2025-09-12 - Fixing a Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ1000 That Won't Focus or Zoom
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WARNING: The flash capacitors used in cameras can hold a dangerous
charge even when the camera is off and the battery has been
disconnected. Do not attempt a repair if you do not know how to watch
out for such capacitors and discharge them if necessary.

A few months ago, I was given a Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ1000 camera[0]
that wouldn't focus or zoom anymore. I did get it to work once after
I had transported it in a suitcase, but it stopped working again
after a short while. I'm guessing that the shaking in the suitcase
slightly moved some parts inside so it briefly worked, but then
stopped again. Considering my overwhelming success with previous
camera repairs[1], I decided to attempt a repair.

Luckily, someone else already had the same issue and even uploaded
a photo album of the repair[2][3]. There is also an iFixit guide
covering most of the disassembly[4] (mirrored locally at [5]), so I
won't show any of that. In order to repair the problem, the zoom
motor needs to be accessed, so the iFixit guide can be followed until
step 19. One small note is that the guide shows the ribbon cable in
step 16 being detached from its pegs using tweezers. I instead used
an opening pick and a spudger[6][7] since I didn't want to slip and
damage the cable with metal tweezers, but both are valid methods, I
just used what worked best. The ribbon cables are generally attached
using ZIF connectors that require first opening a latch on one side
to be able to pull out the cable, for instance using a spudger[8].

Once the motor assembly has been removed[9], the screws on top can
be removed and the ribbon cable moved to the side[10] so the plastic
cover can be opened[11]. At first I thought that the worm gear was
maybe slipping on the motor shaft as I have seen in at least one VCR,
but that was not the case. I powered the motor using my benchtop power
supply while applying a bit of pressure to the gears (not too much to
avoid breaking anything) to test this. I didn't know what voltage the
motor was, but I just used 2V since I thought that would be relatively
safe. Powering the motor can't damage anything else at this point
because the ribbon cables are all disconnected. Everything seemed to
work, and the motor wasn't really loose, so I wasn't sure what the
problem was. In [3], the author mentions that the motor was very loose
and the worm gear was probably skipping teeth. In my case, this can't
have been the case because the screws weren't loose enough, but my
theory is that they were just loose enough for the worm gear to tilt
enough that the mechanism locked up. Since the screws were slightly
loose, I just tightened them[12] and then reassembled the camera.
I probably should have fastened them using thread locking compound
like the author of [3], but I didn't have any at the time, so I'll
just have to open the camera again if the same issue occurs again.

One very useful trick mentioned in [3] is to wrap some electrical tape
around tweezers in order to use them for pushing ribbon cables into
place when reattaching them[13]. This camera also includes complex
ribbon cables like the one that caused my fatal mistake in [1],
for instance [14]. Connecting some of these cables is very annoying
because it seems as if they aren't pushed in completely even when
they are[15]. One of the two ribbon cables connecting the two halves
of the camera has a fairly large part of the connections sticking out
even when it is fully pushed in[16]. After my previous failed repair,
I was very paranoid, so I pushed the cables in very hard to make sure
there would be no issues (of course while the latches were opened).

Once I had reassembled the camera, everything worked perfectly,
so it seems the issue really was just that those two screws on the
motor were slightly too loose. Well, I guess at least I've fixed a
camera successfully now, after my embarassing failure last time.


[0] gopher://lumidify.org/I/phlog/2025-09-12-panasonic/fz1000.jpg
[1] gopher://lumidify.org/0/phlog/2025-09-12-olympus.txt
[2] https://www.dpreview.com/forums/thread/4503591#forum-post-64148140
[3] https://www.dpreview.com/galleries/4362676141/albums/fz1000-zoom-repair
[4] https://www.ifixit.com/Guide/Panasonic+Lumix+DMC-FZ1000+Lens+Replacement/55965
[5] gopher://lumidify.org/9/phlog/2025-09-12-panasonic/guide_55965_en.pdf
[6] gopher://lumidify.org/I/phlog/2025-09-12-panasonic/ribbon_removal1.jpg
[7] gopher://lumidify.org/I/phlog/2025-09-12-panasonic/ribbon_removal2.jpg
[8] gopher://lumidify.org/I/phlog/2025-09-12-panasonic/ribbon_cable_socket.jpg
[9] gopher://lumidify.org/I/phlog/2025-09-12-panasonic/motor_removed.jpg
[10] gopher://lumidify.org/I/phlog/2025-09-12-panasonic/motor_ribbon_cable.jpg
[11] gopher://lumidify.org/I/phlog/2025-09-12-panasonic/motor_open.jpg
[12] gopher://lumidify.org/I/phlog/2025-09-12-panasonic/motor_screws.jpg
[13] gopher://lumidify.org/I/phlog/2025-09-12-panasonic/ribbon_cable_fastening.jpg
[14] gopher://lumidify.org/I/phlog/2025-09-12-panasonic/complex_ribbon_cable.jpg
[15] gopher://lumidify.org/I/phlog/2025-09-12-panasonic/ribbon_cables_connected.jpg
[16] gopher://lumidify.org/I/phlog/2025-09-12-panasonic/ribbon_cable_connections.jpg