My grandson's had my Z50 for a year or so now and he's been doing very well with it. He texted me the other day to say "something happened to it". It's not making any sense to me because it looks like the lens took the hit if it was a fall but the back screen was totally out of whack and wouldn't close. As you can see the tether strap is torn also. I can't get much info from him because he said he left it in the senior lounge and when he came back it was on the floor. Not a very good explanation but he feels bad and I don't want to grill him. He claims it powered up for him after this happened but I have it now and it's completely dead. yes, I charged the battery. Seems strange to me that it would completely die after a fall. Would that ripped tether strap in the back have anything to do with the main power or does that simply supply power to the rear LCD ? Anyone ??
Gary
Jman13 wrote:
My guess is some A-hole thought it would be funny to break it on purpose.
That was my wife's first thought. She was more concerned about why someone would do that to him than she was about the camera. Rightly so. All that aside, my hope was I might repair it for him without sending it away. Not worth the expense of an actual repair shop repair.
I found some info online and it seems the LCD ribbon cable supplies power to the LCD only. It doesn't appear to have anything to do with main power. Replacing that cable seems like a fairly simple fix for a do it yourselfer but there's no point in doing that if the camera is totally dead.
Have you tried plugging a USB-C cable in to see if it powers up with that? If it does, you might reach out to APS/Nikon Camera Repair in Illinois to see what they quote.
sum1sgrampa wrote:
That was my wife's first thought. She was more concerned about why someone would do that to him than she was about the camera. Rightly so. All that aside, my hope was I might repair it for him without sending it away. Not worth the expense of an actual repair shop repair.
It looks like a Z50 is about $500 used, so it is probably not worth repairing.
Somehow I suspect that he knows exactly what happened and is not wanting to come clean.
let me phrase this a bit more directly. From what I've seen replacing the broken ribbon cable is a pretty straightforward job. That's something I think I can do. I was hoping someone could tell me if that broken ribbon has anything to do with the total loss of power. I don't want to go to the trouble of replacing the cable if something else is causing the no power problem. I understand the camera is not worth a repair bill but if it's just the ribbon that's an inexpensive fix.
I tested the lens out on my Z9 body and it seems fine.
NightOwl Cat wrote:
Have you tried plugging a USB-C cable in to see if it powers up with that? If it does, you might reach out to APS/Nikon Camera Repair in Illinois to see what they quote.
I have something similar with a camera I gave to my son when he was much younger.
He lost it but he refused to tell me how.
I bought him another one but he refused to take it because he think he does not deserve it since he felt guilty losing the first one.
If your grandson feels responsible for the damage, I would not push him any further.
He feels badly enough already. He's offered to reimburse me but of course I wouldn't accept that from him. He's a very responsible kid. In fact, he just won the Clarkson Ignite Presidential Fellowship Scholarship with a video that he put together on this camera. That's a $240,000 scholarship. The way I'm looking at it, if that little Z50 helped him secure that scholarship, that's a great tradeoff
Congratulations to your Grandson on the scholarship.
Cannot help you with the DIY repair idea. I do not have a clue Gary. The only thought I had was that the camera may have developed a short circuit from the impact. If it is mine, my first thought would be to take it to Melville (Nikon) for an estimate, and my second throught would be that the repair will cost more than its worth. But you don’t know until you try. I also agree with NissanPatrol.
Congrats to your grandson on the handsome scholarship, hope you get a good answer in your search to DIY repair. Bummer the USB option didn't work.
Hopefully grandson has learned that leaving his gear around will be an expensive lesson in the future, one I hope my youngest granddaughter learns quickly as she enters pre-med, as stethoscopes aren't as trackable and tend to end up in someone else's pocket permanently, and at 200-300 each for a Littman (usually what they get)...
sum1sgrampa wrote:
Thank you Nightowl. Yes, I did try that. I'm going to reach out to a repair center on Monday to see if I can get an answer to my question.
Seems plausible the camera was dropped and made first contact on the lens, then bounced backwards and made second contact on an unseated LCD screen, tugging at it without enough force to rip the ribbon cable.
sum1sgrampa wrote:
My grandson's had my Z50 for a year or so now and he's been doing very well with it. He texted me the other day to say "something happened to it". It's not making any sense to me because it looks like the lens took the hit if it was a fall but the back screen was totally out of whack and wouldn't close. As you can see the tether strap is torn also. I can't get much info from him because he said he left it in the senior lounge and when he came back it was on the floor. Not a very good explanation but he feels bad and I don't want to grill him. He claims it powered up for him after this happened but I have it now and it's completely dead. yes, I charged the battery. Seems strange to me that it would completely die after a fall. Would that ripped tether strap in the back have anything to do with the main power or does that simply supply power to the rear LCD ? Anyone ??
Gary...Show more →
It looks and sounds like significant impact, but at the same time its probably only going to take <30min to call 2-3shops to see if repair is feasible. No idea on the DIY, but as long as you dont short out the battery might not hurt to try
Get him another camera ASAP, if possible, if he's using it to get a $240k scholarship. $500 vs $240k
I remember leaving something out in high school, all the guys, at least, had access to it. Somehow it got dinged really good, funny, nobody knew how it happened.
It would be my guess that if the cpu senses something wrong with the ribbon cable then it just doesn't power up. Again I'm guessing but you would probably have a 50-50 chance of it powering up if you only replaced the ribbon cable. (jmho)
bs kite wrote:
Congratulations to your Grandson on the scholarship.
Cannot help you with the DIY repair idea. I do not have a clue Gary. The only thought I had was that the camera may have developed a short circuit from the impact. If it is mine, my first thought would be to take it to Melville (Nikon) for an estimate, and my second throught would be that the repair will cost more than its worth. But you don’t know until you try. I also agree with NissanPatrol.
Thanks Robert. We're over the top proud of him. Architectural and Environmental Engineering. Quite the opposite of a "stupid teenager"
AmbientMike wrote:
It looks and sounds like significant impact, but at the same time its probably only going to take <30min to call 2-3shops to see if repair is feasible. No idea on the DIY, but as long as you dont short out the battery might not hurt to try
Get him another camera ASAP, if possible, if he's using it to get a $240k scholarship. $500 vs $240k
I remember leaving something out in high school, all the guys, at least, had access to it. Somehow it got dinged really good, funny, nobody knew how it happened.
Yup. That's the way I'm looking at it. I told him the other day, if that camera contributed even 1% to him receiving that scholarship it's all well worth it.
LostLensCap wrote:
It would be my guess that if the cpu senses something wrong with the ribbon cable then it just doesn't power up. Again I'm guessing but you would probably have a 50-50 chance of it powering up if you only replaced the ribbon cable. (jmho)
I really like taking stuff apart and enjoy fixing things myself. I think I'm just gonna order a new ribbon, they're cheap enough, and give it a shot. We're now looking at upgrading. He's heading out with three of his friends in July on a 6,000 + mile road trip across the country. Trying to figure out what would work best for him.
