For this installation instructional, we will be disassembling the Sony Cyber-Shot DSC-H9 Digital Camera, and tearing it down to the shutter button.

Here is a heartfelt apology in advance: My photos stink. I really do apologize and I will be reupdating this blog with new, sharper pictures very very soon.

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

H9 Shutter Button to remove

This is what we are looking to fix today. From the experience gained from doing the H2 and H5 shutter button repairs, the absolutely best way to uninstall and install a new part is by complete dissasembly of the camera and the shutter button assembly.

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-H9 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! This becomes even more important on the Sony Cyber-Shot DSC-H10 (Shutter button assembly installation instructions for that are coming soon!) as when you open the case the flash capacitor is right there and much more dangerous to work on, for you and the H10 camera.

Now that we have that out of the way, let us move on to the disassembly of the H9 digital camera.

Here are 3 shots of the sides of the Sony DSC-H9 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. 2 on the right side, 4 on the bottom and 1 on the left side, as well as 1 on the back of the case, as show in the pictures to my left

H9 Right Side Screws

H9 Bottom Screws

Also, when you open the case, there are 2 cables you need to be mindful of!  One is the cable that connects the back button board to the power board, and the other is the LCD cable that connects the LCD screen to the power board.  I didn’t see it the first time I disassembled the camera, and if you aren’t careful, you could damage the cables or the clips, which you certainly do not want to do.

H9 LCD Board Cable

At this point, there are several things that need to be done.  There are about 10 different cables and wires that need to be disconnected while before being able to remove the power board and exposing the lens and shutter assembly.  These cables are fragile, so please be careful! The worst part is there are 3 or 4 different types of cable locks Sony uses on this board.  2 cables use white plugs, and these are the speaker cables.  Several other use locking tabs to hold the cables in – THESE TABS ARE FRAGILE! Be very gentle when lifting the tab and removing the cable, if you break the tabs you’ll be forced to buy a new board, as Sony doesn’t sell the cable locks on their own.  And Sony boards are very expensive, you do not want to have to buy them!

The rest of the cables use a form of a pressure lock, which means you just pull the cable out, with no locking tabs.  But be careful with these as well, if you don’t pull gently, yet firmly and tug it, you could damage or break the cable or clip.

Next we will be removing the power board from the camera assembly.  This diagram shows the cables that need to be removed (please note the top-left 2 are BEHIND the board.  There is also one screw in the bottom right of the board to remove as well:

H9 Cables on the Power Board

The board is removed by sliding to the right, there is a locking tab that is held down and sliding the board to the right will remove the board.

After lifting the power board, you will see this:

H9 with the Power Board Removed

I didn’t mark the screws on this one unfortunately, but there are 3 silver screws that hold the lens into place, remove them, and the lens slides directly out.

I should take the time to mention that at this point, there is an annoying little silver piece that might fall out.  This is a bracket that holds down the Data port cable, to the bottom left of the camera.

This piece looks like this:

H9 Data Bracket

It is very important that you keep this piece.  If you don’t re-install it, the screws at the bottom of the case will have nothing to screw into.  I found the best thing to do is to immediately reinstall the screw from the bottom of the case right after taking the back case off, this will keep the bracket in place and prevent the frustration I had with it!

Now that the lens is removed, there are several more screws to remove on the right side of the camera.  Again, in the next revision of this post, I will be putting more updated and detailed pictures in, detailing which screws to remove.  One thing I noticed is the whole assembly that contains the flash and battery compartment comes out with a bit more force than you’ve used during the rest of this disassembly.  It’s okay!  It pops out, and here is where I need to give yet another flash 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:

H9 with the Flash and Battery Board Removed

And the reason needed for the flash discharger:

H9 Flash Contacts - BE CAREFUL!!!!

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:

And finally, the end product:

H9 Shutter Button to remove

You can see the H9 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 and a half, but that was with taking multiple photos, and detailing the process completely. Altogether, I expect it would take me about 1 hour to perform this repair. I would expect it to take an hour and a half to 2 hours 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-H9 repair yourself – Sony Cyber-shot DSC-H9 Camera Part Shutter Release Button

And if you do not have a flash discharger or want to have us install the H9 Shutter Button for just $25 more than the part, we have the part and repair available here – Sony Cyber-shot DSC-H9 Camera Shutter Button Repair Service

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