What happened to my camera? It was working for my daughter's dance recital, now I can't even turn it on to get the pictures; Even with new batteries!

I've tried new batteries, that's not working! Like Everyone else who's had this problem, I bought this camera in 2004 (Dec). For the price, it worked great until it suddenly/without warning quit working...won't even turn on again. Did Fuji plan this?

Is this a ZOOM ERROR problem? If so, it may be that the lens it out of alignment.
That's pretty common in the S3K. In Kodak's, similar issues occur when using underpowered batteries. So you may want to try batteries with a higher mAh - like around 2500mAh would satisfy the higher power requirements of your camera. This could easily solve it.
Then, I came across this solution from the manual: Turn the camera off and on until the zoom sound changes. The camera may need to just cycle until it works through it. Also, cycle the batteries several times, turn off the LCD, effect a full reset if you can.

But if it's mechanical, then you're looking at having it repaired.

If you're mechanically minded, you could try some of the suggested listed in here. But I would guard against it as it's not for the faint of heart. Best bet is to send it in to Fuji. But understand that the average cost of a camera repair is around $180. As such, it may cost more to repair than it is really worth. The rule of thumb is that if the estimate for repair is north of 50% what you paid for it, you're better off taking that money and buying a newer and upgraded model.

Another option is for affordable camcorder repair, I've heard that this site is worth a look: http://www.darntoothysam.com/servlet/StoreFront

I have just finished fixing my Fuji Finepix S3000
It ceased working as our family camera and we didn't ask any questions we just replaced it
It wasn't until I got sick of how lame my Polaroid a515 really was that i decided to resurrect my old Finepix
after pulling the whole thing apart i found the problem
In the lens motor assembly there is a gear without a pin to hold it in place. To get rid of the zoom error screen you must disassemble the entire camera and place a pin to keep the gear in place so that the lenses will be to move and retract
probably not worth it
very difficult (it took me six hours(didn't have the right tools)it was a rainy day)
just go out and buy the new Finepix
which is very nice
I have that one too.