This seems to be a common issue.
Mine was stuck at what seemed like max optical zoom.
When i would look in the lens I could not see the zoom lens. If you can not see your zoom lens and the optical zoom seems stuck I bet your camera has the same STUPID issue that mine has.

It was out of warranty and I figured I had nothing to loose so I took it apart to see if I could fix it, turns out I was able to fix it just by taking it apart and putting it back together!


Taking it apart is simple enough for the average handy man, if you do not have confidence that you can take it apart then do not attempt this repair.

Take off the bottom cover.
Take off the Hard drive cover
Now remove the three screws under the hard drive that hold the drive's plastic housing in.
Remove the screw that is right under the record button, now the drive house should be loose.
Disconnect drive cable from board and remove drive and housing.
Take off the plastic piece that has the zoom button, be sure to gently disconnect the wire.
Remove rear piece.
That screw marked with an arrow on the bottom, do not remove it!
Now remove the thin metal piece to expose the flat cable.
disconnect flat cable from board
gently flex it out of the way so you can disconnect the cable behind it.
Once you have both disconnected remove the circuit board.
unplug the flat cable on the back side.
Now remove the front piece.
At this point you are nearly there!
Now remove the metal housing that holds the lens assembly.
Once removed remove the lens assembly by removing the three screws.

If you thought that was bad, this next part will scare you.
Make sure you are in a very clean room with no fans blowing.
Remove the CCD from the rear of the lens assembly by removing the two screws on the back that hold it in place.
Remove the foam and square lens piece that were behind the CCD.
On the side of the assembly is a screw that holds the top cover in, remove it and gently pry off the top cover.

looking inside you will find the following:
on the CCD side is the focus lens.
in the middle is the shutter
On the side farthest from the CCD is a zoom lens.

On mine the zoom lens was not close to the shutter
If your zoom lens is not close to the shutter then you likely have the same problem as I had and you can fix yours!
If not, you likely have some other issue :-(

To fix mine I turned it over and I loosened the screws that held the motor and shaft for the zoom lens.
Then I slid the zoom lens as far back as it would go towards the shutter.
Then tightened the zoom lens motor and shaft mount.
Put it all back together, installed battery and bingo it's working again!


Why did this fix the problem?
Well there is a little sensor that tells the camera that the zoom lens is near the shutter.
Each time you turn off the camera it always puts the lens in that "home" position.
If the camera is turned on when the zoom lens is not in this "home" position then the camera seems to assume the zoom is broken and you end up with the infamous JVC stuck zoom issue.

My guess is this problem is caused by any of the following:
1. Removing the battery while the camera is turned on
2. Dropping the camera while it is on or off
3. Battery going dead while camera is in use

Final thoughts before you get started:

1. If you are not good at working with tiny parts or electronics, I wish you luck because you will need it. Might be better off printing these instructions and taking them with you to a repair facility and paying someone more familiar with this sort of work to fix it for you.

2. The ribbon cables are removed easily. Each one has a clamp that rotates to release the ribbon. Some rotate towards the ribbon to release, others work the opposite. It is quite obvious looking at them which ones go what way.


--e100