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How to Replace a Sony VX1000 Ribbon Cable - Fixing a Dead Viewfinder

There are some things that you just don’t want to part with. I have a Sony VX1000 and I love it. I’ve used it to shoot a lot of footage over the years and when the viewfinder recently died, I just didn’t want to part with the camera. So, I started searching the web for how to fix the viewfinder.

As I was searching the web, I found a lot of posts about the problem, but no instructions for how to fix it. Then, I finally found one post that linked to instructions…but the site was gone. Just a blank page… With a little search engine knowledge, I managed to find a cached version of the instructions (without photos of course…they weren’t loading). But, I had the instructions I needed to get started. I have included the instructions below (they aren't written by me), but I have added my comments after completing the ribbon cable replacement. My hope is that the original instructions along with my updated instructions can help those of you who run into the same viewfinder problem. And, for whomever wrote the original instructions, I'd love to hear from you. Drop me a quick email...your instructions saved me a lot of money!

Buy a New Ribbon Cable:
First, the cause of the problem is the viewfinder ribbon cable. I found the ribbon cable (part number 165640013, PC BOARD, FP-217 ) at Nexttronics for $55. One of the reasons I decided to fix it myself was because Sony wanted to charge me $500 to send the camera for repair. At $500, I was just going to buy a new camera…so I decided to give it a shot and fix my VX1000.

**Note: the ribbon cable arrived from Nexttronics with a staple running through it! A Sony employee bagged the cable and actually stapled the tag through the ribbon cable…. Then, pulled the staple out and re-stapled the bag. Uh, what?? So, I had to ship the ribbon cable back and then wait for a new one. Nexttronics worked pretty quickly in sending me a new one, but just keep this in mind when purchasing your ribbon cable.

Get Ready to Fix Your Camera:
There are several steps involved with fixing your Sony VX1000 and several small pieces that you need to work with. I decided to take out some post-its and for each step, include any parts I removed (typically screws) along with a label and step number. This greatly helped me when putting the camera back together. I highly recommend doing the same…

Tools:
If you have any computer tools (small screwdriver, needle nose pliers, etc.) then you have what you need. Then you just need a steady hand and nerves of steel. :-)

Disclaimer:
If you are not comfortable working with electronics, then don’t attempt to fix your camera. There are many small parts and steps involved and it’s really easy to ruin your camera. In addition, there is always the chance of electric shock. Definitely remove the battery before working on your camera and don’t have the camera plugged in! Work in an open area where you can find small pieces that you might drop, because you will drop a few things… especially those darn small screws. Again, you can hurt your camera and yourself and if you are not comfortable working with electronics.

Following are the instructions. Again, written by someone else (I don't know who) and then I added my own commentary based on my recent experience.

Fix the Camera:
Before anything, put elastic bands around the camera to make sure it doesn't fall apart when the screws are out. {Glenn: definitely do this…as I took the bands off too soon and the camera started to fall apart! Yikes.}

Step 1-You will see 4 screws holding the handle in place, 2 in the front by the mic, 2 in the back by the viewfinder. Take these out first.

Step 2-Take the handle off and put it in a safe place. {Glenn: The handle on my camera actually had a cable connected to it from the main camera. I couldn’t easily remove it, so I couldn’t completely disconnect the handle from the camera as I worked on the new ribbon cable.}

Step 3-Unscrew the 2 screws above the battery door so you can get ready to take it off.

Step 4-Right above the main record button is a headphone jack, and above that is another screw. Take it out.

Step 5-Over by the secondary record button, and the edit search button, there is another screw, unscrew this.

Step 6-Now open the tape door and find the screw in the top right corner. DO NOT take out the silver screw, just the black one. {Glenn: OK, this drove me nuts. The tiny screw is in the upper right-had corner and if you drop the screw, it will fall into your camera…never to be found again! I felt like Tom Cruise in Mission Impossible. Sweat was dripping off my brow. :-)

Step 7-Turn the camera upside down and remove the 6 screws. DO NOT take out the 4 from the tripod baseplate. {Glenn: Keep the elastic bands on or hold the camera together with your own hands as you turn the camera upside down. Or, the camera could fall apart. }

Step 8-Open the battery door and unscrew the 2 screws on the left, and 1 on the right.

Step 9-Now lift up the viewfinder a little and remove the 2 screws.

Step 10-Make sure you have 20 screws removed and gently take off the rubber bands holding the camera together. {Glenn: I counted 19 screws…the original instructions say 20, but I’m pretty confident it’s 19. ;-)

Step 11-Don't let the tape door side of the camera fall off when the bands are removed. {Glenn: the tape door side of the camera fell off since I took off the elastic bands! Ugh. Don’t make the same mistake I did. It took me a few minutes to get the tape door back into place.}

Step 12-Gently pull off the right side of the camera and pull the ribbon cable out of it's socket. Also, remove the blue cable with silver lines. Be very careful of hitting other cables and wires. {Glenn: the cable will pull out from the socket with a little bit of pressure. Don’t jerk it out, simply get as close the socket as possible and begin to pull. As you increase your force, it will come out. This is very similar to removing a pc card from your computer.}

Step 13-Pull the viewfinder off of the camera. {Glenn: It didn’t simply come right off. You need to work it a little!}

Step 14-Remove the cover plate from the viewfinder. {Glenn: pop open the cover plate. My cover plate never completely removed from the viewfinder…it simply hinged back.}

Step 15-Remove two screws on the end of the viewfinder.

Step 16-Take off the magnifying piece of the viewfinder by pushing the gray button. {Glenn: push the grey button and slide the magnifying piece off.}

Step 17-Put it somewhere safe.

Step 18-Open the housing of the viewfinder and ribbon cable.

Step 19-Take the cable out of the housing. {Glenn: remove the cable from the socket just like you did in step 12. Note, the cable directly underneath the plastic covering does not need to be removed.}

Step 20-Notice the crease in the cable, make sure the new one is bent just the same. {Glenn: the new cables are already bent in the proper shape…probably due to customers calling and yelling that the cable wouldn’t stay in place unless it was shaped properly. :-)

Step 21-Notice the protective plastic and which way the old cable is plugged in. {Glenn: this confused me a little. You don’t need to remove the plastic wrapping entirely…just enough to get the ribbon cable out of the socket. I just had to pull it back slightly and remove the cable. Then I plugged the new cable in and pulled the plastic back over.}

Step 22-Remove the old ribbon cable.

Step 23-Attach the new cable the same way the old one was. {Glenn: definitely take note of the position of the old cable and which way it was facing.}

Step 24-Find the tiny slot that the old ribbon cable was poking through, and stick the new one through it very gently. {Glenn: you will see a small slot that the old cable ran through. You will need to feed the new cable through this slot. Also, and I had to play with it a while, you need to make sure you can close the plate cover without breaking the new cable. There is a groove in the housing where the extra cable can be placed while closing the cover plate. Once I figured this out, I flew…}

Step 25-Make sure the cable is bent in the same way as the old cable.

Step 26-Close the protective housing of the viewfinder.

Step 27-Fold the cable and put the cover plate over it.

Step 28-Find the hole that the cable fits into and push it through VERY GENTLY. {Glenn: put the viewfinder back on…but first make sure the ribbon cable goes first. It will need to slide under and to the right, and then through where the viewfinder goes. You will see a small slot that the ribbon will go through. Slide it through and then you can connect it to the socket. This is the same socket from step 12.}

Step 29-Look for the white socket that the cable will fit into.

Step 30-Plug the cable in.

Step 31-Plug the other cables in that you removed. {Glenn: This is the blue cable with silver lines. It connects to its socket the same way the ribbon cable connects.}

Step 32-Attach every screw you removed in the opposite order you removed them, and get ready to film. {Glenn: Aren’t you glad you listened to me and used post-its to number the steps and collect the screws? :-)

If you have any questions or comments, please post them here. My camera is back up and running now and I think it was well worth the effort and $55. Let me know how these instructions work for you!

Good luck!

GG

Labels: repair, sony, Video Production

posted by Glenn Gabe @ 2:28 PM