Awhile back I bought 37 point and shoot cameras to fix and flip on eBay. Of the 37, 16 worked without issue. This Nikon Coolpix S4000 had a lens error. Let’s see if we can fix it!
Tools used in this video:
Lens errors can be caused by a multitude of things. Something as minor as dust around the barrel can prevent the barrel from extending. Or, damage from a dropped camera can distort the barrel so that there’s too much friction for it to extend. The tolerances are such that only a little bit of distortion will prevent it from functioning.
So off camera I started with a few tricks to diagnose whether this was a dust/debris issue or a damage issue. Damage wasn’t readily apparent, but my usual tricks did not solve the lens error. So, I resorted to replacing it.
Our donor camera was another S4000 from the same lot. This camera had a “no power” status. There are many reasons to get this sort of problem as well, but I haven’t had much luck in repairing cameras that are not receiving power. So, donor camera it becomes.
It’s a fairly straightforward process. Remove the screws and open up both cameras. Take one lens mechanism out and swap in the good one. After that, just test it out, confirm that it works, and save the donor camera for other repairs down the road.