Camera Hacker

: :

Add Comment | Related Links | TrackBack
Related Content

DSC-S600, shutter cover, rant

So, I bought a couple of these cameras from fleabay, sold as seen "for parts". Fair enough, I got 2 dead Sonys. The first responded to a set of newly charged 2500mAh batteries by waking up and behaving as it should, although occasionally it can't shut its shutter cover. The second couldn't move its shutter cover at all (remaining steadfastly closed, and telling me "Access").

Before anyone mentions it, no, slapping the camera didn't help. So, disassembly time.

The problem, as anyone who's disassembled an S-series cybersh*t before can probably guess, was the shutter cover motor. Or, to be more specific, the gearbox for the shutter cover motor. It's tiny, it's got gears made of cheesecake, and it breaks. In my case, one gear had sheared half its teeth, the bits of plastic had jammed the rest of the gears, and thus nothing at all was working. The solution (at least temporarily) was to remove all the gears from the gearbox, cut the (now damaged) final drive gear down to size to "jam" the shutter cover in the open position, and robert's your mother's brother. Sure, I now have no shutter cover, but the camera itself works (modulo a loud whirring when the camera tries to close the cover)

The other camera, of course, is also on the way to doing the same thing. One of the gears has lost a couple of teeth, and every time it jams it's presumably losing another one.

I'm tempted to remove the motor entirely, and hack a manual open/close mechanism to the shutter cover. the other option, of course, is to simply order a couple of new motors, and fix up the cameras. After all, they cost a "massive" $5 a piece from Sony. Or they would, if Sony would sell them to anyone not in the US...

Removing the motor would also leave a handy little space in the housing for things like a remote shutter release port, or even more low level stuff (there is, for example, a JTAG port brought out to test pads on the processor board, and a "spare" serial port and some other juicy stuff).

But still. BAD SONY for using cheap and nasty parts that I then can't get replacements for.

Simon
Thu, 24 Jul 2008 08:16:01 +0000

Thanks for sharing your hack. It's good to hear that you were able to get the cameras to work by jamming the lens door open. You should now have the advantage of missing less photo opportunities. ;-)

Chieh Cheng
Thu, 24 Jul 2008 17:53:52 +0000

Add Comment | Related Links | TrackBack
Related Content

Did your message disappear? Read the Forums FAQ.

Add Comment

Spam Control | * indicates required field
Your Name: *
E-mail:
Remember Me!
Comment: *
File attachment is optional. Please do not attach a file to your submission unless it is relevent.
Attach File:
(20 MB Max)
Spam Protection: * Answer of 5 + 1?
Click button only once, please!

TrackBack

TrackBack only accepted from WebSite-X Suite web sites. Do not submit TrackBacks from other sites.

Send Ping | TrackBack URL | Spam Control

No TrackBacks yet. TrackBack can be used to link this thread to your weblog, or link your weblog to this thread. In addition, TrackBack can be used as a form of remote commenting. Rather than posting the comment directly on this thread, you can posts it on your own weblog. Then have your weblog sends a TrackBack ping to the TrackBack URL, so that your post would show up here.

Messages, files, and images copyright by respective owners.