than thrilled at that time but it turned out I was able to put all of them back in their positions within a few minutes (one of the blades has a protrusion that you can use to stretch the spring; I had no tools on me as you can imagine).

The big thing is that this time it seems to have worked, for good! It never got stuck during my month long holiday (=I used the camera a lot) and ever since!

The problem must have been with one of the bottom (the ones with springs) blades in my case.

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