Camera: Ricoh GR III lens mech. issue – ideas or schematic anyone?

[0xPIT]

Hi,

so I got this Ricoh GR III super cheap that has – let's call it "a weak lens mechanism".

Normally when powering on, this camera it is supposed to extend the lens and retract it on power off to make it pocketable. This usually works very quickly, I'd say some 100s of ms.

When turning on in normal mode, it extends the lens very slowly and will ultimately stop, causing the software to abort and turning the camera off with a quickly blinking power LED.

It turns on fine in playback mode which does not activate or extend the lens, so I know it generally works.

I've disassembled it and the mechanical construction seems fine, there are no obstructions.
When I power the DC lens motor with some 2-ish V, it extends/retracts the lens fine – just but slow, consuming around 30-40mA.

I now suspect that the electronics (maybe even the software) drives the lens motor with some sort of boost converter to achieve the high speed from a 3V battery, and that thing might be the culprit, ie. it does not yield sufficient power.

However, as usual these days, this thing has the tiniest parts without proper markings.

Does anyone know more how this works, what the problem could be, and/or how/where to find/acquire service manual with the schematics?
(The flat flex cables are all fine – this is a typical issue with many GR cameras).

Thanks,

pit

[Koray]

Could it be something to do with aging lubricants? Many years ago when reassembling a Panasonic digital camera I used an incompatible grease and the lens wouldn't work properly. Never found the correct viscosity for the grease.

K..