Fuji GA-645Zi Repair: In Praise Of Fototech

[chuckroast]

I have a Fuij GA-645Zi that is well over 20 years old. Like so may of these cameras, mine had the dreaded "dead LCD display" problem. The issue is that Fuji used a flex printed circuit board to go from the camera body into the back cover where the LCD lives. Over several decades, that flex cracks and the LCD stops display some- or all segments. This is a pain because that's were ASA and a lot of other camera options get set. Unfortunately, Fuji hasn't made repair parts in years.

I came across Fototech in Warsaw, Poland in this video, showing how they have made an after-market replacement and how they do the actual repair:

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I contacted them and sent them my camera. I just got it back and it's as good as new. Kind of amazing considering the reverse engineering they had to do.

This is not an inexpensive repair. Including round trip shipping, the total cost was $500-ish. However, this camera remains my favorite travel shooter. The optics are tack sharp (at 11x14 enlargement, I cannot tell the difference between these 645 negs and those from a 'Blad lens. It is light and small and tucks nicely into a carry on. I've never found a decent substitute for what it does. So ... I couldn't be happier with the outcome.

If you are interested, contact them first - there is a protocol to shipping broken cameras to Poland. Poland has very high import duties and the camera has to be properly described or you will get hit with a terrible (and unnecessary) duty bill:

Tomasz Szczypka​

warszawa@fotonaprawa.pl​

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FOTOTECH​

ul. Sabały 58​

02-174 Warszawa​

tel. (0048) 22 243 0210​

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WEB: www.fotonaprawa.pl IG: @fototech_serwis FB: @FototechSerwis​

 

[250swb]

Thank you for the information, these are great cameras and knowing they can be repaired is very encouraging.

 

[Dan Daniel]

Nice. I wonder, how do they rebuild the ribbon? (Sorry but I won't watch a 1 hour video for fifteen seconds of info.) I know someone who would do micro-soldering on ribbon cables but he wouldn't do more than 2-4 bad traces on a cable.

 

[koraks]

I wonder, how do they rebuild the ribbon?

Looks like they don't and use a replacement; this would probably be the aftermarket item mentioned in the OP. Skip to 26:30 in the video and you'll see the process of transplanting the components from the old flex PCB onto a seemingly brand new replacement. A replacement like this would be fairly straightforward to recreate from an original in any PCB tracing software (e.g. KiCAD) and then order from a jobber like JLCPCB etc. It's of course time-consuming, so it's nice someone actually put the effort into doing this.

 

[chuckroast]

Looks like they don't and use a replacement; this would probably be the aftermarket item mentioned in the OP. Skip to 26:30 in the video and you'll see the process of transplanting the components from the old flex PCB onto a seemingly brand new replacement. A replacement like this would be fairly straightforward to recreate from an original in any PCB tracing software (e.g. KiCAD) and then order from a jobber like JLCPCB etc. It's of course time-consuming, so it's nice someone actually put the effort into doing this.

It's harder than that because it's more than a flex ribbon replacement. If that's all it was, I'd have swapped it myself.

The LCD and some digital parts are surface mounted onto the ribbon itself using both hot and cold solder techniques.

The video shows the labor intense meticulous process involved.

 

[koraks]

@chuckroast I understand very well what you say. I've watched the critical parts of the video. It doesn't change what I said about recreating such a flex PCB being a fairly straightforward process. This doesn't mean it's easy, or that anyone could to it, or that it doesn't require certain skills. But it's not rocket science, either.

meticulous process

Well, that's relative. The outcome seems to work, that's the important part. The soldering operations are rather crude.

 

[chuckroast]

@chuckroast I understand very well what you say. I've watched the critical parts of the video. It doesn't change what I said about recreating such a flex PCB being a fairly straightforward process. This doesn't mean it's easy, or that anyone could to it, or that it doesn't require certain skills. But it's not rocket science, either.



Well, that's relative. The outcome seems to work, that's the important part. The soldering operations are rather crude.

Well, the guy who's done of lot of my repair work (Frank Marshman at CameraWiz) is a very experienced camera repairman both traditional and digital. He got one of these replacement flex circuits to tried and do the same thing. He said all of it was not that hard to do except for relocating the LCD itself. According to Frank, there is some sort of low temp/cold solder scheme in use for that component that he could not figure out how to remove/replace.

So, while this may not be subnanonmeter chip lithography, it certainly takes specialized skills. I am very experienced with circuit wiring, soldering, and such but there is enough specialization here, both in parts and soldering methods, I judged the price to be worth it to have someone do it who does so regularly.

 

[koraks]

there is some sort of low temp/cold solder scheme in use for that component that he could not figure out how to remove/replace.

Tin contacts on the flex PCB with leaded solder. Then press the LCD ribbon onto it and heat. Looks like that's how they do it in the video and it's certainly how I'd do it.

subnanonmeter chip lithography

We're not quite there yet. Single digit nanometers isalready pretty darn small, though.

I judged the price to be worth it to have someone do it who does so regularly.

Oh, I did not mean to suggest otherwise.

 

[chuckroast]

As a followup - I shot a roll of Tri-X to check general camera functions - works like new.

The only open question is how long this repair will survive. Will it last the 20+ years the factory original had, I wonder ...

 

[Dan Daniel]

Interesting conversation. Thanks. Yes, a question is if this replacement lessens the chance of failure, or is simply a reset to start a new failure cycle of similar duration.

Any idea if this outfit deals with other cameras? The Fuji GF670 is known for both being a nice camera and for making a nice brick from electronic failure.

 

[chuckroast]

I believe they are a general purpose repair shop. But I'd contact both Frank Marshmap (CameraWiz) and Dave Easterwood here in the US first to see if they can address that problem. Both of them are "semi retired" which means that they are loaded with work and turn around times can be slow, but I've gotten good service from both.

 

[Sharktooth]

That's a mighty impressive repair job. Lots of skill with a soldering iron on very small passive components. More importantly, the patience of a saint. Both skills I sadly lack, but certainly admire. It seems to be well worth the price if you're stuck with a "brick".

 

[chuckroast]

Interesting conversation. Thanks. Yes, a question is if this replacement lessens the chance of failure, or is simply a reset to start a new failure cycle of similar duration.

Any idea if this outfit deals with other cameras? The Fuji GF670 is known for both being a nice camera and for making a nice brick from electronic failure.

I asked Fototech about the reliability question. This was their response:

We expect them to be at least as reliable as original ones, but we'll know in a few years really. We/ve been doing this for 2/3 years, and I don't recall any fuji coming back or anyone saying it's broken again. We've seen flexes from a few manufacturers and those are of high quality.​

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Every flex cable that moves and breaks, WILL break again, this is inevitable, It's just dumb design. For an example Nikon cameras had contacts in the back door that touched the body when closed and this design doesn't break. But our flex cables are enforced in the folding part, so as I said, it should be OK for years to come.​

 

[yurihuta]

Thank you for sharing your experience. I am about to ship out my 645zi for this repair to the same shop in Poland.

 

[chuckroast]

Thank you for sharing your experience. I am about to ship out my 645zi for this repair to the same shop in Poland.

Be sure to get their input first on how to package and mark the contents. If you do it wrong, you get clobbered with outrageous Polish tariffs.

 

[yurihuta]

Be sure to get their input first on how to package and mark the contents. If you do it wrong, you get clobbered with outrageous Polish tariffs.

Thank you. I've been in contact with them and they sent directions of how to label the camera. Do you recall how long the repair took and if they addressed any other issues for you?

 

[chuckroast]

Thank you. I've been in contact with them and they sent directions of how to label the camera. Do you recall how long the repair took and if they addressed any other issues for you?

As I recall, end-to-end time was something like 5 weeks once I got it posted.

I had no other work done.

I just shot with mine last week and it works just great.

 

[hap]

I don't have a LCD issue. I have a filter screwed into the lens and it is stuck.... I've not been able to get it out and it's tricky and should not use force.

Also, I have some debris in the VF. There are posts dating back to 1998 at Photrio about similar problems.

Not dying to send the camera to Poland. But Marshman is hit or not and so far he hasn't responded to my email.

I have used Dave Easterwood and he is good but no real experience with this camera but I could give him a try. If it were a ribbon problem it would have to be in Poland.

Thanks chuckroast and the others!
Hap

 

[hap]

Ultimately, I sent the camera to Steven's Camera in LA......and they were able to get the filter of without any damage.

 

[yurihuta]

As I recall, end-to-end time was something like 5 weeks once I got it posted.

I had no other work done.

I just shot with mine last week and it works just great.

Thanks again for sharing your experience. They currently have my 645zi standing in line for repair.