Taking Apart a Canon 1DX Camera

Photography Tips

When Peter McKinnon went out one day to create a vlog with his Canon 1DX Mark II camera, he discovered that the cable for his microphone had snapped due to the rough journey on his ATV. Not only had it snapped, but the entire internal housing on the mic input was cracked and damaged.

Canon kindly sent him a replacement to use until his own was fixed, but before McKinnon sent the broken camera back to Canon, his curiosity got the better of him; he had to open up his camera to see the inner workings.

This video gives us a fascinating insight into exactly what lies beneath the case of a modern digital camera, but if you’re very sensitive about how high-tech camera gear should be handled, be warned; you’ll have a few moments when you’re cringing with horror at how McKinnon handles the exposed guts of his camera:

The timelapse sequence on the video shows just how many screws there are holding the body together, and how long it takes for him to find and unscrew them all.

Once McKinnon has opened the casing, it’s amazing to see just how many components are packed into the front and back of the camera body. There isn’t a wasted bit of space anywhere. Miraculously, when he puts the camera back together and tests it, it actually still works.

It’s great to be able to see inside to what makes a camera work, and it all worked out fine in the end, but definitely don’t try this at home!

“I’m just gonna start unscrewing things!”