LCD Screen scratched or smudged

M

mixedclimber

Active member
It seems my LCD screen is smudged very badly or scratch to the point where I'm finding it very difficult to focus on the subject without an external monitor. Has anyone else found the same issues?

I don't always clean the LCD with a proper lens cloth, sometimes I use my fingers, sometimes my shirt, and sometimes my gloves. In the winter my nose drips on the LCD screen a lot so that's typically when I'll wipe it off with a glove or if using both my hands shooting I've been known to....lick the snot off the screen. Don't judge! Desperate times cause for desperate measures. I can't stop shooting for something so trivial as that can I?

I shoot 90% outside in the elements so I know things like this are bound to happen but I've owned both the DVX and HVX and never had an issue with those LCD screens. Did Panasonic go with a different lens cover with the AF100?

Does anyone know if you can replace just the plastic cover that goes over the LCD screen?

Thanks
Chris
 
Well...you still have the snot free eyepiece (EVF) finder that you can use ...hopefully.

Maybe considering the abuse you give the LCD you should have applied a screen cover.

Anyway...get a viewfinder form Zacuto ...and be nice to it.
 
For me, the LCD screen on the AF100 has been a menu settings and selection visual device. I've never
attempted to shoot anything monitoring on it...

I would recommend something like a SmallHD monitor (or similar) or (as Shooter suggests) the Zfinder from
Zacuto.

You can probably get by by using the EVF on the AF100 ... but I tend to turn the chroma off so I can pull focus better.

jeff
ps: you have to be nice to those little LCDs ..
 
Hi Shooter, I lost the rubber ring that goes over my eyepiece :(
Perhaps I would have put a screen cover over the LCD if I had known it was so easily scratched. It's weird because it's not really scratched....it's more smudged.... but to the point of not being able to clean it thoroughly.

Doesn't the Zfinder go over the LCD? How would this help if my LCD screen is already smudged?

I will ask around and see if I can get the plastic cover replaced or send it in to Panasonic.

@jmarkham - I use an external monitor when I'm shooting in a controlled environment. It's too heavy to lug that thing around in the mountains.

Thanks for your input guys.
 
Have you tried a 'Clearwipe' lens cleaner on your screen?

They have a mild amount of isopropyl alcohol in them and the packaging claims they are suitable for LCD screens.
 
Use polishing (not rubbing) compound. The kind you find in an auto parts store for polishing out the paint. Don't use polish or wax. Polishing compound usually is a white paste that comes in a tin. There are liquids as well.

Tape off the surrounding surface and the edge of the LCD display so that compound won't get in the crack between the display and the housing.
Place a very small amount of polishing compound on a soft cloth.
Rub vigorously in circles until the compound dries out. This is the key step and why you want a very small amount of compound. It won't polish properly unless it dries out. If you have too much on, you just get a sloppy mess.

If you are in doubt of this procedure or your skills, try it on any piece of plastic and check the results (you're car's brake light lens). Keep practicing until you feel confident that you can do the job.

If you still see scratches, but it polished out, then you need to go to a coarser compound. Now you have to be brave and believe that scuffing up the surface with grit will eventually become a clean polished surface. Again, try it on some other plastic first. I don't recommend this second procedure unless you are very brave or skilled.

This procedure works on many materials; plastic, paint, metal, stone, glass. The compounds vary, but the process is the same.

My assumption here is that the surface is plastic, not glass. If it is glass, you won't hurt it, but you won't polish it either. You can do the same for glass, but not by hand.
 
Thanks everyone for your input.

Turns out it was just very badly smudged to the point where a regular lens cloth did nothing for it. I had some lens cleaner in a spray bottle. Applied it about 20 times, each time buffing it vigorously and it looks brand new again. :)

Yeehar!
 
I just rented my AF100 to a friend and it came back with the LCD smudged/scratched a lot. I just found Paul's post about car compound and it really saved my AF100's LCD screen ; after 20 minutes of careful scrubbing in circles, all scratches and smudges are gone, the screen looks almost new!

Thanks a lot for the tip Paul, now I'm off to buy some screen protectors as Shooter suggested so this never happens again.
 
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I tried using a polish on my XHA1 LCD a while back, but it wore off the coating on the screen, it appeared to have some sort of light coating maybe for protection, idk, anyways, you can't see it when turned on, but when the screen is off, it's easy to notice. Just saying to be careful. Not sure if all lcd screens have this coating or not.
 
A friend just had their AF100's LCD replaced (he's hard on cameras) by Panasonic for $150 USD. Not sure if they replaced the entire LCD or just the cover.
 
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