Quick Fix 4 Broken Battery Cover on Cameras

by mojo-a-gogo - 9/1/12 3:43 PM

This is a very common problem; the plastic latch breaks and you can't close the battery hatch so your camera is useless.

This is a simple solution that worked on my otherwise trusty Olympus C720... should work on any camera with a battery hatch on the bottom.

Homedepot sells small metal L-shaped brackets. About 1.5 x 2 x 1.5 inches made of thin but sturdy metal, used to brace shelves. Put the camera on the tripod but loosen the screw a bit. With the short side of the L-shaped bracket pointed up so it's parallel to the side of the camera body, slide the longer side between the camera (over the broken battery cover) and the pad on the tripod that holds the camera. Push the bracket tight against the side of the camera body and tighten the screw on the tripod securing it to the bottom.

I have a Mohawk tripod with a good-sized camera pad and it works great for me. You might need a bigger bracket or a flat piece of sturdy metal might work better for you, depending on what kind of camera and tripod you have.

If you don't want to use a tripod, buy a tripod screw that fits your camera and a thin but sturdy flat metal piece and make a brace for your battery cover. Just buy a thin slab that covers the bottom of your camera and drill a hole in it for the tripod screw.