Blog of Travis Hydzik

Here is the Service Manual for the Canon 400D, also known by the names;

• EOS Kiss Digital X
• EOS Digital Rebel XTi
• EOS 400D Digital

canon-service-manual-eos-kiss-digital-x-eos-digital-rebel-xti-eos-400d-digital.pdf (20mb)

Other manuals are available here.

It seems like this is a common problem with these lenses, the zoom gets stuck at 17mm with about 2mm of play (zoom movement). This problem is all due to a loose single screw on the inner lens assembly, sounds simple to fix, doesn’t it?

The challenge is trying to get to this single screw, which involves the separation of the lens into over 10 components, and the removal of about 20 small screws. Hopefully this guide will make the disassembly job a whole lot easier.

First, a reminder of what the lens looks like.

Turn the lens on its side with the connection contacts closest to you. There are 2 tiny Philips screws to remove.

Balance the lens on its front with the metal lens screw lock ring visible. There are 4 small Philips screws to remove.

The metal ring can now be hinged apart. This next step is the most difficult. The inner black plastic ring is connected to the metal outer ring with 4 plastic clips in the inside. By pushing the clips towards the center, the black plastic ring can be removed from the top of the metal outer ring. Much care is needed due to the ribbon cable still being attached to the connection contacts allowing for a gap of roughly no more than 1cm.

Once the inner black plastic ring is removed, the outer metal screw lock ring can be removed, exposing the PCB protected by a black plastic housing.

Disconnect a single pressure ribbon cable attached to the inside of the black plastic housing which will then allow for its removal exposing the PCB.

Disconnect the 5 ribbon cables from the PCB. 2 are pressure connected, 2 with a hinged clip and 1 with a pressure clip. Unscrew a single Philips screw allowing the removal of the PCB.

Remove the 5 screws (circled in red) holding the outer black plastic ring allowing the remove of the black plastic ring. Then remove the 3 inner screws (circled in blue).

Turn the lens over and remove the rubber zoom grip. It can be removed by inserting a very thin screw driver under the rubber and working your way around.

With the rubber zoom grip removed, rotate the lens until you find a black rectangle sticker, peal this off to expose some contactors.

With a Philip driver, unscrew the contactors. I actually performed this when reassembling the lens and slightly damaged them. It is better to remove them at the start to prevent this.

There are 3 screws sitting on small metal tubes between a groove, finally remove these.

With these removed the inner lens portion can now be removed from the outer casing.

You now have access to the problem screw(s) that need tightening. Once tightened, add some Loctite or nail-polish to stop the screws becoming loose again.

Some do’s and don’ts

• don’t remove the front lens sticker or 3 screws behind it.
• don’t remove the zoom sticker with m/ft increments.
• don’t touch or disassemble any of the focusing ring!
• do keep your UV filter on the lens, you can still remove the rubber grip with it on.
• do make sure the focusing pin between the inner and outer len is in place.

References

• FixYa post by Gert Jan [fixa.com]
• Canon EF 20-35mm f/3.5-4.5 USM Lens Repair [photo.net]

I thought I would share my experience regarding fake Canon NB-4L batteries. Let me start by saying I own a Canon IXUS 55, with the girlfriend owning a Canon IXUS 40 both using the Canon NB-4L Battery. I have purchased two spare batteries from eBay, with one of the purchased batteries looking to be fake. The following photos show the four batteries with the differences circled in red and reasons for this belief.

Firstly, a front photo of the four batteries, the lower right battery is the fake. Circled in red is a single linear indent on the fake battery whilst the real batteries have two linear indents. The text on the fake is also quite blurry.

Secondly, a back photo of the four batteries, the lower right battery is again the fake and again the single indent can be observed on the fake. Circled in red is the caution text which again is blurry. It can be observed that the words on each battery are different, and hence I believe is not a good indication to its authenticity.

Lastly, a isometric view of the four batteries, the lower battery is the fake. Circled in red is a little rectangle, with the genuine batteries having a rectangle piece of plastic stuck on while missing on the fake battery. This would have been to save on manufacturing costs.

There are other differences, but those above are the most obvious. Click on the above images to display high resolution photos.

Here’s a step by step guide on replacing the LCD screen on a Canon IXUS camera. Whilst, the model shown here the IXUS 55, it is fairly similar for other IXUS models.

The cheapest LCD I have found online is through The Foto Geeks for $55, however you can actually buy a cheaper whole (working) camera from eBay, and usually accessories are included with it. Note to make sure it is only the LCD which is cracked and not the backlight, in order to get the correct replacement parts.

My poor camera with cracked LCD screen:

Tools required:

• small Philips head screwdriver
• small flat head screwdriver

First remove the 6 Philips screws on the edges of the metal case, location defined by the arrows in the photo below:

Remove the front half of the metal case by starting at the camera’s base, at the top there is a metal clip which connects the front and back halves. Removing the front half free form this clip requires a bit of manipulating . The clip is circled in the photo below:

Once the front half of the metal housing is removed, the back half can be removed extremely easily. You will be presented with the LCD screen, remove the single Philips screw which holds the LCD in place as per the photo below:

Slide the LCD screen to the left, and this will release the screen from a little clip. Once the screen is free, remove a Philips screen holding the tripod mount is place:

Turn the camera over, and remove the front screw which holds the tripod mount. You can then remove the tripod mount which will allow the removal of the main LCD ribbon cable. The ribbon cable is disconnected by lifting up the brown tab on the connector:

Once the main ribbon cable is removed, the backlight’s ribbon cable can then be accessed easier. It is removed by simply pulling the cable away from the socket perpendicular to the PCB:

The LCD can now be removed from the camera. The below photo is the replacement LCD screen:

To connect the replacement LCD and reassemble the camera, perform the above instructions in reverse. It is a good idea to test the replacement LCD before assembling, to make sure everything works fine.