Cracked LCD screen

pageja

Hello,
Not sure how it happened but I have a cracked LCD screen on my D3100. Is this something I can repair myself? Unfortunately we have no camera repair shop around anymore. Nikon wants about $150.00 to send it to them for repair. I feel terrible about it, as I am always so careful! I will pay to have Nikon repair if necessary though. Any ideas?

bruto

If possible, your first issue should probably be to determine if it's the LCD screen or the cover glass that is broken. I believe they are separate. The glass is much easier. Then, of course, you have to decide whether this is a job you can tackle. It looks as if the job requires no soldering, but a delicate touch and lots of little screws.

Here is a link to the procedure involved for the D3200, which is similar.

(see here)

It does not look too hard, though I would mention that those little ribbon connectors are quite easy to break, and need some gentle hands to disconnect.

Have you investigated non-Nikon repair shops? It appears the parts are not that hard to find (looking at ebay) or that expensive, so it might be possible for an independent shop to take this on for some price between that of the part and Nikon's.

There is a local shop here that does worldwide repair, including digital, called Vermont Camera Works. They're on the net, and you could perhaps email them and ask them what options they would offer. I know the people there, and they're likely to do a reliable job if they can get the parts. I am sure there are others out there as well, depending on where you are.

Nikon's price is not much less than it would cost to get a decent used D3100 as a replacement. The repair is still a bit cheaper than some place like KEH.com, but not hugely.

pageja

Thank you so much for the advice. Maybe it is just a glass cover. I will do a bit more research and take a look at the link you sent and Vermont camera works.