Nikon D500 Back Panel Removal

Written By: Wolphin

Comments: 4

Difficulty

Moderate

Steps

Time Required

10 minutes

Introduction

This is the steps of removal of the rear panel from the camera, exposing the main board.

Tools

Step 1

Remove the Memory Card(s) from the camera
Remove the Battery from the Camera, and close the battery compartment cover

Step 2

Remove the 2 screws beside the memory slots, then close the cover.
Note: make sure to remove the memory cards first!

Step 3

Remove the 2 screws under the rubber grip part by peeling back the rubber grip
Try not to damage the double sided adhesive under the rubber.

Step 4

Remove the 2 screws under the rubber pad marked in red.
Try not to damage the double-sided adhesive under the rubber.
Note: There is a 3rd screw under the flap, which holds the back to the top (marked in yellow). If needing to remove the back panel not just the memory cover flap, it can be removed at this time as well.

There are 3 screws, not two.

azoe1 - 02/12/20

The 3rd screw is not attached to the the side panel, but is attached to the top. This part of the guide is for removing the side panel, so that screw did not need to be removed. There is another step that is for removing that screw to release the rear panel.

I have edited the step to add that comment.

Wolphin - 05/12/20

Step 5

Lift out the assembly panel, it should come free without much force.
May open the panel to release it.

Step 6

Remove the screw above the viewfinder

Step 7

Remove the 4 screws holding the plate to the bottom.
Remove the bottom plate

Step 8

Remove the 4 screws (1 was under the plate removed under the last step)

Step 9

Remove the screw under the grip, if it has not been removed doing a previous step

Step 10

Remove the exposed screw on the Left side

Step 11

Carefully pull the back plate off the camera
There are 2 ribbon cables that need to be disconnected from the main board to free the rear panel from the camera.
To release the cables by flipping up the tap on the side away from the cable
When reconnecting the cables, make sure the cables are fully seated before flipping the latch back down.
The black cable goes to the LCD (on the tilt screen), the other one goes to the buttons.
The LCD cable does have less slack, so is easier to release first, and reconnect last.