Easy Flip Camera Lens Repair

In case anyone other than me has cracked the lens of their Flip camera (or one of its close cousins – it would probably work for them as well) here’s how I fixed mine after it had an unfortunate encounter with a curious cat and a stone floor 3 feet below.  It turns out the “lens” you see on the outside is just a transparent dust cover, with the actual lens about half an inch down below.  But the glass is quite thin, and if you crack it, the whole thing is pretty much unusable.

I had only had it a few weeks, and after verifying that the electronics still worked fine, I contacted Flip, and was told “sorry, we don’t repair that part of the camera”.  In retrospect, I should have asked, if not that, then what?  It seems like one of the easiest to break – and repair.

So I carefully removed the broken glass (fingernails or a toothpick or maybe a small nail or push pin will get you started – it’s really thin) and simply went down to my local watch repair store.  They found a perfect match which lies flat on the 2mm edge.  Cost me about ten bucks.   But they’ll probably tell you that you have to mount it yourself.  And here’s the important part:  like me, you’ll probably be tempted to use super glue.  DON’T.  For any glue that fumes like super glue, the fumes get trapped inside the space between the real lens and the “watch crystal”, leaving a film on all the surfaces, to include the glass.  Instead, use a non-fuming epoxy, and try to avoid getting too much glue under the lens, sticking to the edges if possible.  Don’t worry, you have about 3 mm room for error along the edges of the watch glass.  Voila!  Ten bucks and you’re back in business.

I’m still waiting for a response from @FlipVideoBrand on Twitter.  I’m not sure they’ve figured out the Twitter thing yet.