Discussion: Two broken Sony Cyber-shot DSC-W710 cameras

CP30126

Member
Hello. I have two broken Sony Cyber-shot DSC-W710 cameras and I have questions about them. Since the two I have are broken you may think that they are not reliable, and perhaps they really are not sturdy, but I have been extremely hard with them. I bought the first one, the black one in 2014. If I remember correctly it died after it fell from my makeshift "tripod" while it was recording a video. When I picked it up the screen was black and it died with the lens out when I tried to power it down.
The second one, the silver one died recently. It started to have problems with its lens, it would get stuck while using the zoom function and would sometimes fail to open. Now it does not open at all, it's stuck in the retracted position. I think it failed because of grime and dust getting inside.

I opened the more severly-damaged one, the black one and took the lens out. I even opened the lens by removing the sensor and strangely I found a big spring inside. I'd like it if someone could identify some of the parts that make up the lens. I took photos of the lens with my finicky USB webcam. Sometimes it works, other times Windows 7 says "the USB device has malfunctioned" when I plug it in.


This photo shows the spring that I found inside the lens on the left, and on the right is a mirror that I also found inside the lens. It seems designed to move up and down with an electric motor. I'm guessing this is the "focus" mirror.

Do you think something can be done to repair the silver one or would it need a new lens as well? Can new lenses be bought somewhere?
 

CP30126

Member
Uhmm yes that's what I'll have to do, or buy working lenses. I opened the lens of the silver camera and by rotating it manually I was able to get a lot of grime out of it. It's now pretty easy to turn, I'd say it's almost as easy to turn as the lens of the black camera. Unfortunately it still does not work, there seems to be a problem with the motor or the drive gears. It turns until it gets stuck, and when it gets stuck I must turn it manually to free it. And yes it stays stuck even if I remove the coupling gear, so it's not the lens rings that prevent it from turning, it's something with the drive gears, which is very odd. I wonder if they were originally coated with some kind of oil or grease. I think the stuff I have would only make it worse. And yes theoretically someone could create a working lens with the two that I have but I don't want to do it. I test the motor with the camera's battery for those who are wondering.

Also, I can answer two of the questions that I asked in the first post. The spring goes around the shaft of the unknown mirror that I showed in the second photo I posted. It is held in place by the image sensor plate. And the 4-pin things are sensors used to monitor various mechanical parts that make up the lens.
 
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