What would make a camera "lock up"

[DisneyWorld Delight]

Do any of you know why a digital camera would just lock up? We were in WDW last week and a digital camera that was purchased at Christmas just shut down. No picture on the screen and the lens didn't retract back in. I tried new batteries and time, to no avail.

So this week I am home and put the instruction manual DVD in to find trouble shooting tips and the camera, right beside me, decides to start working again. The lens retracts back in. So I pick it up and hit the power button and everything is fine. Any ideas?

It is a Samsung D53 (digimax).

TIA

 

[ukcatfan]

So this week I am home and put the instruction manual DVD in to find trouble shooting tips and the camera, right beside me, decides to start working again. The lens retracts back in. So I pick it up and hit the power button and everything is fine. Any ideas?

It is a Samsung D53 (digimax).

TIA

The DVD transmits an ultrasonic unlock code sequence that resets the camera. The downside is that everytime this happens, you lose 1MP off your camera until you have none left. You can purchase the pixel resetter program from Samsung for $199 that will do a one time reset back to the maximum MPs.

I am just kidding

That is very strange to start working when the help DVD is put in the player. If you bought it locally, then I would take it back for a new one or in for repairs anyway b/c that problem could happen again after your warranty is up. If it is mailorder/online, then you might be better off calling the Samsung help number. You might get stuck with shipping if you work with the place you bought it from, but it never hurts to call them anyway.

Kevin

 

[Groucho]

One time, my first digital camera (a Fuji 2800) did something sort-of similar to that when the extended lens (this was a 6x, so it stuck out fairly far) got bumped on the first. This was on the night of our wedding, and we were leaving for Romania in the morning! I had visions of having to buy a new camera the following morning on the way to the airport... fortunately, a gentle tap on the lens in the opposite direction let it retract back in and it worked perfectly after that.

It's possible that it was just a mechanical thing - something was keeping the lens from retracting and the camera electronics couldn't deal with it. Hopefully it's just a one-time thing.