Does not focus or take pictures. the display shows E:61:00

How do the pictures come out? Are they haze and out of focus? It sounds like an internal ccd problem. If the unit is under warranty then the repair costs are covered. If not then you can still have it repaired through sony at your cost. If you need any further assistance please let me know.
Thank you,
Lee

The question here is are they fully charged batteries.
low battery power causes the unit to not focus correctly and the flash not charging fully

This DSLR does not have live view, hence you cannot see what the lens sees while composing the shot, you can only see the picture after the shot.

You have a projection light element out. I had the green element go on mine. I had a service agreement so a repair tech changed it.

In creative mode I would imagine that you are required to choose the focus point. Try the arrow buttons.

I had the problem, got the CCD changed it worked for a few months then it stopped working once again. My advice, though its a great camera its time to retire it. Problem is I just love the ability to add on filters which is not common in most prosumer cameras

I have the same problem, but my display doesn't show anything. It is just black.

This sounds like it might be a defective CCD imager. If so, Canon should fix this for you for free, including free shipping both ways. This is regardless of your camera's warranty status. Please check the following two links for more info:
http://camerarepair.blogspot.com/2007/11/canon-digital-cameras-showing-black.html
http://www.usa.canon.com/consumer/controller?act=PgComSmModDisplayAct&fcategoryid=225&modelid=13390&keycode=2112&id=29819
Applicable cameras include:
A40, A60, A70, A75, A80, A85, A95, A300, A310, S1 IS, S60, S200, S230, S330, S400, S410, S500, SD100, SD110

The motor that controls the focus of the lense may be bad. Here is a link to the manual, and you many need to have the camera serviced at a local shop or by Vivatar.
Go here to download the manual for future reference:
http://www.vivitar.com/ecms.aspx/e65dedb4-5c74-4e09-8110-95947ea5f876/SupportFiles/ViviCam3713.pdf