Unable to focus in zoom mode (DiMage Z2)

I've had this Z2 for about 2 or 3 years. All of a sudden it's no longer focusing after I zoom in. I've tried all 3 focusing modes: single AF, continuous AF, and manual. Nada. The camera will focus only when I'm zoomed all the way out. And in case this is significant, the camera is a bit noisier than it used to be when powering off. I did try removing and reinserting both the batteries and the memory card. Have any of you experienced this?

Cheers,
Carol

 

Weird question: Look at the lens of the camera. Is it dirty or have fingerprints on it?

 

Not a weird questions at all; I thought, too, that the camera might be focusing on dirt on the lens. But the lens is protected by an extender and filter, so the actual lens is quite clean. I took those off, but still had the same problem.

Cheers,
Carol

 

What happens when you try to focus in manual mode? Do you hear any moving parts when you focus manually?

 

Thanks. I just tried it, and there isn't any sound when I do that.

Cheers,
Carol

 

Hmm, it sounds like there is something wrong with the focus mechanism. Since Sony has purchased the assets for Konica Minolta, I'm pretty sure that they're providing support for Konica Minolta digital cameras. Here's some information: http://esupport.sony.com/perl/news-item.pl?news_id=120&region_id=1

 

Thanks, everybody, for all the suggestions. My camera has fixed itself! Weird!

Cheers,
Carol

 

I've had this problem a couple of times, most recently just yesterday at a Christmas party. The camera wouldn't auto-focus, but I could manually focus just fine. I also noticed that it took an extraordinarily long time to save the images to the SD card after I snapped the picture. Cycling power and changing batteries didn't help. By the time I got home, the camera had "healed" itself. Sorry, no idea what caused it, though.

ken