Repair Stuck Lens on Panasonic FZ5

Step 3 Disassembly: Ribbons and Cables and Screws. Oh My!

Now we're going to remove and detach the back of the camera. It's not as scary as it might look.

The back section, which holds the LCD and some of the controls, is connected via two ribbons and two power connectors (labelled in first photo below). The ribbon connectors have fasteners at either side that slide along the same plane as the circuit board. Gently slide them out, and you'll be able to (carefully!) remove the ribbons.

The power connectors are a little trickier; work them gently, don't yank no matter how tempted you are. Working a slim object such as a screwdriver blade between the connector and the socket may help, but make sure not to abuse the connection between the socket and the circuit board.

Now you should be able to remove the back of the camera.

Comments

[soulmisfit]

On my FZ5 the left power connector was stubborn to remove and both are tiny and fragile. I tried tweezers and small needle nose but they kept slipping. Forceps seemed to work pretty well and I could wiggle the connector loose. Follow charliephysics above for the ribbons, they just pop right out after sliding tabs down.

[charliephysics]

One should know that to remove the ribbon cables you actually slide the black plastic tabs down. Don't bother with the white plastic pieces. If you do, they will break. Wish that had been more explicit. Also to remove the power connectors you may want something like pliers. And you'll want to to not try to remove the whole plastic piece. There is a male and female piece. The female stays on the board. The male piece can be noticed upon close inspection.

[ericmei]

The connectors are a bit different on the FZ8. I finally figured out that the attachemnts with movable parts are grey (slide) or black (flip up), and that those that are all white just slide out. The colored pieces are very small and hard to see, though.