I don't use anything sticky, but if it's my first time opening basically anything, one side of my working space becomes a map of the screws.

Roughly in the layout of the way they came out. Top to bottom, in layers, as it comes apart.

A habit from working on laptops in a warranty center. I might have to try some tape.

Maybe the best idea is to make a video of the disassembly process, so you know exactly where what part went and in what order and orientation.

I occasionally take this approach, but it's a chore to scrub through a few hours' long video to find the right frame. It can save your bacon though! I filmed some teardown shots when I repaired an alexa mini. That is a true masterpiece of a camera :D

Thanks! After many lens teardowns with screws of varying lengths and magnetism, tape is truly king!

There’s a very useful putty for watchmakers called Rodico, it can serve this purpose well and can also be stuck to a screwdriver to hold onto the screw while placing it, instead of relying on magnetism (no good in watchmaking to magnetize your screws, I figure cameras are similar, you can increase resistance to movement if magnetism pulls things together…)

I’ve also seen a clever technique of drawing a diagram of whatever you’re working on on cardboard, and stabbing the screw into the cardboard to keep track of where everything lives

Thanks for the input about Rodico! It sounds pretty useful. I've used mounting putty / blue-tack when assembling PCBs, but not much more than that. I've seen the card board trick used many times to ease in painting engine valve cover bolts.

It also has an interesting capability to absorb smudges and oils, I use it to clean watch dials, just dragging the putty over the surface.