A2 EVF Problem....Suggestions Appreciated!!...

The dreaded complete EVF failure happened to my A2 yesterday - looking through these posts has been very helpful.

I took apart the EVF and eventually found 2 breaks in the ribbon cable, the + and - power connectors on the right part of the cable. In fact the cable was actually sheared straight through on both power lines (poor design methinks).

Anyway I spent several frustrating hours trying to solder around the two breaks but have now given up - I can't get a good connection to the tiny amount of copper I can expose from the cable.

However I can now power the EVF independently using it's red and black power connectors externally and I'm wondering if this might be viable workaround. The EVF seems to require about 3.5 volts (which is can be easily supplied from a spare mobile phone battery sitting on top of the EVF). This would be a bit of a kludge but I can't live without my EVF!

Any suggestions much appreciated. Is it worth taking the whole camera apart and taking the power connection from the start of the ribbon cable? Anybody any idea how hard this might be?

Thanks,

Mike.

parsonsm99 wrote:

The dreaded complete EVF failure happened to my A2 yesterday -
looking through these posts has been very helpful.

I took apart the EVF and eventually found 2 breaks in the ribbon
cable, the + and - power connectors on the right part of the cable.
In fact the cable was actually sheared straight through on both power
lines (poor design methinks).

Anyway I spent several frustrating hours trying to solder around the
two breaks but have now given up - I can't get a good connection to
the tiny amount of copper I can expose from the cable.

However I can now power the EVF independently using it's red and
black power connectors externally and I'm wondering if this might be
viable workaround. The EVF seems to require about 3.5 volts (which is
can be easily supplied from a spare mobile phone battery sitting on
top of the EVF). This would be a bit of a kludge but I can't live
without my EVF!

Any suggestions much appreciated. Is it worth taking the whole camera
apart and taking the power connection from the start of the ribbon
cable? Anybody any idea how hard this might be?

Thanks,

Mike.

Mike,

there is some special fluid that is used in the motor trade for re-connecting damaged auto heated rear screen elements. These sometimes get damaged due to over exuberent wiping off of the elements and this is meant to afford a good repair BUT, it may not work if the cable is continually moving!
Worth a look anyway!

Tony

Hi,

Has anyone had a problem with a similar experience on the foldout LCD?

Peter

This problem is a worry, do we have any ideas to reduce or delay this fatigue fault from occurring. We all know how the EVF pivots unnecessary as we handle the camera or carry on the neck strap? Even the repair will no doubt fail in time.

I'm thinking of a mechanical lock or a way to increase the friction within the pivot, anything to reduce the movement unnecessarily...any ideas?

Idea #1, The external flash cap if extended over the EVF would lock the EVF closed or possibly a thumb slide could be fixed on to the flash cap to create a lock slide-switch arrangement?
--
Fred, KM A2 and F30
'Your best Photo should be viewed with a biased eye'
http://coolsiggy.smugmug.com/

I thought I'd try a patch of Velcro between the EVF and the body to keep the EVF in its place most of the time.

It props the EVF into a slight permanent tilt. It's not too bad, but it's what I don't like about this solution.

I only just put it in place a few days ago, so I've not made up my mind yet if I want to keep it there. Not an elegant solution.

I guess a mechanical solution would be better, however this one requires no skills whatsoever to implement.

I'v e done the same thing using a very small round velco "spot" used on resealable envenlopes. I would take a picture of it but I only have one camera. It does put the EVF at a slight angle but since the velco is very thin I don't notice it anymore (been using it since I read bout this problem). I also put it towards the outside to lessen the angle. The best thing with the velco is I can easily pop up the EVF as the velco is not too strong on the hold down.

Gideon01 wrote:

I thought I'd try a patch of Velcro between the EVF and the body to
keep the EVF in its place most of the time.

It props the EVF into a slight permanent tilt. It's not too bad, but
it's what I don't like about this solution.

I only just put it in place a few days ago, so I've not made up my
mind yet if I want to keep it there. Not an elegant solution.

I guess a mechanical solution would be better, however this one
requires no skills whatsoever to implement.

Coolsiggy wrote:

This problem is a worry, do we have any ideas to reduce or delay this
fatigue fault from occurring. We all know how the EVF pivots
unnecessary as we handle the camera or carry on the neck strap? Even
the repair will no doubt fail in time.

See my post above; I'm sure it won't hurt anything. All you need to do is remove the two small scews on the bottom of the EVF. DO NOT remove the rubber eyepiece.
http://forums.dpreview.com/forums/read.asp?forum=1024&message=18680919

I'm also assuming these Cams are likely out of warranty. Warranty issues were the only reason I didn't recommend this before.
--
Cheers! Robert..

After three years my EVF went black this week. Searching the posts I find your the results of your endevour. My unit is not, as far it was sold to me, a re-furb. It was in it's shrink wrapped box and all.

Anyhow, upon opening the viewfinder I have exactly the same tape in the same spot and the break in exactly the same spot. Even the break slightly entering the second wire.
--
~ JJ

John JJ. wrote:

After three years my EVF went black this week. Searching the posts I
find your the results of your endevour. My unit is not, as far it was
sold to me, a re-furb. It was in it's shrink wrapped box and all.
Anyhow, upon opening the viewfinder I have exactly the same tape in
the same spot and the break in exactly the same spot. Even the break
slightly entering the second wire.

After I bought an A1, I opened the back of the VF just to see if that might become a problem on it also. The answer was obvious. The A1 cable fits neatly between the opening in the back cover(those corners I show that I filed down.) The A2 cable has added circuits and is much wider to the right side, and evidently, KMs answer was to simply tape it, as opposed to modifying the cover. I anticipate most A2s to encounter this problem eventually. Filing the sharp corners could help, but only do at your own risk! I had nothing to lose.

Hope you are able to fix it soon!! Please feel free to ask any questions not already covered in this thread. Good Luck!!
--
Cheers! Robert..

A few days ago I bought a Dimage A2 from a charity shop in the UK for 25 pounds and although it was initially faultless, my flexing of the EVF module resulted in the, what I now know to be common, problem that the EVF screen fails to illuminate.

I found this thread and the excellent illustrated comments, and was able to confirm that I too had the problem with the broken flexible connector track.

Having found I much preferred using the EVF to the LCD screen I was determined to try a fix - having had some success in similar situations with laptop and mobile phone screens where the flexing of the display hinge leads (!) to breakage of the flexible connector.

I initially experimented on an unused "safe" part of the connector - the area circled in red on the first picture - to find out how thick the insulating layer was and how best to expose the copper track, checking that the depth I was scraping away was sufficient by using a multimeter to check for continuity between the two spots.

Red: test areas.  Green: Insulation removed and copper track   exposed.

I then traced the broken track and found that it goes to the Black wire in the small white connector block so I intended to make the final connection to that block rather than attempt to "jump" the break in the track.

I scraped away the track at a convenient point - circled green in the first photo  - and attempted to get some solder onto the bright metal. The iron was too hot and neighbouring plastic melted over the top,  insulating it again.  Scaping that away resulted in me breaking the thin track.

Realising that I was now at a critical point I carefully exposed more of the track (camera side, not EVF side) and lifted it away from the plastic film.  I was able to get some solder onto the track.

Using very fine insulated wire I was then able to connect between that solder point and a direct (unsoldered) connection into the white connector block:

Direct connection replacing broken track to "black" connection in white block.

Power on, waved my fingers over the EVF sensor and was rewarded by seeing the back-light come on.  Very carefully replaced the cover and the two small screws and lowered the EVF into the horizontal position - from which I do not intend to move it!

I found a service manual for the A2 on the web and was interested to see that the use of lubricating grease is required on the sharp corner that Ransom identifies in a later post as a likely cause of the problem.

Probably not many folks still use these camera, but this forum was invaluable to me in both learning how to use the camera and then to identify the EVF problem, from which I was able to share this fix - anybody with a dead EVF on an A2 and not happy with using the LCD monitor should have a go - there's nothing to lose by it.

Grimleigh