Canon EOS 6D Front and Top Body Panel Replacement

Written By: Justin Thomas
  • Comments: 30
Canon EOS 6D Front and Top Body Panel Replacement

Difficulty

Moderate

Steps

23

Time Required

50 minutes

Introduction

Use this guide to replace the front or top body panels of your EOS 6D or to access damaged internal components.

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    • Remove the viewfinder cover by pinching the sides and sliding it upward.

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    • Open the battery door on the bottom of the camera.

    • Use your thumb to slide the small black tab on the inside of the battery door up and pull the door off the camera.

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    • Slide your fingernail or the flat end of the spudger underneath the rubber covering and gently peel it off all sides of the camera.

    Presume includes same procedure for the right hand side of the camera which is now shown as derubberised

    laylow -

    It is unnecessary to completely remove the rubber from the right side of the back panel - in the next step where you remove two screws, simply lift the top right corner for access.

    rakurai -

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    • Open the covers to the HDMI/AV/MIC ports on the side of the camera by gently pulling outward on the bottom of the covers.

    • Rotate the covers to the side so that you can see the connection ports inside.

    • Remove the following screws:

    • Two silver 5mm Phillips #00

    • One black 6mm Phillips #00

    Phillips#0 seemed to be a more secure fit.

    John Hood -

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    • Remove the cover to the HDMI/AV/MIC ports by gently lifting the tab on the bottom edge of the camera.

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    • Rotate your camera so the bottom side is facing you.

    • Remove the following screws:

    • One 6mm Phillips #00

    • Two 3mm Phillips #00

    Correction:

    2x 3mm Phillips #00

    1x 6mm Phillips #00 in battery compartment

    Joey Fresco -

    Figure circle is not correct. Joey Fresco is right.

    Tomonori OTA -

    the 6mm phillips #00 is under the grip.  The other 2 are 3mm.

    Jay Wang -

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    • Rotate your camera so the back is facing you.

    • Remove the following screws:

    • Three silver 5mm Phillips #00

    • Two black 6mm Phillips #00

    • One black 4mm Phillips #00

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    • A black ribbon wire connects the rear panel to the inside of the camera. Breaking this wire would make your rear screen and buttons non-functional.

    • Carefully use your fingers to tilt the back panel downward to about a 90 degree angle.

    • Use the flat end of the spudger to gently pry off the ribbon wire from the inside of the camera.

    The ribbon cable is connected to the camera via a plug (the gold colored PCB has a male plug on the other side of the PCB). This plug is at the end of the spudger. You need to pull that PCB boar/plug straight up from the camera (perpendicular to the camera)

    Jim R -

    There is a metal piece protruding from the back panel into the main body, down near the battery door. DO NOT simply bend the back panel down 90 degrees! Gently pull the entire back (including the lower right corner near the battery door) straight away from the camera about 1cm, and then lower the back panel 90 degrees.

    rakurai -

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    • Remove the 8mm Phillips #00 screw from the bottom of the front of the camera.

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    • Rotate the camera so the side with the SD card slot is facing you.

    • Remove the 4mm Phillips #00 screw from the bottom edge of this side.

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    • Rotate the camera so the bottom is facing you.

    • Remove the following screws:

    • Two 8mm Phillips #00

    • One 4mm Phillips #00

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    • Remove the bottom panel from the camera by using your fingers to pull outward on the tab inside the battery compartment.

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    • Rotate the camera so the front is facing you.

    • Remove the following screws:

    • Three 5mm Phillips #00

    • Two 6mm Phillips #00

    • One 4mm Phillips #00

    the screw on the grip is 4mm shorter then 2 on the right side.

    Jay Wang -

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    • Rotate the camera so the side with the SD card slot is facing you.

    • Remove the following screws:

    • One 4mm fine-thread Phillips #00

    • Two 4mm coarse-thread Phillips #00

    Screw types were wrong.   There is only one coarse-tread Philips on the botton.  The top two are fin-thread.

    Jay Wang -

    Not on mine, the two orange-labeled screws were coarse threaded, but they are not the same length. The 0.5mm longer screw goes in the hole nearest the battery door.

    rakurai -

    Do not remove the upper orange-labeled screw. Removing the SD card door is unnecessary and risks damaging the tiny switch that detects the door being closed. Instead, loosen the screw about 1 turn and slide the front plate forward.

    rakurai -

    If you damage the switch, use a utility knife to pry it off the board/cable it is connected to and it will “trick” the camera into thinking the door is always closed. Be sure to turn your camera off before removing the card if you do this.

    Owen -

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    • The red speaker wire is attached to the inside of the front panel. Opening the front panel forcefully may break it.

    • Slowly fold the front panel to the right without pulling it away from the right edge of the camera.

    The adhesive holding the “6D” badge can give some resistance, be careful as it is very close to the delicate speaker wire.

    rakurai -

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    • Remove the 4mm Phillips #00 screw on the inside of the front panel to separate the panel from the speaker wire.

    Can the lens mount ring (the EF mount ring with the red dot) actually be removed without having to remove the front panel by just removing the four screws? Or does one actually have to disassemble the whole camera as shown in this guide?

    John Paul Adrian Glaubitz -

    Better to remove mount ring after disassemble the whole came as this guide. The ring was caught and could not be removed.

    Tomonori OTA -

    Removing the front panel is unnecessary for removing the top case. Just pull the panel forward 0.5cm to unhook the top case from the pins in the front panel, then slide it back into position temporarily while you work with the top. This avoids needing to unhook the speaker or otherwise damage front components.

    rakurai -

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    • Remove the 4mm Phillips #00 screw from the inside of the top panel, below the strap hook.

    5mm screw, in case you unnecessarily removed the shutter button screw in the next step and mixed them up.

    rakurai -

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    • Remove the 4mm Phillips #00 screw from the inside of the top panel, below the shutter button.

    This step is not necessary

    Scott McRae -

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    • Rotate the camera so the top is facing you.

    • Remove the 6mm Phillips #00 screw from next to the analog screen.

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    • Rotate the camera so the back is facing you.

    • Remove the Phillips #00 screw from the viewfinder focus.

    At no point did you tell us how to remove the mode dial.

    Matt Herriot -

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    • Carefully detach the two light brown ribbon wires on the top panel:

    • The right ribbon by prying it out with the flat end of the spudger.

    • The left ribbon by using tweezers to gently wiggle it out toward the top.

    The ribbon connector indicated in orange has a lever on the back of the connector that you lift with the spudger to release the cable. Then reinsert the cable until you feel it hit home and close the lever.

    Scott McRae -

    Scott is right.  To raise the lever is necessary when putting the ribbon back.

    Jay Wang -

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    • A ribbon wire connects the inside of the top panel to the body of the camera.

    • Slowly lift the top panel to about an inch above the body of the camera.

    • Carefully use the flat end of the spudger to detach the ribbon wire from the top of the camera.

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    • Grip the remaining side panel with your fingers and gently pop it off the camera.

    This step is unnecessary and risks damaging the tiny SD card door switch. See my comment on step 14 above to avoid removing this part.

    rakurai -

Conclusion

To reassemble your device, follow these instructions in reverse order.

Author

Justin Thomas

Member since: 22/04/14

2148 Reputation

7 comments

Actually, it would be perfect to note the color of the screws throughout the manual. This would help to get it right!

But thanks anyway, you saved me!!

mrbakin -

In step 11 one of the red circles marks incorrect screw - should point the one near plate not the one in battery compartment (compare to step 6)

leszekcylupa -

Agreed.

But thanks, apart from this minor error it was a great help and really clear. Cleaned the gunge out of the menu button and it now releases perfectly.

I found getting the ribbon cable back in (step 21) a bit difficult, combo wiggled and pushed it back in. Might recommend doing that one before the right one, and maybe before finally mounting the top cover.

Blakey -

My DSLR don't want to start after remount :(

dlirsoon -

Thanks.  You folks did a great job.  It help me replacing the main dial in 3 hours in just the first attempt.

Jay Wang -

I have no power to the camera after reassembling the body. All cables have been replaced correctly and secured. Any ideas?

David Collen-jones -

like a charm! you rock! thanks for that picture by picture howto, my camera got a new dail button after the ring with the icons was damaged and didn’t stick no more.

Albert Einstein -