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?

2 comments

2 Comments

brookep2712h 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?

finley_harris511h 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.