How to fix your Panasonic TZ3 camera

My Panasonic TZ3 camera recently malfunctioned. When I turned the camera on, the lens extended and retracted three times, then LCD showed only the message "Please Turn Camera Off Then On Again". The instruction booklet said this indicated a problem with lens extension. I tried turning the camera on and off at least thirty times over two weeks, and each time the lens, lcd, and controls seemed to work fine -- except that the camera wanted to be turned off and on again. Playback mode worked perfectly. It was frustrating to believe that the camera was fine and the error was wrong.

Eventually I wondered if there was some sort of "reset the lens sensor, everything is okay" function. In under a minute, I found it, or something close enough for my needs. I held down the shutter release, then turned the power on. The mode selector was in the "manual" position, though I have no idea whether this was important. After extending the lens, the camera focused as if it were taking a regular photo. When I released the shutter button, the lens remained extended, and the camera appears to be working fine. Note that pressing and holding the shutter release after turning the power on did not help -- I only succeeded once I held it down before powering on.

"Fix" is probably not the right word, for two reasons: I don't know how exactly I fixed anything, and I don't really know what was wrong in the first place. With luck, I'll never need to answer those questions.