Electronic Viewfinder stuck down

Hi all,

Success! There was no need to disassemble the camera further. The issue was entirely on the side body cover. The failure was with the spring metal piece whose job is to keep the "Finder" slider button in its tracks. This metal piece is not fastened into the side body cover very securely - one melted-over plastic post, one not-melted registration post, and a tiny crimped prong on the opposite end. When the metal piece gets dislodged, the slider doesn't track properly and the excess play causes it to not engage with the release lever on the EVF module. I figure that the cause of the failure was that the EVF "Finder" release button got pushed in causing the metal piece to be deformed and/or dislodged from its flimsy mountings.

This photo is the crimped prong end of the metal piece. I held it into the proper position and put drops of gel super glue on the prong area and on the registration pin. Reassembled and all works properly!

FYI - I think the disassembly tutorial could use some further explanation. After you remove all the bottom and side screws, the back does NOT come off as one piece. There are actually three separate pieces. If you want to take the LCD module off the camera (with the right side piece), you need to remove one additional screw that is under the Near Field ribbon cable on the left side as shown in my previous picture.

Thanks for the advice and especially the pointer to the service manual.

--Carl

Thanks for the help. I have partially disassembled the camera according to the Viewfinder Replacement tutorial up through Step 7. I have the back shell loose but did not take the entire back (including LCD). Instead, I was able to remove just the small body section on the end, exposing the EVF popup latch mechanism. Here is a closeup of the EVF end of the camera. For orientation, the camera is resting on the lens housing. You are looking straight in at the EVF release mechanism. The end body section is folded down onto the table with the Near Field ribbon cable still attached.

The EVF release function works fine if I trip it by sliding the Release Lever to the right. This lever is supposed to be pushed by the Latch Slide, which is the little piece of plastic labeled Finder on the outside of the camera. The Latch Slide is L-shaped and is supposed to catch the Release Lever at its sharp bend. What seems to be happening is that the Latch Slide is supposed to be retained by the Slide Retainer, a little flat spring. This seems to be attached only at the top (left) end, and doesn't have enough pressure to keep the Latch Slide engaged with the Release Lever. I think what is happening is that when activated the Latch Slide lifts away from the Release Lever and therefore doesn't release the EVF.

When reinstalling the end body section, it is impossible to see well enough to properly engage the Latch Slide into the Release Lever, and impossible to see what is happening when I test the Finder switch. I was considering taking off the LCD back assembly as in Step 8 of the tutorial, but there is one more screw (visible under the Near Field ribbon cable) that can only be accessed with the end body section removed - a Catch 22!

All suggestions and advice received with thanks...

--Carl