Sony Cyber-Shot DSC-H Series Shutter Button

Today, I’ll go over the instructions for installing a new shutter button assembly in the Sony Cyber-Shot DSC-H2 Digital Camera.  This will be a photo-instructional, with pictures to guide you step by step to getting your camera in good working order quickly!  This post is fairly long, so bear with me! I’ve tried to make the images as readable, but as small as possible.  If for some reason you can’t make out a certain detail, don’t hesitate to ask for help!

Tools needed:

• Pliars
• Ice Pick
• Philips Screwdriver
• Flash Discharger
• Anti-Static Mat or foam

Time required: Approximately 1 hour

Sony DSC-H2 No Button

This is what we are looking to fix today.  I’ve removed the shutter button collar, to show in better detail the reason why for complete disassembly of the camera.  The collar needs to slide under the locking tabs shown under the gray plastic.

Tools used for Shutter Button Install

To start with, here are the tools that I always use for installing a shutter button.  We have a pair of rounded pliars (gripping pliars work as well, I just found these are best when dealing with fragile ribbon cables), an ice pick (this tool is almost indispensible when working on cameras, the uses are almost limitless), a Philips screwdriver (we use the Wiha brand, very very durable and reliable screw driver), and at the botton, a flash discharger.  We buy our flash discharger from ztsinc.com, which they have for about $35. If you do not want to purchase the Flash Discharger, we can do the repair in shop if you want for $25 more, so just check out our Sony Cyber-shot DSC-H2 Camera Shutter Button Repair Service. The last part of the tool kit is a little more subtle, it is the pink foam the tools are resting on.  This is an anti-static foam, and will help prevent a static charge from building on your person while working on the camera, and potentially discharging into the camera, shorting out vulnerable electronic components.

A quick disclaimer here, and you’ll see that I have put the same disclaimer on several more pictures – NEVER work on a digital camera without first discharging the flash capacitor.  Some models, like the H Series, you have to disassemble partially before being able to discharge the flash.  This is for your own safety!  These flashes carry high voltage, but low amperage charges, and can very easily short your camera out, or possibly even harm you if not discharged safely.  If you do not feel comfortable discharging the flash, or do not have a flash discharger, we do have options available to help you with your install!

Now that we have that out of the way, let us move on to the disassembly of the camera.

Sony DSC-H2 Rear Right 3 Screws

Sony DSC-H2 Rear Left 1 Screw

Here are 3 shots of the sides of the Sony DSC-H2 digital camera.  We do not need to remove the front of the case, just the rear of the case.  There are 6 screws total to be removed.  3 on the right side, 2 on the bottom and 1 on the left side, as show in the pictures to my left

Sony DSC-H2 Bottom 2 Screws

After you slide the case off, you will probably see what looks like a disaster waiting to happen.  Don’t worry! It is not as bad as it looks.

Here is what the inside of the case looks like:

Sony DSC-H2 Inside Case

At this point, there are several things that need to be done.  First, there are two cables that connect the LCD screen and the backlight to the power board.  These cables are fragile, so please be careful!  The LCD cable is the wider of the two, and has a locking tab that holds the cable into place.  THESE TABS ARE FRAGILE!  Be very gentle when lifting the tab and removing the LCD cable.  The backlight cable (the smaller of the two) just slides out of its plastic holder, but again, fragile!

After that, the LCD screen is held down by a clip directly above the LCD cable, remove the clip, and the whole LCD assembly should slide free.  Set this aside, gently, to be reinstalled later.

Next we will be removing the board the LCD cables were installed into:

Sony DSC-H2 LCD Board 2 Screws

Easy to remove this board, there are 2 screws that you remove, as shown by the arrows.  Note the LCD is removed from the cable, and note the locking tab is UP in this picture.

After lifting the LCD board off, you’ll see this:

Sony DSC-H2 Under LCD Board 2 Screws

There will be 2 screws immediately under the LCD board (which I’ve removed in this picture).  Remove those screws and the entire frame that the LCD screen clips into will be removed, which will reveal the power board for the camera, which we will remove next!

Here is the camera with the LCD frame removed and power board exposed:

Sony DSC-H2 Power Board Cables

As you can see, there are a lot of cables on this board.  A LOT.  There are 6 that need to be removed, and each one has a unique clip, so if you break even one of those clips, it could cause your camera to become inoperable.  Patience is the most important virture you can have while doing this repair.  Some of the clips are stubborn.  Be firm, but gentle, and they will be pop up, and allow you to remove the 6 cables shown by the arrows in the picture.  One thing to keep in mind, there is one cable I specifically did not remove, which is right under the viewfinder in the top left.  This cable is part of the entire assembly that comes out of the camera, and does not need to be removed!

Please note on the bottom left of the picture, there is 1 screw to remove as well.

READ BEFORE REMOVING BOARD: See the next 2 pictures and captions before removing this board!

Now here you will need to forgive some bad photography, for the life of me I could not get the macro on the camera to focus properly on what I’m trying to show you.  As soon as I can take a better picture, I will upload it, but for now, bear with a couple of blurry pictures please!:

Sony DSC-H2 Speaker Clip

Sony DSC-H2 Speaker Plug

As you can kind of see from these photos, there is an extremely small little clip that plugs into the BACK side of the powerboard + viewfinder assembly you started to remove in the last step.  This little guy doesn’t have much to grab onto, and if you damage the cable, the speaker on the camera will no longer work.  Be very gentle with this part, and work it back and forth instead of pulling it, and you’ll remove it easily enough.

Now, again with a disclaimer, this next step involves the flash capacitor.  Again, if you do not feel comfortable doing this repair, or do not have a flash discharger, STOP! There is a real danger of doing harm to your camera, or even to yourself at this step, and we do not want that at all.  Again here is the flash discharger, so you can see it!

Flash Discharger

If you have the equipment above to continue, see the picture below to see where to discharge the flash and how to remove the entire shutter assembly:

Sony DSC-H2 Flash - OUCH!

You will hear a very audible whine when you discharge the flash, you really can’t miss it!

And the screws to remove the assembly:

Sony DSC-H2 Shutter Board Screws

And finally, the end product:

Sony DSC-H2 Shutter Board Removed

You can see the shutter board removed to the rear of the camera.  I will update this post as soon as possible with the complete instructions on taking the shutter button off the board, and installing a new button.  I realized, to my chagrin, that I do not have that part in front of me, so I can not give any instructions on it today.

This process took me about an hour, but that was with taking multiple photos, and detailing the process completely.  Altogether, I expect it would take me about 20-30 minutes to perform this repair.  I would expect it to take an hour for someone who is not familiar with taking a digital camera apart.  I know it looks complex, but take your time, and be patient, and you will probably find this repair to be slightly challenging, but fun at the same time.  It would be a perfect project for a Sunday afternoon!

Here is the resources needed to perform the DSC-H2 repair yourself – Sony Cyber-shot DSC-H2 Camera Shutter Release Button #2 Repair Part

And if you do not have a flash discharger or want to have us install the H2 Shutter Button for just $25 more than the part, we have the part and repair available here – Sony Cyber-shot DSC-H2 Camera Shutter Button Part and Installation Package

If you have any questions at all, don’t hesitate to email us, or call us @ (952)236-7243