Saturday, September 30, 2006

The Canon SD500 & the Cracked LCD Screen

A few months ago, I wrote of My Cannon SD500 LCD Cracked and my successful self repair for $40.

At the time it seemed that this has happened to many people and to many versions of the Powershot series camera with little explanation other than many suspecting an manufacturing defect.

I recently noticed a possible explanation that would likely explain my breakage (and it wasn't rough handling). The camera comes with a wrist strap which attaches to end of the camera and has a separate sliding plastic piece which allows you to cinch the strap to your wrist (so it won't easily slide off). When I was putting my camera back into it's little case, I noticed that the following could result:

Note that the plastic slider is positioned directly over the LCD screen. In this position it creates a pointed pressure point on the LCD screen and, I fear, any little pressure would cause the LCD screen to crack. This easily explains how my LCD cracked (not that I have any direct proof this happened as I didn't notice the position of the handstrap when I took the camera out of the case).

Moral of the story: Keep the strap on the front side of the camera when you put the camera into a case or don't use the strap.

Let me know if this may have been a part of your problem as well.

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13 comments:

Anonymous said...

I recently dropped my SD500 and cracked the LCD while hiking in the Georgia mountains on vacation. tonight I bought a new Canon a640 from Amazon. I did a search on replacement LCDs and found one on ebay for $60. Where did you get yours for $40? I am fairly good at figuring things out is there any special advise that you would offer about opening this camera andreplacement of the LCD. Any advise would be great.
Thanks
CHris

Conor P. Cahill said...

I bought my replacement LCD directly from Canon and the $40 included shipping.

I did the replacment myself and followed some basic instructions (without pics) and some of my own ingenuity. However, there's a site I just found that has pics & step by step directions. Would have made my job easier if I had found it earlier: http://exploded.awcr.org/DigitalCameraDisplay

Good luck

Evelyn Yung said...

hey, where did you get the deal for $40? Can you give me a number or something? thanks.

Conor P. Cahill said...

Canon Factory Service
100 Jamesburg Road
Jamesburg, NJ 08831
Tel.# (732)521-7230
Business hours: 9 AM to 8 PM (ET) Monday to Friday

Anonymous said...

Mr. Cahill, Thank you very much for this Blog! I ordered my replacement LCD from canon and used the link you provided for installation to repair my SD500. Worked like a charm.
Cheers,
John (Crownsville, MD)

Anonymous said...

Thanks for the great post! I just ordered the LCD, part # CK9-1137-000
Art (WA State)

Anonymous said...

Great Advice! Just as you said, called Canon directly and $40 bucks later I had my screen. Thank you again!
Chad

Anonymous said...

Hi CC,

Great blog! I have been searching for the LCD from thefotogeeks.com for several weeks now. They have the price listed at $55 plus shipping but are out of stock. I am so glad i found your blog and thanks for the direct line to Canon. I just ordered the LCD and it is en-route to me now. Thanks so much for your help.

Anonymous said...

GREAT BLOG!

Just ordered a replacement LCD from Canon Factory Service. $33.37. My friend who works at a camera shop said it would cost at least $130 for the repair at his shop.

Will let you know how it works out for me...

Anonymous said...

Excellent info. I just put mine on order, $33.37 plus $6 shipping. This web site has additional contact information if you need it:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/wmliu/2235452901/

Anonymous said...

THANK YOU. Found this post and got my new LCD for my SD500 for $41.73 w/tax, shipping and expect delivery in a day or 2.

Anonymous said...

http://exploded.awcr.org/DigitalCameraDisplay this link doesnt seem to work anymore, looking for a fix. After reading your post, I will be removing that plastic slide on the strap; I never used it other than to keep my fingers busy when bored by sliding it up and down the strap! --LawwnBboy, Columbus, Ohio

Anonymous said...

I replaced my SD500 screen, too, a few years ago. Followed instrux from an Italian blog (in English). Works great (final screw wouldn't go all the way in, so I have a little patch of duct tape over it).

I recently bought someone else's cracked SD500 & another screen, so I can have a spare. Surfing for illustrated instructions again.

Mine cracked when it (gently) hit a glass at dinner while my boyfriend and I were looking at photos. We still used the camera for the rest of our vacation, but we had to download the card to see the results each time. Fortunately, the "no flash" function was easy to remember w/o visuals.