Digital Camera Repairs

[paceman]

hi all,

just wondering if anyone on the forums is a digital camera repair guru?

my mum has a sony rx-100 digital camera.  it's been great, up until yesterday when the lens mechanism wouldn't open properly on power-up and came up with the following message on the screen:

turn power off and back on again

i have done this on multiple occasions with no success. 

i am thinking about replacing the battery to rule out a power issue, but before i get serious about gently 'massaging' the camera, if anyone is familiar with camera repairs, i would be most grateful.

camera is not under warranty any longer and i don't fancy sending it to sony, considering a replacement would cost much the same as the repair...

i am fairly technically-minded, so if anyone has some more in-depth instructions, i would be happy to attempt...

[HKB Electronics]

Cameras can be a pain in the bum to work on, generally lots of interconnected boards and very
difficult to fault find without a breakout service kit in most cases.

If lens cover won't open fully I would hazard a guess and say possibly low power or some
foreign object causing it to stick. If the camera has been near sand then probably a bin job.

Make sure battery is fully charged, else use a bench power supply to ensure correct voltage is applied.

If still partially opens you could try a cotton bud to gently pry it open it open.

If that doesn't work I would suggest your local TV repairer as they may do camera repairs, else
a camera shop such as TEDS etc, last resort would be Sony as you'll probably find it will be a fixed
price to look at it and they usually set the price at an uneconomic value as they don't want to repair them.

If you decide to look at it yourself would be better to source a service manual from someone like high country service
data if they will rent you one.

Try and take pictures as you and note were screws come from as they will most likely be differing lengths.

Also be careful of hidden screws and breaking ribbon cables when you crack the cover.

[loanrangie]

I'm not a repairer but do repair consoles and other small electronics, quite often with camera's that have retractable lenses is the gears go out of alignment from a knock or accidental powering up when in a bag or case.
  Usually need to open the case and re position the gear mechanism, lots of small parts and ribbon cables as HKB has mentioned.

[cassgazz]

Also, if you do decide to have a crack at it yourself, be aware of any capacitors?? that are in there.

Had to replace a screen on my camera a while ago, and you get a fairly decent tingle from them - even with the battery removed.

[Patr80l]

We had a Lumix and the lens mechanism failed to operate.   I was told by my local camera repair guy that the lens mechanism is a sealed/replace-the-lot unit so it's not worth fixing if it's out of warrantee.

[DrewXT]

I just finished replacing the lens on my wife's Canon Ixus 90 that she has the lens out on when she fell down some stairs...

Lens was stuffed, and the replacement cost me $40 on eBay and an hours time to replace and she didn't want a new camera...

Have a look on YouTube for lens replacement videos for the camera, might be easier than you think to fix it yourself

Edit: try this http://youtu.be/vWiIe1MOUac

Sent from my GT-I9505 using Tapatalk

[paceman]

thanks all for the tips and videos...

i have the camera now, so here's to some success...

[prodigyrf]

Yeah whenever I strike a problem with something like you have I immediately web search 'Sony RX100 problem' and bingo-
http://www.dpreview.com/forums/thread/3391660
among the threads of interest.

Spotted that particular problem immediately as it's exactly the same prob the lad's Olympus Tough camera has now although it's had a fair run for him. Still works great but if the damn things turn themselves on randomly they're no good with a flat battery when you want to use them, unless of course you want to carry the camera and battery separately.

Hate to say it but these things are throwaways when they have any significant problem although I'd have a crack pulling one apart with a sticky lens, but forget about trying to drive out digital 'ghosts' in them 

[prodigyrf]

I should add in defence of Olympus Tough cameras, 'fair run' is a bit of an understatement. For 5-6 yrs it had been around the world 3 times, in and out of surf and backpacker showers and the lad's party trick when the mate's pocket cameras had pooped themselves, was to throw the Tough at them to see if they'd catch it or slide it across concrete floors or whatever.

The blighter earns too much money and didn't grow up with Box Brownies and film