Can Auto-Focus Systems be Damaged?

[cbass]

(I'm not sure if this is a repair question or a discussion question. Moderators, please feel free to move if you see fit.)

Is it possible for a camera's auto-focus system to be damaged or rendered partially inaccurate while the rest of the camera remains otherwise perfectly operable?

I have a digital P&S that works fine in every respect except that it won't lock focus on anything closer than about 6 feet (2 meters). The camera (a Panasonic TZ-1) used to have reliable, blazing-fast AF when shooting up close, including macro.

The problem may have been the result of one of the neighbor kids dropping the camera (while it was powered up) onto a wood floor about six weeks ago. Could a drop of three feet (1m) cause this kind of damage? Anyone ever have something similar happen to an auto-focus camera? I hope I don't need a new P&S...🙁

 

[jvr]

Yep, unfortunately. The most probable thing is the mirror being whacked out of position. In Nikons, for instance, that is critical. My old D70s used to backfocus a few cms and that was the problem. Not the result of a fall but I'm sure a "wrong" fall can produce the same results. By "wrong" I don't even mean "big". It depends on a lot of stuff: my wife just dropped her D80+18-200VR big time on the floor, a week ago, and no harm: the camera dropped lens down, the cap shattered, the filter shattered and bended and no damage at all to lens or camera!

So, yes, I would say you'll have to get it fixed... 🙁