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Failure of Powershot G1X MkII

Started May 26, 2017 | Discussions
ghponting New Member • Posts: 3
Failure of Powershot G1X MkII

This has been a brilliant camera for three years till it failed recently halfway through a holiday. (Also had an Ixus with me.) After taking a few photos, I operated the off switch and got the 'Lens error - camera will turn off' message, although the lens had definitely not touched anything - but it did not turn off or the lens retract. Playback and menu work, but lens remains extended, try to turn it off - same message. Taking the battery out had no effect. Running playback continuous slide show till the battery died - no effect. Canon has estimated £130 for repair, but I have gone back to my previous Powershot, the G11, while I consider options. (I have the electronic viewfinder, charger and two batteries, leather case, for the G1X, all functionless while the camera is not working.)

Any ideas ???

Gerald Ponting (Hampshire UK)

Canon G1 X II
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Kevin Omura
Kevin Omura Senior Member • Posts: 2,388
Re: Failure of Powershot G1X MkII

Have you tried to very, very, very, very, gently push on the front of the lens while hitting the  power switch? Granted you might get the lens to retract but it may not pop back out....

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DarnGoodPhotos Forum Pro • Posts: 11,866
Re: Failure of Powershot G1X MkII
1

I had the same thing on my S100 so I'm hoping my new G7X doesn't suffer the same. Canon wouldn't honor an out of warranty repair despite this being a known issue. On the plus side, I ordered a lens module from eBay for ~$30 and was able to replace it using a YouTube video. It wasn't particularly difficult to do since I was just following instructions.

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Chaplain Mark
Chaplain Mark Veteran Member • Posts: 6,539
Re: Failure of Powershot G1X MkII

The same failure happened to my S110 just a few days after I had purchased it private-party.

Fortunately,  I had enough time with the camera to learn some of (and fall in love with) the Canon menu system and user interface.

Even more fortunately, a DPR forum member blessed me with a brand-new G3X after he read of my S110's sudden failure.

That said,  I do believe it would be a good investment,  as darngooddesign suggested, to buy a replacement lens module from ebay and "have at it."

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Thank You,
Chaplain Mark

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OP ghponting New Member • Posts: 3
Re: Failure of Powershot G1X MkII

Many thanks. Just tried that. No effect, same beep with the 'lens error' message.

Gerald

OP ghponting New Member • Posts: 3
Re: Failure of Powershot G1X MkII

Thank you Mark and darngooddesign. I am not keen on tinkering mechanically and anyway I cannot see the lens unit listed on eBay UK. So I have now sent a similar message to Canon Customer Support, mentioning that an online forum suggests that this is a known issue. I will post any response here. In the meantime, I have resurrected my old G11 from the depths of a cupboard ... and await any other ideas here.

Gerald

66GTO Veteran Member • Posts: 4,312
Re: Failure of Powershot G1X MkII

What would the warranty on the repair be if you had it repaired?

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Crazy old man! Slow down. You are way too old to be
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(unknown member) Senior Member • Posts: 2,265
Re: Failure of Powershot G1X MkII
1

ghponting wrote:

This has been a brilliant camera for three years till it failed recently halfway through a holiday. (Also had an Ixus with me.) After taking a few photos, I operated the off switch and got the 'Lens error - camera will turn off' message, although the lens had definitely not touched anything - but it did not turn off or the lens retract. Playback and menu work, but lens remains extended, try to turn it off - same message. Taking the battery out had no effect. Running playback continuous slide show till the battery died - no effect. Canon has estimated £130 for repair, but I have gone back to my previous Powershot, the G11, while I consider options. (I have the electronic viewfinder, charger and two batteries, leather case, for the G1X, all functionless while the camera is not working.)

Any ideas ???

Gerald Ponting (Hampshire UK)

Is a £130 repair cost on a 3 year old bit of equipment a bad thing? Not exactly a write off amount. The last time I had an estimate on a lens repair for another make's point and shoot it was £230 on a £300 camera.

I would just get them to fix it.

Mike_Moimeme New Member • Posts: 1
Re: Failure of Powershot G1X MkII

Hello ghponting,

I had the exact same issue you described in your post with my G1X Mark II today (also during my vacation). I was curious if you were able to resolve the lens error issue? I was able to get me camera to retract the lens but, it failed again the very next time I powered the camera up. I can share with you how I got it to retract if you haven't made any progress with yours.

If you did have it repaired can you tell me what needed to be done? How much you paid for the repair? Where did you have your's serviced? I also live in Europe.

Thanks in advance for your reply!

Cheers,

Mike

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