Photography worlds

Before we start on the actual camera repair, 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 from the camera’s flash capacitor. I also take no responsibility if you zap yourself while following these procedures.”

here is your digital camera repair tips. It will be necessary to remove the back face from your camera to access the switch. The procedures vary little from camera  to camera. It  usually  involves   removing all the visible  screws along  the perimeter of the camera (also look for hidden ones,  such as under  the battery door or other camera flaps), then prying the back case off, usually starting at the lower portion of the case. A ribbon cable may be attached between the back case and the camera’s circuit board. Recommend leaving the cable attached as you usually should still  be able  to access  the switch. With the case open, and before proceeding further, remember to discharge the flash capacitor with the batteries removed.

Now note the simplicity of the design of the mode dial. It’s merely a rotating contact plate with two brushes that complete the circuit of the contact dial on the circuit board. With this design it’s easy to see how  the brushes or contact  plate may become fouled with gunk  to  interfere with contact. The brushes  may also  easily become slightly bent, say from a camera fall,   thus   also  interfering with operation. You may have already deduced what we need to do. The first is to clean the brushes and circuit dial of any visible gunk that may have accumulated on them. I recommend a Q-tip, very slightly dampened with a drop of alcohol. Be careful with the alcohol, you don’t want it running all over the circuit board. Remember   to check  and clean off any residual cotton hairs/lint from the Q-tip on both of these components.  A little compressed air blowing would help here. Just as reminder, Rotating camera selector switches (also called “Mode Dial” on Canon camera repair situation) enables the camera to select different modes of operation.

Finally, only bend the brushes if you suspect them of being damaged (remember that time you dropped the camera?  Ain’t it funny that it started to act up then?)  Ever so gently lift up on both brushes to bend them slightly upward to ensure contact with the contact dial.  Emphasis on the gently, we just want to bend them up the tiniest bit. That should do it.  Reassemble the camera and try it out. Good luck!