ruby_murphy•1mo agoTop Commenter

Why does nobody talk about how often flex cables fail on older digital cameras

I spent 3 hours trying to diagnose a dead shutter on a Canon Powershot G9 last week. Checked everything - board power, sensor connections, even the main ribbon cable. Turned out it was a $12 flex cable from the top LCD to the main board that had a micro crack you could barely see. The camera would work fine until you tilted the screen, then bam - error. Has anyone else run into these tiny flex cables being the culprit more often than actual sensor or board failures?

3 comments

3 Comments

brookep271mo ago

Think about how much of the repair industry relies on those flex cables being the weak point, not the actual expensive parts. It's almost like manufacturers design them to fail just a little after the warranty expires to push you toward buying a new camera instead of fixing it. Wouldn't it be cheaper for them to use better quality ribbon cables instead of making cameras with planned obsolescence built right into the screen hinge?

jade_butler21d ago

Exactly, @finley_harris5 hit the nail on the head. Those flex cables are the real killers. I've had two cameras sent to me with the same ribbon cable issue from different brands, and it's always the same story. You can buy a pack of five for like 10 bucks online and replace one in 15 minutes if you know what you're doing. But if you take it to a shop, they'll charge you $200 in labor because they have to tear down half the camera to get to it. That's the actual scam right there, the repair cost way outweighs the part cost. Its not even about better cables, its about making the service manual a nightmare so you give up and buy new.

finley_harris51mo ago

My buddy had a similar thing with his Nikon D90 last year. He was pulling his hair out over random focus issues, turned out to be a tiny flex cable inside the lens mount that was pinched. Cost him like $8 to fix but took two weeks to find it. Makes you wonder how many perfectly good cameras get thrown out over a little ribbon that costs less than a sandwich.