William Sommerwerck wrote:
Does anyone have any idea -- other than that "something"
might happen that will magically fix the camera when the
cable is reinserted?

Good grief:

http://www.youtube.com/results?searc...0.0.0.0.0..0.0.

I admit to surprise at learning that simple vibration can dislodge
these cables. Considering how everything is (sort of) squashed
together, this is unexpected.

I've been servicing equipment on and off (more off than on for the
past 20 years) for almost 55 years. I wouldn't generally open
something with so many small parts in the hope I "just might" find
something fixable.

The cable shown doesn't appear to be displaced (but one never
knows). I don't see any justification for yanking it.

Thomas Hardman's forgetfulness in putting things back where they
belong, not to mention getting the front panel to fit correctly, are
normal for anyone working on products of this sort. You'll drive
yourself crazy.

I watched the Canon 5D2 teardown/reassembly. (I own one.) Give the
larger size of this camera's components, and its modular
construction, I'd feel much less uncomfortable tearing into it than a
pocket camera. Nevertheless, I would never do it, unless I had a good
idea of what was wrong before opening it.

It appears lens jamming is most-often caused by dirt. I'm lucky;
though I've owned cameras with telescoping lenses, this has never
happened to me.

The following is a serious suggestion. I'm not trying to trick you
into damaging the camera. Turn the camera on, and slam it (back
facing down) against a soft pillow. This is potentially dangerous, as
you might damage the LCD.

Hi William,

I'm sorry if I didn't make it more clear from the outset what the point of
all this was. A friend asked me to look at his digital camera. The camera
would power up with a "zoom error" message on the display. We looked for
simple solutions like sand or dirt in the zoom mechanism but since the lens
seemed to be zooming in and out freely, I decided to try and dismantle the
camera. The reason for removing the flexible cables is so that I can remove
the lens mechanism (whose cables are attached to the pc board) and see if
there is some other obvious reason. The cost of the camera was less than
$165 so it's really not worth sending it away for repair.

Thanks for your reply.
--

David Farber
Los Osos, CA