Digital Camera Repair

Important Warning: Camera Flash Capacitor Shock!

2009-07-26T09:20:00.000-07:00

Any repair that requires opening up the camera case requires some electrical background and knowledge, and should not be conducted by anyone unfamiliar with basic electrical components and safety precautions. If you must open up your camera in an attempt to repair it, it is very important that you understand that there is some risk of SEVERE electrical shock. All digital cameras contain a flash capacitor. This device stores quite a bit of electrical energy from the camera's batteries. This energy is utilized to power the camera's flash. The device itself looks a little like a battery, and in turn draws its power from the camera's batteries. In order to work on your camera, it will be necessary to safely drain the capacitor of any residual charge it may have.

Flash Capacitor

The following link is downloadable procedures for safely discharging the flash capacitor to greatly reduce the risk of electrical shock. Before downloading, the usual warning of “Follow these procedures at your own risk. These procedures should only be considered as a last resort on a broken camera with an expired warranty. I take no responsibility should you damage your camera in following these steps. Also note that there is some danger of electrical shock. I also take no responsibility if you accidentally zap yourself while following these procedures.” Here's the link to the procedures:

Flash Capacitor Safety.pdf (from skydrive)

Disassembling the Canon Powershot A650 Digital Camera

2009-07-26T08:19:00.000-07:00

Sample Pic !

What follows is my guide in words and pictures to taking this camera apart. Read it over before starting the disassembly.

Tools needed:

- Set of small screwdrivers. The screws have Philips heads. A thin flathead screwdriver is useful for prying apart the plastic latches in the camera.

- Can of compressed air.

Take off the filter adapter silver ring around the lens by pressing the button next to it. Look at the camera from every angle and take out all the screws you can find. You should come up with a system to track where each screw came from because the screws that you will remove have several types of threads and several lengths. For each screws or group of screws, I ripped a small piece of paper and wrote on it where the screws belong. I formed it into a "container" by creasing it with my thumbs and my index fingers. The problem is that halfway through, you don't know how to name the locations anymore. Probably the easiest thing is to print the images on this site and number the screw holes in the pictures as you remove each screw. This will also make sure you put all the screws back in when you re-assemble the camera.

Next, pry off the back half of the case. Notice it's held in place by three latches, so you have to raise the top a little:

This is how the back looks without the case:

and the front (without the lens assembly):

Next, remove the piece that has the shutter and the zoom controls. The main obstacle is the latch and the ribbon cable:

To remove the LCD, unscrew the two screws shown below and unplug the yellow and the blue connectors:

While you're at it, also remove the ribbon cable that you see in the corner next to the yellow and the blue connectors.

To remove the LCD, there's also this screw and one or two others:

Look at the metal case and remove the screws that hold it together. When you get the flash unit loose, short-circuit the capacitor to discharge it so you won't accidentally electrocute yourself. I used a pair of scissors WITH PLASTIC HANDLES. Touch the two points shown below to discharge the capacitor and to see a decent-sized spark in the process:

NOTE: This is the bad way to discharge a capacitor because it creates a very large current for a brief period of time, possibly destroying the capacitor. You're better off using a resistor to drain the capacitor over ten seconds or so.

Take out the screws that hold the viewfinder in place.

Now comes the fun part: disassembling the lens assembly. Start by taking off the little cover on top of the lens held by a spring if it hasn't fallen off already:

This should leave you with the following pieces held together by cables:

Slowly play with the back cover of the lens assembly. It's held together by a few latches so try not to break them. I broke one or two but I reassembled the lens assembly without any problems. The back cover snapped back into place.

Once you remove the back cover, a few gears will fall out that were connected to the little motor:

Taking apart the lens assembly is by far the trickiest and most painstaking part. The lens assembly is composed of a few plastic cylindrical pieces that have diagonal tracks to guide the other cylinders. When one of the cylinders reaches the end of the track, it pops off because the end of the track is open. Try to remember how every piece looked and fit in before you remove it. It will save you a lot of time and frustration.

Note, Piece 4 can be decomposed further.

Also, be very careful with the two ribbon cables that go into the lens assembly; I managed to break one of them at some point. I moved to another house while the camera was apart, so I stored everything in a few plastic bags and when I took them out two weeks later, one of these two ribbon cables was ripped.

It's also useful to have a can of compressed air to clean the lens of dust as you are reassembling it.

At the end of the process, you will have the following pieces:

As you see, I removed 37 screws to get to this point.

Here's my Crazy Glue job:

The plastic here doesn't work well with Crazy Glue. One solution is to go to CVS and among the instant glues they sell is a brand of glue that is packaged together with a tube of primer. The primer made the plastic surfaces hold together much better.

Okay, time to re-assemble everything! I'll refer to the cylindrical parts of the lens numbered in red in the previous pictures. The green line shows the ring edge of Piece 4. Rotate the ring until the opening in the ring lines up with the opening of the track in Piece 3. Place Piece 5 inside Piece 6 and rotate them until Piece 5 slips in. Take the combined piece and place it so that the pins from Piece 5 slips through the openings in the ring of Piece 4 and the openings in Piece 3. Push Piece 6 down so that its pins slip through the openings of Piece 2. Here's how it looks:

Rotate all the pieces back into place so the lens assembly shrinks into the retracted position.

Place the three gears inside and snap the back into place. To complete the lens, put the cover with the spring back in place--without permanently deforming the spring. Now go the steps in reverse order to re-assemble the camera.

Good luck!

Canon A560 Point-and-shoot Camera

2009-07-26T07:17:00.000-07:00

I bought a two month old Canon A560 camera from ebay with a broken battery door, and broken tabs which hold the door down. After registering the camera, Canon customer's support gave me the phone number of Canon's parts sales department. I was really surprised how cheap the parts were (almost half the price of OEM parts). Canon customer support were really helpful, and from my explanation, suggested that I needed to replace the front of the plastic outer casing, the battery box, and the battery door. Including shipping, that was coming to $40. However, they said that they will not be able to give me repair/ service manual.

Further research indicated that there wasn't much difference between A550 and A560 body parts. From different photographs that I saw on internet, I figured that apart from the LCD, there wasn't much difference, at least from the outside. So I took the chance, and bought a broken A550 from ebay for $20, including shipping.

I did the project quite late at night, so couldn't be bothered to use a tripod to reduce camera shake. Some of the photographs are a little blurry. However, you should get the general idea of how to open the camera.

The following picture shows the A550 camera how I got it from ebay. From the seller's explanation, and the physical appearance, it seemed that the lens assembly was damaged:

NOTE 1: Be very very careful. The camera has components (for flash) which store high voltage. If you're not careful, the shock that you might get is not powerful enough to kill you, but definitely remember it for a long time. Despite being warned by many people on the internet, I got the shock anyway, but I thought that I'll still warn you anyway. My writing these notes is proof enough that it's not strong enough to kill you.

NOTE 2: I took these photographs just as sort of breadcrumbs to guide me back in assembling the camera if needed. I have tried to capture every detail, but if I've missed something, I'm quite sure that these notes give you enough information that you'll figure out what to do in order to take it apart.

My aim was to salvage the battery box, the front plastic casing, and the battery door. The battery door was hinged in the battery box, so I figured I need not disassemble it.

Even though I just needed the battery box, I decided to dis-assemble it completely to see how it's been put together.

First of all, you need to open the camera. For this, you have to unscrew the screws on the outer body. I took the bottom screws out first:

Next, open the battery door, and unscrew the one inside. All the outer body casing screws are the same size, but this one is somewhat longer:

Next, the screws on the sides come off:

The screw on the other side:

This is the tool that is recommended to open the equipment (being plastic, won't harm the plastic body), but I seldom use it:

Once having removed the screws, you need to take the front and back cover off. The battery box is a good starting point. Force the front and the back cover apart by applying force in the direction shown. You won't be able to open it using your forefinger and thumb, as shown in the pic. This is just for illustration. I held the camera, and applied (restricted) force by both thumbs, and forced it open:

I say restricted, because I just opened it until the latches holding it let go. Then, using a screwdriver, I wedged the other side open. You might have to use some "persuasion" for it to open up Don't be afraid to use some force when it is required. What do you have to loose? It's already broken

Still, don't force it open all the way. Here's how much you should open it once the latches holding the two halves let go:

Using only slightest force on the top of the camera will make the front of the camera come off. Be careful in putting it back on, though. The part indicated by the arrow consists of a very thin copper plate. It can easily bend (happened to me), and will cause the zoom button stop working. You will then have to straighten it again.

Next step is to take the back plastic case off. You can start on the end shown. Put the screwdriver (small one) in as shown, and wedge it open as indicated below. Also note that the camera strap will have to be taken off. Otherwise, the back cover won't come off.

Again, don't open it all the way, because the camera mode select button will still be held to the main body by a cable ribbon. See the hole indicated by the arrow? Put a needle in the hold, and pull the cable ribbon away from the camera to dislodge it.

And the back cover comes off:

Next, I wanted to take the main ribbon cable assembly off. For this, I had to remove the shield holding it down. The top of the shield is held down by the screw indicated here. Once the shield is off (not shown here), I had to pry the cable open with a watch screwdriver. The cable was being held down on the battery box with several plastic tabs. Slightly prying the cable (as being shown) will make the cable come off.

Part of the shield is being covered by the buttons PCB (left side in the pic below). To remove it, the LCD had to be taken off (secured with two screws indicated below):

The LCD will still not come off, since it is attached to the main PCB via a ribbon cable. Prying open the flap (indicated with the arrow) will make the ribbon cable come off with a slight pull.

Next, unsrew the two screws shown encircled, and then after that, the only screw securing the shield will be the one indicated with an arrow.

The shield will come off as shown below. Next, you'll have to open the flap shown to dislodge the buttons PCB being held to the main ribbon cable assembly (indicated with arrow in the pic):

Next, you need to take the two screws at the bottom:

To take off the main ribbon cable assembly now, pry it by inserting watch screw driver under it in the places indicated. You'll also have to pry the LED (rightmost arrow). The arrow shown in below indicates that here, the ribbon cable might be secured down with a bit of glue. The ribbon cable won't be damaged if you put a screwdriver under the cable assembly, and slightly push it up to dislodge it.

Next, you need to unscrew the screw shown on the left side. This is the last screw you have to remove in order to take the battery box off, but since it was more of an exploratory mission, I took the screw on the right side off too. This secures the lens assembly to the main body.

As I said, you need not have take the screw on the right side off. The only two screws that were left that need to be taken off to remove the battery box are indicated in the pic below (already removed here):

Next, flip up the flap indicated below to remove the ribbon cable. The portion of the ribbon cable assembly which has two LED's will be held on to the body with plastic tabs, and you can slightly push under it with a screw driver to dislodge it:

The following photo is overexposed (forgot to turn the flash off), but shows me flipping the latch open on the socket:

And off comes the ribbon cable assembly:

You'll have to remove the screw (not indicated here, but shown removed on the top left corner, just below the flash bulb. The plastic cover of the flash has been removed too). You can just pry open the top which has the flash and the viewfinder assembly:

In order to remove the lens assembly (not done now, but later), you'll have to push it here to dislodge it:

Even when the battery box comes off, you'll have to desolder the two wires indicated in the picture below. This is supplying the main circuit board power from the CR1220 battery.

Next, you'll have to desolder the main battery wire terminals (indicated below). You have an option to either do that, or completely remove the main circuit board, and then desolder the wires from there. But I preferred not to do that, because I didn't want to open the other camera all the way.

The picture blow shows the battery box held to the rest of the camera through these wires only:

Remove the tape first:

Then desolder the wires:

This is enough to take the battery box off, but I went ahead to disassemble the rest of the camera. The following picture shows where I desoldered the CR1220 battery wires:

The battery box, which I really needed. You can see the wires, which go through a hole in the battery box to the terminals. These had to be pulled slightly to take them out. They were being held behind the plastic tab (shown with yellow arrow). This is quite clear in a picture above where the camera is still hanging on to the main board through these wires.

Next, the plastic piece on the other side can be taken off with a little "persuasion".

In order to take the main circuit board off, you need to remove the screws shown encircled, and flip the catch holding the ribbon wire (indicated with red arrow):

At the back, it's held to the lens assembly with another cable. Flip the catch on the socket as indicated to make it loose, and then pull the ribbon cable out:

So off comes the lens assembly. This assembly is the biggest problem with digital cameras. Even though the picture is not clear, you can notice the sand particles on the lens assembly. If you're not careful and go to the beach with the camera, and drop it in sand, this is what will happen. And if you try to repair it yourself by knocking it, as indicated in some places on internet, look at the first picture of what could happen :-) Knocking it might dislodge some sand particles that might be clogging the gears, but it won't correct the problem. The particles will still be there, and will again clog the wheels later on. Opening up the lens assembly is a separate project.

Ok, now to the other camera. The damage to the camera has been indicated. The two out of three tabs which hold it down were broken. the third tab was intact, but the part of the battery door which holds on to this tab was broken.

Opening up the camera in the same way as A550 was opened revealed that the front is almost exactly the same, but there were differences on the back side. The LCD screen is larger on this guy, and is held to the main board through not just the ribbon cable, but also a couple of wires (red and black, most probably supply power to the LCD backlight). The additional bracket to hold the LCD is also shown. The screws that I needed to take out, and the two wires connecting the CR1220 battery to the main board are also shown.

From the front, I needed to take the screws off, and desolder the wires connected to battery terminals after removing the tape:

After removing the shield, took off the ribbon cable assembly. The battery box was removed carefully, and replaced with the one from other camera (the operation not shown here, since it was simple). A couple of things to note. It wasn't easy to put the battery wires back through the hole. Second, the piezo-electic buzzer caused some problems while putting the battery box back in place. Since I didn't take the main body bracket out, I had to bend it slightly to take the battery box out. Didn't have to do it so much as to bend it permanently, though. Other than that, it was simple.

Here's another tip. I put the screws on a white paper, and mark it where they came from. You can see the screws from the bottom, front, switch PCB, top, shield and casing. There were a couple of more screws from the LCD, but they were put on another paper, not shown here. This helps me not mixing the different sized screws, and I now seldom have any extra screws left over. I do the same sort of labeling for the parts that I've taken out.

Ok, here's the working camera. The front of the camera now shows it to be an A550, since I had to replace it (one of the tabs that was broken was on the front body casing). However, it doesn't impact any of it's operation, since except for the label, the front is exactly the same.

Canon A550/A560 Lens Assembly Repair

2009-07-26T06:59:00.000-07:00

Now for the lens assembly repair. First of all, unhook the spring from here:

Next, you have to dislodge the main flexible cable assembly. For this, you'll have to remove the tape (red arrow). Then slightly push up the flexible cable assembly (blue arrow). This is held down with some sort of sticky glue. You should be careful, and it will come off easily. Then, slightly push from under using a watch flat screwdriver (yellow arrow) to make this part of assembly come. It is held down by plastic tabs (visible in the pic). Next, the assembly will have to be taken out from under the plastic tab (grey arrow). Since the cable is flexible, you should be able to do that very easily:

Tape off:

And cable assembly removed from under the plastic tab:

Next, take off the five screws:

And slightly push the tab slightly, to make it come off:

Only the slightest wiggling will make the top and bottom part separate. They're still connected through the cable assembly, so don't try to take the two halves apart:

This exposes the problem. Broken gears in the gearbox:

This is not a difficult fix. This pair of gears is available on ebay for $12.50, including shipping. Seems like in this case at least, the root cause was dropping the camera, and not sand from the beach, as I'd initially thought, though the sand particles are still there.

The lens assembly can further be taken out to clean up the dust and sand particles etc.:

Now to bust an urban myth. The camera with a stuck lens does not repair itself by blowing air through it by using a compressor, or thumping it, or throwing it against the wall. In this case, severe thumping/ buggering has resulted in not just the tabs on lens cover to be broken (red arrows):

but also in other cosmetic blemishes from the "thumping":

Right now, I don't have an incentive to order these gears and repair the lens assembly, since I've already used the parts from this camera to repair the other one, but next time, I know what to do if I come across a camera which lens issues.

Disassemble a canon A540/A530 to the sensor to remove the ir cut filter

2009-07-26T06:47:00.000-07:00

This tutorial will show you how to disassemble a canon a540/a530 to the sensor to remove the ir cut filter.

Tools:
#00 philips screw driversoldering iron

couple of notes:
- there is 300 volts or so inside the camera. canon has done a pretty good job shielding those areas, and I haven't gotten shocked even though my fingers have been everywhere, but be careful anyway. it's enough energy to kill you several times if you're unlucky.
- you may end up with an ir sensitive camera, or you may end up buying a new camera.

remove the green and red screws. the green screws are identical. take off the back cover. the back cover snaps together with the front cover at the top of the camera.

remove the screw and loosen the clips holding the lcd. disconnect the cables connecting the lcd and set the lcd aside.
remove the screw and take off the front cover. there's a thin dust ring between the cover and the lens barrel, don't lose it.

remove the screws. the red screw is a metal screw. pry off the plastic io panel and tripod thread assembly.

if you want to, now is the time to turn back first remove the two screws holding the control panel pcb, then disconnect and remove the control panel. very carefully disconnect the cables. the connectors are very delicate, and if you snap one, you'll be buying a new camera.

desolder the circled wires. it is not necessary to detach the crossed wires. remove the three screws holding the main pcb (not indicated here), and reflect the main pcb along the bottom, exposing the sensor.

circuit board pics...

sweet

remove the screws holding the sensor. the sensor is also glued down near the screw tabs. remove the sensor by prying near the screw tabs - the glue is brittle. do not pry at the center. there are three springs beneath the sensor, be careful and hold a hand over the sensor as you pry at it so the sensor does not pop out. my guess is that they are used for focus adjustment - the springs push the sensor back to to the screw, and the screws can be loosened to move the sensor back. then glue is applied to secure its position.

remove the ir cut filter (looks pinkish). you will need to move the sensor back slightly by approx 0.1 mm as removing the glass filter changes the optical path...

there are two ways that I can think of:
1. include the springs as you reassemble the sensor. screw the sensor down all the way, and loosen the screws by an equal amount to move the sensor back. glue to secure it
2. prepare three focus spacers out of a thin material (plastic, metal) and screw the sensor on top of that. you don't need the springs if you do this.

clean the sensor and the area near the ir filter, and reassemble everything. everything should work if you didn't break anything. have fun with your now ir sensitive cam

Pentax 50mm lens fix

2009-07-26T05:42:00.000-07:00

I acquired an SMCA 50mm f1.7 from eBay. Well, what do you expect.. The aperture ring was would only turn between f1.7 and f11. Meaning no A position action for my DS. So I did a bit of reading round the net and found that this seems to be a problem peculiar to this one specific Pentax lens. I need very little encouragement to take things to bits, so I went for it, and here are my observations.

First, unscrew the five screws securing the bayonet mount.

Take it off, and it looks like this

The aperture lever cam just lifts off, like this.

Next, the tricky bit. You have to take the aperture ring off, VERY CAREFULLY. It is worth doing this in a box or perhaps a plastic bag, because there are a couple of tiny bits that could fly off and get lost. If you happen to have one of those handy magnetised parts trays (available from all good automotive tool supply shops), so much the better. Once the ring is eased off, and all the bits are accounted for, relax. But not totally. You may have one or more minute ball bearings rolling around. They are teeny tiny. Keep good track of them and BEWARE, they are soo small that if you brush against one accidentally, you can pick one up on your skin without realising it - until it is too late and you've lost it. Best advice - pick them up with a bit of Sellotape until you are ready to put it all back together. The A position button will probably fall out of the aperture ring, but it's large by comparison and hard to lose.

Now it looks like this. Note that little silver bullet-on-a-spring thingy. That's the 'A' connector, as it were, that tells the camera when the lens is in A mode. Most likely it fell off when the aperture ring came off. The bullet thingy sits on a metal tab in that grove. The bullet thing disassembles into three bits; the bullet, the spring and the carrier. If yours drops off and falls to bits, just press the bullet bit back into the carrier and shove the spring back up its arse and, come reassembly time, put the metal tab back in the grove and sit the bullet thingy assembly back on it.

Now to the main event. There are two metal tangs controlling the A position clickstop. These are held in place with plastic welds. These welds are a bit fragile and commonly fail. It seems that Pentax only used this fixing on this one specific lens, but I haven't looked inside any others to check. Yet. So there's the problem - the weld has failed on one tang and it has become detached, jamming the ring.

Solution: I have read that some people have drilled tiny holes and reaffixed the tangs with tiny screws. Far too much effort for me. I just used a blob of Araldite adhesive, which seems to have done the job perfectly. Perhaps you could lash it down with duct tape. There there, all better. Original plastic weld on the right, Araldite blob on the left.

Now to stick it all back together. Remember the detent - here's the spring, pulled a bit out of its hole so you can see it.

And there you have it. It's not brain surgery, just a bit fiddly. I do hope you didn't lose any of those ball bearings now...

Canon A430 fix

2009-07-26T05:33:00.000-07:00

The Canon A430 is a nifty and inexpensive little P&S. We got it as an upgrade for my old Canon A60 as a family snaps camera. The red colour matches my wife's car. Anyhoo.. only six months old, the lens jams half in and half out. The camera is unusable. It beeps and says "lens error" then turns itself off. Fair enough, so send it away to the authorised Canon service centre. But oh no, they send back a fuzzy 6x4 picture showing what they say is sand in the lens mechanism. They say this invalidates the warranty and would I care to pay £99.83 for them to fix it? Seeing as a new one now costs rather less than that, I decline. I then have to fork out another £8.50 for them to post it back to me. I am not a happy punter. But with nothing to lose I decide to try and fix it myself. It turns out to be a doddle. I see no reason why this same approach will not work with any other Canon models with stuck lenses caused by grit in the mechanism. (If the mechanism itself is irreparably damaged, say after dropping the camera, you're out of luck.)

First, remove the three screws on the base (note how the serial number has rubbed off. This seems to be a modern design feature - the self-erasing serial number. I've seen it on a number of very recent consumer products)

Then remove the screw on the AV in/out connection side. Then on the opposite side, remove the screw hidden under the rubber flap

covering the USB connector.

Five screws, that's all there are.

Now gently pry open along the seam and ease off the front half of the casing.

Now you can begin to see where we're going. Just above that 6105, underneath that orange ribbon connector, is where the problem lies.

But we need more access. So remove the rear casing. As with the front casing, it just eases gently off. However, the orange ribbon cable

will remain connected between the camera and the LCD.

Now we can get at the problem. Half hidden by the strip of orange ribbon cable, by the ball of my thumb, is a worm (spiral) gear that engages with a cog. Some grains of sand or grit have got in and jammed between the gear and cog teeth. All that is required is to take a paintbrush and blower, or whatever you have to hand, and dust out the grit. At the top of the worm gear are some small turning vanes that are useful because you can use them to turn the worm gear whilst dusting.

If your eyes are sharp you may be able to make out the axe-head shape of one of the vanes in the shot below. (Travel north from 6105 and it's underneath the small stub of ribbon connector.)

After blowing and dusting and turning the screw, it is time for a test; so put the batteries back in.

Push the power button and see what happens. With luck, and perhaps a bit of a residual grinding sound, the lens mechanism will operate as designed.

I got lucky. I just slid the casings back on - remembering to locate the rubber cover grommets for the USB and AV connectors as I did so - and replaced the five screws. Now all is well. So Canon can stuff their "invalid warranty" and kiss what goodwill I had towards them goodbye. On the other hand; they do make a camera that is remarkably easy to take apart. But next time I'll be buying one of those Pentax or Olympus waterproof numbers..

Canon A70 - IR Modification

2009-07-26T04:54:00.000-07:00

Canon A70 - IR Modification

I describe below how to modify a Canon Powershot A70 into an IR only camera by replacing the factory installed IR cut filter with an IR only passing filter.

By removing the IR cut filter, and replacing it with an appropriate filter that only lets IR radiation pass, we can create a highly sensitive, IR capable digital camera that opens up a whole new world of creative possibilities while retaining the convenience of digital photography.

Why did I choose the A70? There are no specific technical reasons, I merely had one at my disposal. This hack is not new and has been performed with numerous different camera models by many other people. However, as decent documentation is scarce, I believe this page might be worthwhile for someone.

Before I continue, a few words of caution. Please read them carefully!

- The below documentation is for entertainment or educational purposes only. It is most likely incomplete, wrong, misleading, full of errors and omissions, and potentially hazardous to yourself and your environment. Peruse at your own risk.

- Understand that it is a very likely possibility that your camera will not survive the described modification. Don't attempt this if you don't feel the camera is expendable.

- The flash capacitor in the camera stores a possibly lethal current. While unlikely, if you have a known or unknown medical condition, or just bad luck, you could possibly kill your self. If you proceed, take the appropriate precautions. The only way to stay completely safe is not to attempt this modification at all.

- You agree to hold me free of any damages or injuries that should result from you or someone you know attempting the below modification.

Tools

You will need as a minimum the following tools and equipment:

-A set of 3 or 4 fine tweezers of various shapes

-A 1mm flat head screwdriver

-A Phillips screwdriver #000

-A TORX screwdriver #T4

-Packaging tape

-A permanent pen

-A clean work area

-A Cokin P007 IR pass filter or something equivalent to create a replacement for the IR cut filter.

-A dremel tool or similar to cut the replacement for the IR cut filter to its proper size. A small hand saw can be used as well, with 150 grain sand paper to sand the piece down to final dimensions.

Before you begin, have a good system to keep track of the screws and their original location:

A large piece of packing or duct tape, turned around to expose the sticky side and fixed to your desk at it's ends is perfect. Draw outlines of the pieces you are removing directly onto the sticky side of the tape, label the drawn parts accordingly, then set down the screws at their approximate locations onto the tape while you disassemble. This will greatly help in preserving all screws and making sure they go back where they belong once you reassemble.

The Modification

First you need to remove the 3 screws on the bottom of the camera.

Open the cover for the connection ports. Remove the tray containing the CR1220 battery. You will see two screws which you need to remove.

Open the battery compartment on the bottom of the camera. There are four screws that need to be removed. Two on top and two on the inside of the compartment.

Open the CF card door and turn the camera on its head. There is another screw that needs to be removed.

Now the top plate containing the zoom and shutter release comes loose. It attaches via a tiny green connector to the body of the camera. Disconnect and remove. The CF card door will now also come off.

On the front of the camera, press the button marked with a red circle. This will allow you to unscrew the silver plastic ring around the lens.

There is one last screw on the back of the camera that you need to remove.

You will now need to carefully pry the plastic shell apart and off of the camera. Remove the back portion covering the LCD screen first, starting at the bottom and working yourself up. You will need to use some force, but not excessively so. It's more a question of feeling.

The cover for the battery compartment can be removed by pushing at the metal axis forming the hinge to the compartment in the direction of the green arrow with something like a paper clip. Watch the spring circled in red, you don't want it to go flying across the room.

This is what you end up with once the lid has been removed.

Now remove the mode dial at the top via the two screws holding it.

Before you proceed, take note of the "huge" capacitor to the left. It temporarily stores the power for a flash discharge and is probably loaded to full capacity. To prevent it from discharging via an accidental touch, possibly seriously hurting or even killing you or frying any equipment you might be touching at the time, I suggest you cover the terminals on top with electrician's tape for insulation.

Next, you need to remove the flexible circuit board covering most of the top and back of the camera. Start by removing the one screw holding it at the bottom.

Next, push the black lever to the top left inwards, so that you can remove the switch registering if the CF card door is open or shut. Be careful you don't push the black lever in too far, or it will come off and you will be hunting for it and the spring that usually pushes it back out. NOTE: this needs to work perfectly again when you put the camera back together. If not, the camera will think the CF card door is open and will NOT turn on. Be careful and take your time.

Now carefully remove the flexible circuit board from the body by lifting it off of the green circled notches one by one.

Once you have pried it completely loose, you will see where it attaches via a connector to one of the main circuit boards. carefully lift the green circled tabs with a small screw driver to unlock the connector and you will be able to pull the flexible circuit board completely off.

Now that the circuit board is removed, you can continue by removing the CF card reader. Remove the single screw circled above. Then, slowly slide the CF reader off of the rest of the body, towards you. You might need to lift it over a tab at the bottom of the camera.

Once it is almost off, separate the connector between the reader and the underlying DIGIC processor board by simply pulling back on it.

This is what it will look like once it has been separated.

Next is the LCD screen. But before you can remove it, you need to remove the optical viewfinder first. There is one screw on the front that you need to remove.

Then there are two more on top. Once removed, you can lift the viewfinder off of the top carefully. Take note that it is snapped in place in front where you removed the first screw. You will need to wiggle a bit for it to pop loose.

Under the area where the viewfinder was you will find the first screw that holds the LCD panel. There is a white ribbon cable in front of it. You will need to remove the ribbon cable eventually, so you might as well do it now by pulling it out of the marked connector which does not have a locking mechanism. Then remove the screw.

On the bottom of the camera, there are two additional screws to remove that fasten the LCD to the body.

As a last step, before you can remove the LCD, there are 2 more ribbon cables to detach - marked in blue above. The one on the side has a locking mechanism that is unlocked by moving the two blue circled pieces of plastic in the direction in which the cable detaches.

The smaller one on the bottom can just be pulled out.

Once the LCD is removed the DIGIC processor board to the right ist last before we have access to the sensor. Start by detaching the additional 3 ribbon cables marked above. The green circled one just pulls out, the blue circled ones need to be unlocked first by flipping the black plastic flap on top of them open. Next, remove the screw circled red and you should be able to wiggle the DIGIC board out of the plastic holding it to the body.

Once it is loose, there is a tiny connector on top that needs to be detached.

Finally, on the back of the board there is another ribbon cable that needs to be disconnected before you can completely remove the board.

Now you have direct access to the CCD sensor of the camera. It is fastened by three TORX screws. The top left one will be covered by the piece of metal holding the flash capacitor. Just carefully bend it to the side and out of the way.

If you have not done so yet, make sure you have a well protected, dust free place to put the sensor while you remove the IR cut filter. Check the metal housing of the sensor to see if it might be secured by one or two small drops of glue. If so, carefully scratch the glue away with a screw driver or an exacto knife. Take extreme care not to cut or otherwise damage any of the ribbon cables. Then unfasten the screws and carefully lift the sensor off by its ribbon cable.

This is what the CCD sensor looks like after being detached.

Here you can see the slightly blue tinted IR cut filter that we will be replacing by an IR only filter. Before we proceed, take note of the 3 brass shims around the screw threads holding the sensor. Also, note the two small springs marked with red arrows above. You want to be extremely careful not to lose any of them.

Carefully pull off the rubber gasket around the IR cut filter with a pair of tweezers. Then, using a screw driver, pry off the IR cut filter which is held to the plastic beneath by 2 tiny drops of glue.

Once the IR cut filter has been removed, fabricate a replacement piece out of the Cokin P007 IR filter, or whatever material you will be using. If you do not replace the IR filter with something of similar thickness and refractive index, your camera will be extremely near sighted and unusable except maybe for macros.

Above you can see the original IR cut filter in blue. As I was unable to obtain a P007 IR pass filter on short notice, I used a P003 red filter for the replacement (seen to the right) and added a piece from a thin gelatin IR filter so it would still be IR only.

Install your filter replacement in the same spot that the IR cut filter occupied and secure it with 2 additional drops of an appropriate glue. Two tiny strips of tape will work as well. Now put back the rubber gasket around the filter and re-attach the CCD sensor carefully.

Congratulations, you are almost done! Now you only need to put the whole thing back together again by retracing your steps and assembling in reverse order. Pay specific attention when re-attaching all those ribbon cables and other connectors. You want them connecting the right way around, coming together again securely and locked in place where supported. All the while you do not want to exert excessive force on any of them. Check each connection thoroughly before you move on. I would guess that 90% of the problems you might have on reassebly will be bad connections.

Good luck!!!

This is how I fixed my Canon SD600 with Lens Error.

2009-07-26T04:41:00.000-07:00

Out of the blue my Canon SD600 showed "Lens Error" after I turned it on. The lens was normally retracted and didn't even seem to try to come out. Even if switched to "play" mode it showed Lens Error and didn't get to the menu.

I went online and noticed this is a BIG problem for many people with Canon's. One option offered was to push the lens back in - but since the lens is fully retracted in my (and many other cases) that is not an option. Another option mentioned was to tap the camera on a hard surface. That didn't work either.

Since the Camera is out of warranty (just 2 weeks!) I decided to open it and see what I could do.

It turns out I could fix it!!!

The problem seems that miniscule dust/sand particles jam the gears which moves the lens. It is possible to turn the lens motor by hand bit by bit and remove particles stuck in the gear.

I will explain in detail below, including pictures. Note: these photo's were made with my 2002 Konica KD-400Z - still working great, while this is the 2nd (and last) Canon.

Step 1: Remove all 6 screws with a miniature philips screwdriver (2 bottom, 2 left, 2 right). They are all the same size screws.

Carefully remove front cover, then the back cover. This is what you will see:

The lens motor is located behind the flash. With a miniature screw driver it is possible to push this rotor around bit by bit. It takes some time and precision, but you can very slowly see the lens coming out. The rotor must be rotated towards the back of the camera for the lens to open. In other words: the axle should be rotated clockwise.

When I switched the camera on after a few revolutions, it actually worked again! Problem solved!

However, I wanted to remove the root cause of the problem. I could hear the gear didn't go very smooth, little "ticks" could be heard. It seems small pieces of sand and dust were jamming the lens gear. The lens gear (well, at least 2 gears) can be seen on the side of the camera - see picture below:

I used the smallest screw driver and a needle pin to pick out particles of sand/dust which were stuck between the gear. They are easy to see on the black gear, but they were also present on the white gear. I worked the entire gear by pushing the motor rotor bit by bit with the miniature screw driver. I continued until I removed all particles. This took me 10-15 minutes.

Warning: Don't touch the Flash - the capacitor is charged with 20 kV or so - it will give you quite a shock.

After this the lens opening and closing went smooth - without odd noises or ticking.

I inspected the inside of the camera, and noticed more sand/dust particles were present. I cleaned it all up, to avoid them from jamming the gear again. There was a lot of sand stuck in the speaker (round black circle on the back) and a LOT of sand was stuck on the rectangular rubber seal on the inside cover. See picture:

I think the Canon's suffer from these lens problems because sand/dust can enter the camera - especially if they are put in your pockets. Canon should have sealed the gears so sand/dust can not enter. Maybe it's a strategy, maybe they don't like the camera's last too long or like to earn a buck on repairing them.

After fixing it and cleaning everything, the camera can be closed again. Start with the back cover. Pay close attention to make sure the mode switch slider (play, movie, camera) is catching the switch lever correctly. After placing the back cover, but before putting in any screws check if the mode switch can be operated normally.

Then carefully place the front cover and position the piece of plastic for the carry-cord. Fasten the 6 screws.

I hope this information helped you fix your Canon.

Kind Regards, Arnoud.

Fixing a cracked LCD on a Canon Powershot Elph. SD600 ( SD750,SD1000,SD1100)

2009-07-26T03:02:00.000-07:00

Note: if you are replacing the Backlight please see read the instructions submitted by a reader at the bottom of this post.

Hello future LCD replacers. I hope it goes well. This process seems scary and is made even more scary by voiding the warenty. But it is cheap and fairly easy, so give it a shot. I hope these photos and tips will help. These photos are of a SD600 but they may well be good for most similar Canon digital cameras.See the comments linked from the bottom of the page for some additional tips and encouragement. I try to add them in as the come but they might be worth checking out. And for those of you who have commented THANK YOU I appreciate the kind words.
Diagnosis: First determine that a cracked LCD is the problem. Here this is very clearly the case. The backlight is still functioning. This can be seen because a bright white light is still coming through but images are not present. If the display is completely black the problem may be the backlight and not the LCD. Replacing the backlight is very similar but not shown here.

Finding the parts: To order a new LCD for the Cannon SD600 you need to find out which of two different screens are in your camera. I found this out by calling the Canons Eastern USA suplier. 732-521-7007. They will sell you a new screen for about $50 including shipping once you know which screen you need.

step 0: take out the battery and memory card (thanks 4salmon I forgot to write this step down)

First remove the six exterior screws shown below. Two on the left, two on the right and two on the bottom(shown with one already removed).

Next gently remove the casing. It should come off in four pieces. A front, back and right panel and a small circular piece that is inset in the right panel.

Once the back panel is removed you can tell which LCD screen is needed. You are looking for the presence or absence of the word "SONY" on the left side of the metal rim around the LCD screen. When ordering the part tell them which one you have.

You can now order the correct part.(732-521-7007 in the US)To continue removing the LCD screen take out the screw in the upper right hand corner above the LCD screen.

Once the screw is removed gently slide the the screen to the left. Lightly lifting the piece of clear plastic next to the screw hole might be necessary.

Now you should be able to lift the LCD screen while it is still attached to the backlight. Two ribbon cables come out from them. The thicker is for the LCD screen and the thinner is for the backlight. The thicker is attached to the back of the backlight with adhesive.

Gently pry the LCD screen away from the backlight. You may need to use a small flat head screw driver.

Between the screen and backlight there is a a thin plastic sheet.

After separating the the LCD from the backlight peel the thick cable off of the back of the backlight. There is no need to clean off the remaining adhesive it will be useful with the new LCD cable.Next flip the the camera over and pull out the thick ribbon cable from its socket. Now tape a strip of paper to the end of the cable (props to this website for this great idea). This will allow you to easily thread the new cable.(UPDATE: It may be easier to do this by removing the tripod piece instead of threading it with paper. See Jamie's comment. I would love to know how this works for people as I would rather not take mine apart again just to look. 1/28/08: This has been confirmed.)

Now pull the ribbon through leaving the paper in the place where the ribbon was.

Cut the paper and discard the old LCD screen.Press the new LCD screen on to the backlight until it clicks into place.Now tape the ribbon for the new LCD screen to the paper and pull the paper through

Carefully pull the new ribbon through. Press the ribbon against that back of the backlight, it should stick to the old adhesive.Slide the backlight and LCD into their old position (from the left to the right). Now replace the screw in the upper right hand corner.

Now remove the paper from the ribbon and attach plug the ribbon cable into its socket. Make sure to push it in deep. I did this by putting a small screwdriver into each of the two small holes on the side of the ribbon and pushing the ribbon into the socket.

Once the cable is plugged in all that remains is to reassemble the case and replace the six screws of the exterior case. It is easiest to put them on in the order: Back, right and than front. When putting on the back panal make sure the switch on the panal is in the same position as the switch on the camera.

I had a problem that once the new screen was in place it showed a black screen in camera mode. I fixed this by holding down the menu key, turning it on and off and reseting the menu options. I am not sure which one is correct so try one at a time and tell me which one worked.(UPDATE Anonymous posted:To get the LCD to display in "camera mode" go to settings and do a "Reset All..."This should take care of the LCD being blank in camera mode.)

Fake/Counterfeit Canon NB-4L batteries

2009-07-26T02:56:00.000-07:00

I thought I would share my experience regarding fake Canon NB-4L batteries. Let me start by saying I own a Canon IXUS 55, with the girlfriend owning a Canon IXUS 40 both using the Canon NB-4L Battery. I have purchased two spare batteries from eBay, with one of the purchased batteries looking to be fake. The following photos show the four batteries with the differences circled in red and reasons for this belief.

Firstly, a front photo of the four batteries, the lower right battery is the fake. Circled in red is a single linear indent on the fake battery whilst the real batteries have two linear indents. The text on the fake is also quite blurry.

Secondly, a back photo of the four batteries, the lower right battery is again the fake and again the single indent can be observed on the fake. Circled in red is the caution text which again is blurry. It can be observed that the words on each battery are different, and hence I believe is not a good indication to its authenticity.

Lastly, a isometric view of the four batteries, the lower battery is the fake. Circled in red is a little rectangle, with the genuine batteries having a rectangle piece of plastic stuck on while missing on the fake battery. This would have been to save on manufacturing costs.

There are other differences, but those above are the most obvious. Click on the above images to display high resolution photos.

Replacing a cracked Canon IXUS 55 / IXY 60 / SD450 LCD screen

2009-07-26T02:47:00.000-07:00

Here’s a step by step guide on replacing the LCD screen on a Canon IXUS camera. Whilst, the model shown here the IXUS 55, it is fairly similar for other IXUS models.

The cheapest LCD I have found online is through The Foto Geeks for $55, however you can actually buy a cheaper whole (working) camera from eBay, and usually accessories are included with it. Note to make sure it is only the LCD which is cracked and not the backlight, in order to get the correct replacement parts.

My poor camera with cracked LCD screen:

Tools required:

small Philips head screwdriver
small flat head screwdriver

First remove the 6 Philips screws on the edges of the metal case, location defined by the arrows in the photo below:

Remove the front half of the metal case by starting at the camera’s base, at the top there is a metal clip which connects the front and back halves. Removing the front half free form this clip requires a bit of manipulating . The clip is circled in the photo below:

Once the front half of the metal housing is removed, the back half can be removed extremely easily. You will be presented with the LCD screen, remove the single Philips screw which holds the LCD in place as per the photo below:

Slide the LCD screen to the left, and this will release the screen from a little clip. Once the screen is free, remove a Philips screen holding the tripod mount is place:

Turn the camera over, and remove the front screw which holds the tripod mount. You can then remove the tripod mount which will allow the removal of the main LCD ribbon cable. The ribbon cable is disconnected by lifting up the brown tab on the connector:

Once the main ribbon cable is removed, the backlight’s ribbon cable can then be accessed easier. It is removed by simply pulling the cable away from the socket perpendicular to the PCB:

The LCD can now be removed from the camera. The below photo is the replacement LCD screen:

To connect the replacement LCD and reassemble the camera, perform the above instructions in reverse. It is a good idea to test the replacement LCD before assembling, to make sure everything works fine.

How To Replace a Broken LCD Canon Powershot SD400

2009-07-25T11:08:00.000-07:00

So, I abused the hell out of my camera. It rode in my back pocket as I stumbled through the last few months and I ended up smashing the screen on my Canon SD400 (sometimes known as the IXUS 50.) It was not the camera it once was. Note the dents, scratches and the fact that all the coloring around the optics is gone. Despite broken screen, I’m pretty happy with the amount of abuse it absorbed. The camera still worked and took pictures despite not having a working screen, but the optical viewfinder was all clogged with dirt and I was attempting to navigate the menus from memory and without feedback. It sucked.

This was sad, so I started googling for the possibility of a user replaceable screen and while what I found certainly voids the warranty faster than throwing the camera under the wheels of a moving van, it worked. Nuts to you warranty.Andy Ozment has a nice (if google adword covered) multi-model write-up about repairing the screens, but no pictures. I *guess* this is an understandable side-effect of writing a guide on repairing a camera, many people might find it tough to photograph the repair while trying to repair the object that would be used to take photographs. I am not one of those people. Oh, now is as good a time as any I guess:

Perform at your own risk. This shit WILL void your warranty, oh god don’t sue me

Here we go.
I got a new screen from Foto Geeks it came in a silly little box and seemed tiny for costing 65bux.

From reading on the internet I took a guess that my backlight was *NOT* broken, the chief indicator of its well being was the glow it gave off through the shattered screen, this is good. I don’t know where you can order a new backlight, but I’m pretty sure you could replace it in nearly the same method I use here

I used two Craftsman Professional screwdrivers, a flat head 3/32×2-1/2, and a philips 00×2-1/2. I love these screwdrivers ’cause I’m pretty sure you could prison stab someone with them and my Dad gave them to me. (thanks Dad)

You’ll also need Scotch Tape, a Post-it note and scissors.

First, remove the battery and memory card, I guess you should also be worried about static discharge frying the camera, but I did this repair whilst wearing socks on the carpet, I think you’ll be fine. I’m fairly sure that static electricity doesn’t really exist.
Here’s the unboxed replacement SD400 LCD screen. I tried to keep the new screen as dust free as possible so as not to trap any crud under it during installation. Determining the orientation is going to be important later, so notice that the screen has two distinct sides.

There are six screws on the exterior of the camera, REMOVE THEM!

When all the screws are out, pull the two overlapping halves of the camera apart, being careful as it is possible to bend the metal.

Parts that will fall out:
Silvery plastic circle thing.
Rectangular silver mount for the wrist strap
Buttons

I did a powerup here to check that I hadn’t messed anything up at this point, and ’cause I didn’t have a picture of the screen in all it’s glory.This may have been a shock risk or just stupid, I don’t know.

At this point I installed an InvisibleSHIELD on the new screen while it was still outside the camera

Removal of screw number 7, this screw is a different size than the others, so don’t get it mixed up.

This is one of the hardest parts of the whole procedure. The backlight and LCD are held together with a series of metal clips that have to be freed before you can replace the screen. I used a small flat head screwdriver to wedge in between the two and try to get the claps undone. This is also the part I have the worst pictures of. The goal is not to get the LCD off right now; it’s just to get it detached from the backlight.

When it comes loose, you’re going to want to slide it to the left before you lift it up like the pictures shows. There’s a few little catches that you don’t want to break off, but sliding the screen out a little bit before lifting should avoid this.

Flip the camera over and using the screwdriver, lift up the small black plastic gate holding the ribbon cable in, and pull it out.

Now comes the really unpleasant part. The ribbon cable is threaded through the internals of the camera, if you pull it free, it’ll be very hard to get the new cable back through. That’s where the tape and Post-its come in; you can use them to make yourself a little retrieval cable and pull both the ribbon cable and the post-it through. You can then use that same bit of paper to guide the new ribbon back through.Make sure that the new screen is going on in the same orientation as the old one; there likely won’t be room to turn the ribbon over when you get it threaded.

Here’s the old screen with retrieval post-it attached and ready to go

Now the old screen, ribbon, and post-it have been pulled through.

Transfer of the post-it from the old screen to the new one, with the new screen in the correct orientation

Threading of the new ribbon through the cameras internals, this would be quite hard without the post-it already in place as the path inside the camera goes up and down. Also consider applying tape to both sides of the ribbon/post-it interface to make sure nothing gets snagged inside the camera.

When you have the ribbon cable back through, reseat it very deeply into the channel and lock the gate back down. Then give the camera a power on:

Counter-Terrorists WIN!

Put it back together and do a little dance, that wasn’t so bad.

Check your warranty Casio EX-S500 / Casio EX-S600

2009-07-25T09:48:00.000-07:00

Check your warranty Casio EX-S500 / Casio EX-S600

Most cameras have a 1 year warranty. If your camera is still under warranty you may want to see if you can get the camera professionally repaired free. Look at the details of your warranty. Most companies have you write a letter stating how the problem occurred (ie: LCD wouldn't turn back on after transferring pictures). Cracked LCD's are harder to explain because the warranty doesn't cover you if you dropped the camera. If you purchased a warranty package at a retail store (such as Circuit City or Best Buy), their plan may cover accidental damage. If you did drop it, and plan on sending the unit to the manufacturer, do not admit to dropping it, lie.

Recognize the problem
Before you begin to tear into your camera, make sure it is a problem that you are comfortable repairing. A lens problem requires a much more invasive repair compared to changing an LCD.

Avoid static damage
The first time I tried to repair a digital camera, I did everything correct, except one thing. I did not take the proper precautions to make sure I wouldn't damage the circuitry of my camera with a static charge. The camera I tried to repair thus needed even more repair than when I started.
Here are a few precautions you can take to avoid damaging your camera with static electricity:

1) Remove the battery from your camera before you open the case
2) Wear anti-static latex gloves, or a wrist strap that grounds you.
3) Try to keep your body at the same electric potential as the camera.
You can do this by touching something metal (non-electrical) on the camera at different points during the procedure. For example, I know most Canon's have a metal frame holding their shape.
Keep track of materials
There is nothing worse than closing up your camera after a successful repair and realizing you don't have enough screws, or just as bad, realizing you have too many screws.
Here are a few tricks that you can follow to make sure you don't lose any screws and so that you remember where every screw was removed from:
1) Do all of your work over a paper plate. This way, if you do drop a screw, the edges of the plate won't let it roll away.
2) As you remove each screw, tape it to the plate or a piece of paper and label where it was removed from (ie: 'top of LCD'; 'housing case left bottom'; 'under LCD top right'; etc.)
3) Even though a magnetized screwdriver would make loosing screws more difficult, one should not be used because it may interfere with the electrical and mechanical parts of the camera
4) If you want you can sketch the camera on a sheet of paper and tape the screw on corresponding area of the sketch.

How To Replace a Broken LCD Casio EX-S500 / Casio EX-S600

2009-07-25T09:41:00.000-07:00

If you have a damaged LCD follow the steps below to repair this problem.
Step 1: Make sure that the LCD is what is the problem and that by fixing this the camera will be like new again. The best way to do this is to take the A/V cable that came with the camera and plug it into the camera and TV (A/V slot on camera found by the USB cable)

Step 2: Unscrew housing, keeping track of the screws. You should have a total of six (6) screws (4 from the bottom and 1 on each side). You should also have where the wrist strap attaches (that comes off).

Step 3: Remove the housing and then remove the battery cover by removing the screw shown below (now total of 7 screws)

Step 4: Seperate the LCD from the Backlight and both from the body of the camera. They can be removed by taking a small flathead screwdriver and prying gently (note: there is a little glue holding the backlight onto the body of the camera). Fold down the LCD unit.

Step 5: Turn the camera over and remove the screw on the main circuit board of the camera (now total of 8 screws)

Step 6: Remove the ribbons attach the lens to the main circuit

Step 7: Pass the ribbon of the LCD and the blacklight so that they are fully on the front side of the camera (DO NOT PULL ON THE WIRES FOR THE BACKLIGHT).

Step 8: Flip over the main circuit board so you can see where the LCD ribbon attaches (it will be on the same side that the SD card is inserted)

Step 9: Now get the new LCD. (information on how to get a new LCD can be found on the repair shop link).

Step 10: Attach the LCD ribbon to the camera. Make sure it is FULLY inserted.

Step 11: Reverse the steps, being sure to fully insert the ribbons for the lens and putting back all the parts in the correct order. There is nothing worse than finishing and seeing a small part or screw that belongs on the inside of the camera still on your work station.

Step 12: Replace the housing. Use a microfiber cloth to wipe off any finger prints that may be on the new LCD, or on the inside of the plastic covering the LCD. They will show after the unit is closed and you will not be able to get rid of them without re-opening the unit

Step 13: Insert the battery and test to see if the LCD unit works. \

Congratulations, you did it!!!!

Didn't work? - If you only see white, this means that there is either a problem with the LCD unit you inserted, or that you failed to insert the ribbon fully. If you see an image, but is dark, then the backlight power was removed. You can repair this with a steady hand and some solder, or bring it to a jeweler who has the correct materials and know how, or bring it to a repair shop, but if you were willing to do that you wouldn't be here in the first place. If the camera doesn't power on, then you may have shorted a circuit, and failed to take the proper precautions as mentoined here.

Check your warranty Canon SD1100

2009-07-25T09:39:00.000-07:00

Check your warranty Canon SD1100

Most cameras have a 1 year warranty. If your camera is still under warranty you may want to see if you can get the camera professionally repaired free. Look at the details of your warranty. Most companies have you write a letter stating how the problem occurred (ie: LCD wouldn't turn back on after transferring pictures). Cracked LCD's are harder to explain because the warranty doesn't cover you if you dropped the camera. If you purchased a warranty package at a retail store (such as Circuit City or Best Buy), their plan may cover accidental damage. If you did drop it, and plan on sending the unit to the manufacturer, do not admit to dropping it, lie.
Recognize the problem
Before you begin to tear into your camera, make sure it is a problem that you are comfortable repairing. A lens problem requires a much more invasive repair compared to changing an LCD.
Avoid static damage
The first time I tried to repair a digital camera, I did everything correct, except one thing. I did not take the proper precautions to make sure I wouldn't damage the circuitry of my camera with a static charge. The camera I tried to repair thus needed even more repair than when I started.
Here are a few precautions you can take to avoid damaging your camera with static electricity:
1) Remove the battery from your camera before you open the case
2) Wear anti-static latex gloves, or a wrist strap that grounds you.
3) Try to keep your body at the same electric potential as the camera.
You can do this by touching something metal (non-electrical) on the camera at different points during the procedure. For example, I know most Canon's have a metal frame holding their shape.
Keep track of materials
There is nothing worse than closing up your camera after a successful repair and realizing you don't have enough screws, or just as bad, realizing you have too many screws.
Here are a few tricks that you can follow to make sure you don't lose any screws and so that you remember where every screw was removed from:
1) Do all of your work over a paper plate. This way, if you do drop a screw, the edges of the plate won't let it roll away.
2) As you remove each screw, tape it to the plate or a piece of paper and label where it was removed from (ie: 'top of LCD'; 'housing case left bottom'; 'under LCD top right'; etc.)
3) Even though a magnetized screwdriver would make loosing screws more difficult, one should not be used because it may interfere with the electrical and mechanical parts of the camera
4) If you want you can sketch the camera on a sheet of paper and tape the screw on corresponding area of the sketch.

How To Replace a Broken LCD Canon Powershot SD1100

2009-07-25T09:20:00.000-07:00

If you have a damaged LCD follow the steps below to repair this problem.
Step 1: Make sure that the LCD is what is the problem and that by fixing this the camera will be like new again. The best way to do this is to take the A/V cable that came with the camera and plug it into the camera and TV (A/V slot on camera found by the USB cable)
(i don't have a broken camera so I will be taking apart my working camera for your benefit. Your welcome)
Step 2: Unscrew housing, keeping track of the screws. You should have a total of six (6) screws (2 from each side and 2 from the bottom)
Step 3: Unscrew the two screws that are holding the LCD that are located at the the top of the LCD after the housing is removed.

Step 4: There are two metal pieces that snap into the the sides of the LCD, one on the left, and one on the right. The one on the left is shaped like an L, and the one on the right is shaped like a shorter L
Step 5: Remove the backlight ribbon which is located in the upper left above the LCD

Step 6: Remove the LCD ribbon which is located on the front of the camera. To remove lift the black tab and pull out the ribbon. There is some glue that attaches the ribbon to the bottom of the camera, gently pry the ribbon off.

Step 7: Separate the LCD/backlight from the camera. There is a tab that looks like a peg and loop on the bottom right corner of the LCD, there is also a small tab that is on the left side.

Step 8: Now get the new LCD. (information on how to get a new LCD can be found on the repair shop link).

Step 9: Reverse the steps above and install the new LCD, re-assemble the housing and re-insert the battery and test.

Congratulations, you did it!!!!

Didn't work? - If you only see white, this means that there is either a problem with the LCD unit you inserted, or that you failed to insert the ribbon fully. If you see an image, but is dark, then the backlight ribon was not replaced correctly or fully. If the camera doesn't power on, then you may have shorted a circuit, and failed to take the proper precautions as mentoined here.

Check your warranty Canon SD600

2009-07-25T09:18:00.000-07:00

Check your warranty Canon SD600

Most cameras have a 1 year warranty. If your camera is still under warranty you may want to see if you can get the camera professionally repaired free. Look at the details of your warranty. Most companies have you write a letter stating how the problem occurred (ie: LCD wouldn't turn back on after transferring pictures). Cracked LCD's are harder to explain because the warranty doesn't cover you if you dropped the camera. If you purchased a warranty package at a retail store (such as Circuit City or Best Buy), their plan may cover accidental damage. If you did drop it, and plan on sending the unit to the manufacturer, do not admit to dropping it, lie.
Recognize the problem
Before you begin to tear into your camera, make sure it is a problem that you are comfortable repairing. A lens problem requires a much more invasive repair compared to changing an LCD.
Avoid static damage
The first time I tried to repair a digital camera, I did everything correct, except one thing. I did not take the proper precautions to make sure I wouldn't damage the circuitry of my camera with a static charge. The camera I tried to repair thus needed even more repair than when I started.
Here are a few precautions you can take to avoid damaging your camera with static electricity:
1) Remove the battery from your camera before you open the case
2) Wear anti-static latex gloves, or a wrist strap that grounds you.
3) Try to keep your body at the same electric potential as the camera.
You can do this by touching something metal (non-electrical) on the camera at different points during the procedure. For example, I know most Canon's have a metal frame holding their shape.
Keep track of materials
There is nothing worse than closing up your camera after a successful repair and realizing you don't have enough screws, or just as bad, realizing you have too many screws.
Here are a few tricks that you can follow to make sure you don't lose any screws and so that you remember where every screw was removed from:
1) Do all of your work over a paper plate. This way, if you do drop a screw, the edges of the plate won't let it roll away.
2) As you remove each screw, tape it to the plate or a piece of paper and label where it was removed from (ie: 'top of LCD'; 'housing case left bottom'; 'under LCD top right'; etc.)
3) Even though a magnetized screwdriver would make loosing screws more difficult, one should not be used because it may interfere with the electrical and mechanical parts of the camera
4) If you want you can sketch the camera on a sheet of paper and tape the screw on corresponding area of the sketch.

How To Replace a Broken LCD Canon Powershot SD600

2009-07-25T08:53:00.000-07:00

if you have a damaged LCD follow the steps below to repair this
problem.

Note: The SD600 is very similar to the SD200, SD300 & SD400,
so if you want to look at those to get an idea of what to do it is
suggested

Step 1: Make sure that the LCD is what is the problem and that
by fixing this the camera will be like new again. The best way to do this
is to take the A/V cable that came with the camera and plug it into the camera
and TV (A/V slot on camera found by the USB cable) [i didn't have a SD600 that
was broken, so I took apart my the camera I use to demonstrate]

Step 2: Unscrew housing, keeping track of the screws.
You should have a total of six (6) screws (2 from each side and 2 from the
bottom)

Step 3: Separate the LCD/backlight unit from the whole
camera. To do this there is a small screw on the top right of the
LCD. There are also two clasps, one to the left of the LCD and one at the
bottom left of the LCD. Do not lift the LCD/backlight yet...wait until the
next step.

Step 5: Remove the ribbon for the backlight (located under the
LCD/backlight unit.

Step 6: Remove the ribbon for the LCD (located on the
front of the camera). After the ribbon is removed, tape a piece of paper
no thicker than the ribbon itself and at least 5 inches long.

Step 7: Gently thread the ribbon and paper under the main
circuit. It may be easier to loosen the circuit by removing the screw
shown below (bottom right on the front of the camera). make sure the paper
doesn't tear. This step takes some patience. Once the paper is
through remove the tape from the LCD ribbon. Make sure the paper is still
on both sides of the camera.

Step 8: Now separate the broken LCD from the backlight.
There are little notches (2 on top and 2 on bottom - one on the bottom is
covered in black tape). [i didn't actually do this step because my LCD
isn't broken and I don't want to accidentally scratch anything, but i
demonstrated how it should look - if you look at the sd200 page you should get
an idea of how it should look too]

Step 9: Now get the new LCD. (information on how to get a new LCD
can be found on the repair shop link). Attach it to the backlight, then
attach the LCD ribbon to the strip of paper. Pull on the paper gently so
that the ribbon now goes through completely. (be sure that you get no
fingerprints on the back of the LCD or on the front of the backlight because
they will remain there.
Step 10: Attach the LCD ribbon to the
camera. Make sure it is FULLY inserted. Wipe off any
fingerprints

Step 9: Replace the housing.

Step 10: Insert the battery and test to see if the LCD unit works.

[sorry about the blurry pictures, I usually am using the SD600 to take
photos, but for obvious reasons I was unable to]

Congratulations, you did it!!!!

Didn't work? - If you only see white, this means that there is either a
problem with the LCD unit you inserted, or that you failed to insert the ribbon
fully. If you see an image, but is dark, then the backlight ribon was not
replaced correctly or fully. If the camera doesn't power on, then you may
have shorted a circuit, and failed to take the proper precautions as mentoined
here.

Check your warranty Canon SD500

2009-07-22T15:28:00.000-07:00

Check your warranty Canon SD500

Recognize the problem

Before you begin to tear into your camera, make sure it is a problem that you are comfortable repairing. A lens problem requires a much more invasive repair compared to changing an LCD.

Avoid static damage

The first time I tried to repair a digital camera, I did everything correct, except one thing. I did not take the proper precautions to make sure I wouldn't damage the circuitry of my camera with a static charge. The camera I tried to repair thus needed even more repair than when I started.

Here are a few precautions you can take to avoid damaging your camera with static electricity:

1) Remove the battery from your camera before you open the case

2) Wear anti-static latex gloves, or a wrist strap that grounds you.

3) Try to keep your body at the same electric potential as the camera.

You can do this by touching something metal (non-electrical) on the camera at different points during the procedure. For example, I know most Canon's have a metal frame holding their shape.

Keep track of materials

There is nothing worse than closing up your camera after a successful repair and realizing you don't have enough screws, or just as bad, realizing you have too many screws.

Here are a few tricks that you can follow to make sure you don't lose any screws and so that you remember where every screw was removed from:

1) Do all of your work over a paper plate. This way, if you do drop a screw, the edges of the plate won't let it roll away.

2) As you remove each screw, tape it to the plate or a piece of paper and label where it was removed from (ie: 'top of LCD'; 'housing case left bottom'; 'under LCD top right'; etc.)

3) Even though a magnetized screwdriver would make loosing screws more difficult, one should not be used because it may interfere with the electrical and mechanical parts of the camera

4) If you want you can sketch the camera on a sheet of paper and tape the screw on corresponding area of the sketch.

How To Replace a Broken LCD Canon Powershot SD500

2009-07-22T15:10:00.000-07:00

If you have a damaged LCD follow the steps below to repair this problem.

Step 1: Make sure that the LCD is what is the problem and that by fixing this the camera will be like new again. The best way to do this is to take the A/V cable that came with the camera and plug it into the camera and TV (A/V slot on camera found by the USB cable)

Step 2: Unscrew housing, keeping track of the screws. You should have a total of eight (8) screws. For this camera they made it a little tricky. There are three (3) easy to see screws on the bottom, two (2) on one side, and one (1) on the other. The side with one screw has two more hidden. There is one under the flap you lift to access the USB port, and there is one under that piece you just unscrewed

Step 3: Unscrew the LCD/backlight unit and the button pad. There are three screws for this, one on the top left of the LCD unit, one under the backlight ribbon on the top right of the LCD unit (you have to remove this ribbon) and one on the top right of the button pad.

Step 4: Fold both the LCD/backlight unit and the button pad down to reveal where the ribbon is inserted into the camera's motherboard

Step 5: Undo the ribbon from the broken LCD.

Step 6: Now get the new LCD. (information on how to get a new LCD can be found on the repair shop link). And insert it opposite the way you removed the old LCD (the metal on the ribbon should be down). Make sure it is FULLY inserted (use toothpicks in ribbon holes for aide in this step)

Step 7: Put back the LCD/backlight unit and the button pad (the screw that goes under the backlight ribbon goes through both the LCD/backlight unit and button pad, make sure the LCD/backlight unit screw hole is under the button pad screw hole)

Step 8: Replace the backlight ribbon

Step 9: Remove any fingerprints

Step 10: Replace the housing. Don't forget to first screw in that hidden screw from before before covering it up.

Step 11: Insert the battery and test to see if the LCD unit works.

Congratulations, you did it!!!!

Didn't work? - If you only see white, this means that there is either a problem with the LCD unit you inserted, or that you failed to insert the ribbon fully. If you see an image, but is dark, then the backlight ribon was not replaced correctly or fully. If the camera doesn't power on, then you may have shorted a circuit, and failed to take the proper precautions as mentoined here.

Check your warranty Canon SD200 / Canon SD300 / Canon SD400

2009-07-22T15:07:00.000-07:00

Check your warranty Canon SD200 / Canon SD300 / Canon SD400

Recognize the problem

Before you begin to tear into your camera, make sure it is a problem that you are comfortable repairing. A lens problem requires a much more invasive repair compared to changing an LCD.

Avoid static damage

Here are a few precautions you can take to avoid damaging your camera with static electricity:

1) Remove the battery from your camera before you open the case

2) Wear anti-static latex gloves, or a wrist strap that grounds you.

3) Try to keep your body at the same electric potential as the camera.

You can do this by touching something metal (non-electrical) on the camera at different points during the procedure. For example, I know most Canon's have a metal frame holding their shape.

Keep track of materials

There is nothing worse than closing up your camera after a successful repair and realizing you don't have enough screws, or just as bad, realizing you have too many screws.

Here are a few tricks that you can follow to make sure you don't lose any screws and so that you remember where every screw was removed from:

1) Do all of your work over a paper plate. This way, if you do drop a screw, the edges of the plate won't let it roll away.

2) As you remove each screw, tape it to the plate or a piece of paper and label where it was removed from (ie: 'top of LCD'; 'housing case left bottom'; 'under LCD top right'; etc.)

3) Even though a magnetized screwdriver would make loosing screws more difficult, one should not be used because it may interfere with the electrical and mechanical parts of the camera

4) If you want you can sketch the camera on a sheet of paper and tape the screw on corresponding area of the sketch.

How To Replace a Broken LCD Canon Powershot SD200 / SD300 / SD400

2009-07-22T14:46:00.000-07:00

If you have a damaged LCD follow the steps below to repair this problem.

Step 2: Unscrew housing, keeping track of the screws. You should have a total of six (6) screws (2 from each side and 2 from the bottom)

Step 3: Separate the LCD from the backlight. The LCD can be removed by taking a small flathead screwdriver and inserting it between the top and bottom metal snaps on the LCD/backlight unit (see image below). Fold down the LCD unit.

Step 4: Remove the ribbon for the LCD (located on the front of the camera. After the ribbon is detached, thread a piece of string (I prefer dental floss) through the holes of the ribbon end.

Step 5: Remove the broken LCD from the rest of the camera, making sure the sting doesn't detach. You may want to unscrew the backlight unit to give yourself more space to pass the ribbon through, but this is not a necessity.

Step 6: Now get the new LCD. (information on how to get a new LCD can be found on the repair shop link). Attached it to the string and gently pull it through to help the ribbon go through all the way.

Step 7: Attach the LCD ribbon to the camera. Make sure it is FULLY inserted (use toothpicks in ribbon holes for aide in this step)

Step 8: Replace the housing.

Step 9: Insert the battery and test to see if the LCD unit works.

Congratulations, you did it!!

Didn't work? - If you only see white, this means that there is either a problem with the LCD unit you inserted, or that you failed to insert the ribbon fully. If you see an image, but is dark, then the backlight ribon was not replaced correctly or fully. If the camera doesn't power on, then you may have shorted a circuit, and failed to take the proper precautions as mentoined here.