I’ve seen a few posts around the net about replacing the window / LCD cover on Canon cameras, but for some reason no one has posted more than a snippet of information or a photo or two.
Not long ago, I cracked the window on my 5d2 so I figured I’d post about it to help out those poor souls who might be intimidated about fixing this themselves on their cameras.
So, above you see the crack in the window of my camera. The parts to repair this are only available from Canon themselves, and may be ordered by calling 800 828-4040.
You’ll need two parts as seen below
The tape is die cut for the 5d2, so don’t go cheaping out figuring you can do that yourself.
UPDATE – It has recently come to my attention that third party providers have begun selling replacement windows to fit these cameras, at greatly reduced prices. <a href="This is one example, which at the time of this writing is selling for $7. Something to consider about the third-party windows that I’ve seen is that they tend to be glass, whereas the original windows is lexan, which is a the type of polycarbonate used in race car windows. Now I suspect Canon uses lexan for the same reason it’s used in race car windows; it doesn’t shatter and it’s less prone to breakage than glass (being less brittle), though it is quite prone to cracking. My thinking, purely off the top of my head, is that the lexan is probably a much better choice, as it flexes with impacts much more than glass, and probably therefore does a much better job of protecting the LCD from taking direct hits than glass would, which I would THINK would simply shatter with a decent impact and then deftly move out of the way, allowing whatever contacted the glass to then contact the LCD. You might note that some of these glass windows include film layers, which theoretically would keep the glass in place in the event it shatters, but I would suggest that your LCD still would be far more likely to take damage than it is with the Lexan in place. Considering that the LCD (if I recall correctly) is over $250 to replace, I think I’ll stick with recommending the original, $25 Lexan window over the glass replacements. End update
You’ll need some tools to get the rear “window” as Canon calls it, off. I used a knife, a suction cup from a radar detector, and a pair of needle-nose pliers.
As you can see, I also tried a gameworks card (basically a credit card) and gently prying with a small, flathead screwdriver. Neither of these are going to help.
What you’ve got to do is crack the window all the way across the span, so you can leverage the window away from the chassis of the camera. If the window is one piece, you’re not going to get it off the cam. And I know, other people have posted about older cams and being able to do this, but I noticed the adhesive used on the older cameras is different, and presumably weaker. In any case, the way to crack the window is to put the knife point on the window, in my case where the crack ended, and just apply a little pressure straight into it. The crack will lengthen. If you don’t have a crack to start with, you’ll have to point the knife point on the window where it is supported by the chassis, NOT over any part the spans the LCD. Once you get a crack started, it’s easy to make the crack spread by moving the knife point, and requires far less pressure.
Now obviously, this step is risky, but the plastic of the window is quite prone to cracking and it doesn’t require much pressure at all, so if you’re careful you should be able to do this without the window, or obviously, the knife point, making contact with the LCD. Once the crack spans the width of the window, the suction cup can lift that half of the window away from the chassis, though it does take some effort.
Alternate Method – Say, for instance, you’re not the type who likes to live dangerously and play with knives, particularly around your precious and expensive DLSR. Say you’re also the same sort of person who has a hairdryer handy. Incidentally, If you answered “yes” to both of these questions, you’re probably female. No offense if you answered “yes” and you’re actually male, that just means you’re probably smarter and less prone to “Cheating Death” than me. Anywhoo, though I have not had the opportunity to try it, it is highly likely that if you hit the rear window covering the LCD with your hairdryer on high for about 45 seconds, it may heat up the adhesive tape enough to allow you to simply lift off the window with a suction cup, skipping the whole stabby bit with the knife. It certainly won’t be nearly as fun, but to each his (or her) own. Your Mileage May Vary. End Alternative And Definitely Less Exciting Method
Once you’ve lifted a corner, you’re golden. just pull it up, and if you go slowly, the tape will come with it in one piece. Then simply lift up the other half with your fingers, and it’s out. Then it’s as simple as cleaning the frame, carefully applying the tape (with only the camera-facing wax paper removed), and getting it seated neatly.
Above, you see the camera with the tape in place, but the paper on the non-camera-facing side of the tape still in place. Clean the LCD as well as you can, because any dust or prints will be there to drive you crazy until the next time you replace the window. You can’t clearly see it, but there is a seam cut in the tape. carefully put your knife into that seam and pry the paper up to get the backing removal started, then gently peel the paper backing away.
Now, carefully line up the new window and press it into place. That’s it, easy as pie.
And now you have a nice souvenir of your harrowing repair job.
Incidentally, all the pictures of this process were taken with the pretty impressive camera of the new iPhone 3GS.
Hi there how much were the replacement parts from Canon?
Ah…would you believe I don’t remember? It was over the phone so I don’t have an email receipt. It was something like $30 – $40. Not too bad, considering the captive audience.
Appreciate the response! Great post, will come in handy when I replace my screen window too. Cheers.
Thanks so very much for posting this!!!
Saved me a bunch of money.
Thanks for your post with photos… broke mine this weekend and have found a lot of sites that talk about adding protectors but this is the first “how to” on the replacement that I have found! By the way, quote today from Canon for parts and freight was $28.00. Okay, thanks again!
Really glad it helped you guys, and thanks for letting me know the pricing.
Sorry, I got buried in spam comments here, so I…uh…haven’t gone through the comments for about 7 months 🙁
Very nice tutorial. Thank you so much for taking the time to do this is such great detail. Much appreciated!
thanks for posting these instructions. My 5dmkII took a nasty spill in the wind today so I’ll be replacing the window this week. So thankful that is all that was damaged.
I just found out Dutch Techrepair (www.techrepair.nl) sells the tape for €1,09 and the ‘glass’ for €23,13
I just purchased the 2 parts listed above from Global Electronics of Mississauga, Ontario. It was a bit over $2 for the self adhesive tape, about $41 for the glass and $10 for the shipping plus taxes. Sending it to Canon Canada incurs a minimum $90 charge to look at it plus 6 weeks of turnaround time. I am very optimistic that with the EXCELLENT instructions supplied here by John that I can fix it myself in a few minutes and not have to send the camera to Canon. Thanks for the superb instructions here!!
Thanks! Just ordered the parts for $33.61. I was going to just live with it but your write-up makes it a no-brainer to fix.
I always have the screen protector on and i have a crack in my 50D screen. Is this a common problem? Nothing even happened to mine. I took it out of my bag and there was a crack. I had my 20D for years and nothing ever happened to it. I called Canon, they said it was like $300 for them to change it. Is that normal?
No, $300 is not normal, unless the LCD itself is cracked. If it’s just the “window”, it’s a $30 fix. But, this is a common problem on the later cameras, probably just because the LCDs are getting so much larger, and as you probably know, the larger the surface area of the window, the weaker it becomes. The windows seem to be made of Lexan, which is great because it’s a very scratch resistant plastic, but can be easily cracked, which is the downside. It’s what race car windows are made out of as well, just as an interesting side note.
hey admin!thanks for this. i also got my camera lcd scratched and i really needed this. btw, do you think that this lcd replacement is the same thing that they sell in canon?http://www.darntoothysam.com/products/Canon-Digital-Rebel-XS-1000D-LCD-Glass-Window-Replacement-Part.html#
I really doubt that’s a Canon part. For one, it’s described as “glass”, which is probably just a mistake on the site, but sounds like a really bad idea, and for another, it has no Canon branding. It’s also for the Rebel XS, which has a 2.5″ window, as opposed to the 3″ window we’re talking about here.
Thanks for posting this. Just ordered the parts. Holy crap was the parts lady quite rude as she made it far too confusing thinking I needed more than I did. Like it was so confusing lol. Thank god you had pictures with the part numbers on here and that pricing, as she had me at $99 for something to begin with..and was all belligerent at every turn of that phone call as I tried to nicely clear her up. All around a very unpleasant phone call. Kinda wish I had been more rude now, jeeeessshhh.
THIS IS GREAT! Worked perfect for my Nikon D60
thank you very much- this was instrumental in my replacing the window-
great contribution!!!!
Excellent step by step instructions. I hope this doesnt happen to me however now I know there is a fix I’m going to relax if I have a disaster!
Thanks for the very useful tips and clear instructions. Have just received the replacement parts from a Canon authorised repairer here in the UK at a cost of just £15 including the tape and postage. The LCD glass mysteriously broke on my 50D while I had it in my hand baggage on a flight.
Just did it. Worked a treat. One variation on your method was that I was that because the crack extended to the edge of the window I was able to break off a small piece of glass, pry the edge up with the tip of my knife and work around the edge until able to lift it clear. Then, after brushing away small dust particles I positioned the tape which came with a backing covering the entire window, hence protecting the LCD until I finally removed the larger backing and positioned the glass.
Awesome – thanks. Ws just about to head to the Camera Clinic to get a quote to fix it. Will source the parts now and do it myself.
Thanks for the instruction, got the parts form USA on eBay: 28.5 USD plus postage (http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1&item=390214558812&ssPageName=STRK:MERFB:IID#ht_1362wt_905).
I did follow this process to the letter, it took 10 minutes and camera is as new.
the lcd protector broke on my 5d mark ii and i’ve been quoted £389 plus vat to replace it. thanks for these instructions and shared experiences.
THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU!!! The LCD on my Rebel T2i recently cracked and I followed your instructions on removal and just ordered the replacement parts from Canon. What I thought was impossible to fix myself and would probably cost a small fortune has turned out to be about a $24 repair that I can do thanks to your excellent instructions. Thanks so much for having this out there on the web for us Canon users. Cheers!
Thanks for sharing this info. No crck on my screen, but it’s nice to know just in case.
Thank you, due to this site I ordered the glass and did it myself. It was easier than I thought. Thanks again, saved me a lot of money and headaches.
Thanks for the Instructional. Scratched mine pretty bad today. Glad to know it can be fixed without spending several hundred dollars.
I actually had ordered a protector for my LCD screen from Amazon.com for $2.98. When I read this post, it said the only place you can order them is from Canon. I also have a 5D Mark II. So thinking that I didn’t order the right thing, I called Canon and ordered the screen protector for $24.99. When my order arrived from Amazon, it WAS what I needed. A screen protector for my LCD screen. Now I wished I had waited before jumping so quickly. You had me fooled! I guess I have an expensive spare now in case I crack the screen protector again.
Yes, you’ve caught me. My intent was to fool you into spending more money with Canon, because as I’m sure you’ve realized, for every replacement window Canon sells, they fly me to Japan where I lavishly feast upon sushi with Canon marketing people while toasting another $24 sale. Or it could be that this post was written two years ago, and since then the aftermarket has come up with replacement windows…but that’s not nearly as fun a story, so let’s stick with option #1.
But that said, I guess the gig is up and my much-beloved sushi feasts are coming to an end. Thanks for the info on the newly available third-party solutions. I shall update the page post-haste!
Wow, I wasn’t expecting a smart alec cocky answer like that. I was trying to be a little humorous and let others know there are other options. Sheesh. Lighten up.
Well, 1 out of 2 ain’t bad
I decided to replace my scratched 5D Mark II screen after seeing your instructions and discovering the genuine Canon screen on eBay for $27.50 from procamerarepair.
I used a heat gun set to 200°F to heat the screen to weaken the adhesive. I can hold my hand under the heat gun at this temperature, so I wasn’t concerned about hurting the camera. I used the orange suction cup available on ifixit.com (sold as a pair) that are usually used to remove iMac screens to pull the screen off. The suction cup is just a tad bigger than the screen, but with proper alignment it will suction down. Moderate force was required to pull the screen off, but no so much that I was able to remove the old screen without cracking.
The biggest problem was controlling dust. First I put on the new adhesive, then I used a bright work light, a bulb blower, and a Arctic Butterfly to remove dust from the LCD (I didn’t want to touch it, even with a microfiber cloth since I assumed this would introduce more dust than it removed). Once all the dust was eradicated, I quickly removed the plastic backing from the new screen and set it on the new adhesive.
My screen is now just like new, free of scratches and free of any dust under the screen. Thanks for the awesome post!
[…] is a link to how to repair the LCD screen protective glass (PDF). Here is another tutorial with some good advice on the dangers of third party LCD […]
[…] […]
great article, thank you so much. I used your tips to fix my LCS screen cover. I posted it here. http://www.tinacasephotography.com/blog/2016/5/canon-5d-mark-ii-lcd-cover-replacement THANK YOU!
For those interested, Tina has confirmed the hairdryer method of removal, allowing you to skip the exciting, but in retrospect somewhat maniacal stabby bit with the knife. You should check it out.