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Does the Camera have a protective shield to remove ~ Solved. Yes it's Does.

Guys,
Quick question. Just received my S4 and took off the protective plastic on the back and front of the phone.
However, the camera lens looks like it may have one as well but it is hard to say for certain.
Has anyone had to remove anything from the lens?
Looking at the lens there is definitely something on there because I can clearly see an air gap and if you press on the lens you then see this protective layer sticking to the lens itself.
If you don't touch it you then can see half the lens with the transparent substance touching it whilst the other half is not.
I have not yet taken a photo as it's just gone on charge but it's my guess it's going to show this transparent cover over the shot.
Edited: Thank you to all who subscribed. Yes it does have a protective cover that requires removal.

There is a small protective plastic shield surrounding the lens, but not directly over it.
Sent from my GT-I9505 using Tapatalk 2

Beards said:
Guys,
Quick question. Just received my S4 and took off the protective plastic on the back and front of the phone.
However, the camera lens looks like it may have one as well but it is hard to say for certain.
Has anyone had to remove anything from the lens?
Looking at the lens there is definitely something on there because I can clearly see an air gap and if you press on the lens you then see this protective layer sticking to the lens itself.
If you don't touch it you then can see half the lens with the transparent substance touching it whilst the other half is not.
I have not yet taken a photo as it's just gone on charge but it's my guess it's going to show this transparent cover over the shot.
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Click to collapse
I know exactly what your talking about as I'm thinking the same lol , don't know if I should try and remove it or not

I removed it and a number of other people have also. Need to take the back off and get under the edge with your fingernail.

I suppose what we need to hear is if anyone has removed this cover and was it meant to be removed?
Edited: Thanks dacbeth. I'll get a scalpel to it when it's finished charging.
Why on earth it's not mentioned though is weird.....

It's not stuck down very well. Mine almost jumped off as soon as I lifted one edge with my fingernail.

proctologist said:
It's not stuck down very well. Mine almost jumped off as soon as I lifted one edge with my fingernail.
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That's what I would have assumed.... But as mine is definitely not wishing to move (so far tried with finger nail but no joy) I thought it best to come here and ask other owners.

I removed mine. There are also some near invisible covers around the edges of the phone too.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I337 using Tapatalk 2

Yup. Mine came with a protective plastic -- wasn't covering the lens itself though. Its a rounded square with a hole in the middle where the lens is.
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Planktron said:
I removed mine. There are also some near invisible covers around the edges of the phone too.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I337 using Tapatalk 2
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Thanks... I didn't notice those side protectors.
seltaeb said:
Yup. Mine came with a protective plastic -- wasn't covering the lens itself though. Its a rounded square with a hole in the middle where the lens is.
Sent from my GT-I9500 using Tapatalk 2
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Thanks... Mine has no hole and covers all the lens.

I have removed it very easily with a pin

I didn't remove mine, Since the plastic is not covering the entire lens, I think this is to avoid lens to touch the table and be scratched.

SoRRoW_BR said:
I didn't remove mine, Since the plastic is not covering the entire lens, I think this is to avoid lens to touch the table and be scratched.
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Yeah, I don't think it's meant to be removed. I took some fantastic pictures with that plastic on, and then thought you were supposed to remove that and that pictures would look even better, but they look identical. Also it took a good 10 minutes to get off, scratching at the edges with my fingernail before I finally got underneath it. Wish I would've kept mine on!

You'll find that if you don't remove it, it will start to collect fuzz / gunk around the inner circle. So you'll end up having to remove it eventually anyway.
If Samsung intended it to be left on, then it is a bad design. Mine was linted beyond belief after putting it in an admittedly lint filled pocket.
Sent from my SPH-L720 using Tapatalk 2

that part was the trickiest to remove,
i forced it using my fingernails and i thought i scratched the device, good thing it didn't

Does your camera lens have a screen protector on it?

I've just bought an S4 for my wife (Tesco mobile in the UK) and we noticed that around the camera lens there are a series of fine scratches. However it looks like the scratches are on a protector that surrounds the lens but doesn't cover the centre. I wanted to try to take it off but my wife wouldn't let me as we couldn't be sure it WAS a protector.
So, I wanted to ask whether your s4 came with a protector round the lens and if it did, did you take it off?
Sent from my GT-N7100 using Tapatalk 2

yes it's a protector - yes, you should remove it.

My S4 also had a protector on the camera lens.

You dont have to remove it. Leave it to protect from scratches
Sent from my GT-I9505 using xda app-developers app

Take it off, your pictures will get blurrier and blurrier.

you can take of, see this ss
https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/93477710/s4/20130508_184513.jpg

I would be very surprised if Samsung didn't use Gorilla glass on the camera's lense also.
So short of using your phone around a lot of sand or diamonds, it should be ok.

plznote said:
Take it off, your pictures will get blurrier and blurrier.
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Is that really true, how would that happen?
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btemtd said:
You dont have to remove it. Leave it to protect from scratches
Sent from my GT-I9505 using xda app-developers app
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+1
Sent from my GT-S5830 using Tapatalk 2

Mine came off on its own after the phone became hot.

I don't think camera lenses are gorilla glasses. I remember developing lots of scratches on my S2. I just wonder why there hasn't been lots of talk about it already.
Sent from my GT-N7000 using xda app-developers app

I took it off after brushing against it a couple of times and hearing the flimsy plastic crinkling sound was enough. I figured it must come off because although the overall build of the S4 is somewhat on the cheap plastic side, it's not possible that this could be a normal feature.
I keep a case on it now so the camera lens never touches the surface the phone rests on.

Seems like there is still plastic on my lens. Buggered if I can get it off though.

Guys you don't need to take it off the centre is not covered by the protector but it allows the camera to function normally the protector is doing its job properly by protecting the bulk of the lense when say for example you put your phone on the desk it hits the lense first.

pff good thing i found this topic, i was worried that my brand new S4 is already scratched near the camera The bad thing about is that it has air in it, at least with my S4 it has and it really don't protect the lens so good. When I'am geting my case i'am taking it off ! :victory:

not really ...
jutley said:
Guys you don't need to take it off the centre is not covered by the protector but it allows the camera to function normally the protector is doing its job properly by protecting the bulk of the lense when say for example you put your phone on the desk it hits the lense first.
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i would suggest you to tilt and look your s4's back... lens is about 1/2 mm lower than the back cover and never touches the desk surface unless you plan to keep it on a dust(sand) sprinkled surface.
i have also ripped that ****ty thing on my s4...
regards,
richie

I got my phone at tesco mobile too, and only because of this thread I noticed there was a camera lens protector. I also thought there were fine scratches around the lens, but I can see now they are on the protector. I'll remove it anyway, going to be getting a case soon which no doubt will sit out further than the camera lens.
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i don't think it will affect your shots since it's only covering the sides, mine's still intact

You don't need to take it off but I did. It's a doughnut shape and doesn't cover the actual center of the lens where the image is exposed. As such you have to wonder what the point of it is.

Pagnell said:
You don't need to take it off but I did. It's a doughnut shape and doesn't cover the actual center of the lens where the image is exposed. As such you have to wonder what the point of it is.
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Point is: if lens area get in contact with some surface, the raised protector will prevent the actual lens to be scratched. It is difficult to remove because it meant to be there!
If this protector is'n centered correctly when assembled, I guess it can effect quality of camera and have to be removed ...
I too removed it (even there was no need of doing it) but I always use a case that also raise lens from any surface.

Glossy-looking film on back of Galaxy S4 GTi9505?

I removed pretty much all the plastic film in front of the phone and from top of the camera lens. But the on the back of the phone, it still looks like a glossy-looking film on there and I dont know whether its still a plastic film on there or is it normal?
I thought I would ask because I dont want to damage the phone thinking that its a plastic film covering it.
If so, then how can I remove it?
I managed to take the small plastic cover that was over the camera lens, but the back of the phone still looks "glossy" to me.
Thanks.

It's a hungreh fingerprint and grease magnet.
It's supposed to be glossy
This post is in compliance with the national potato safety regulation.
[Galaxy S 4 LTE]

Why did you take the protective plastic off the camera dood?
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Then how come it looks and feels if there is still a plastic protective sheet on it?
This is only on the back casing as I already had taken off the protective plastic cover from the front screen.
But the back of the phone feels if there is still a plastic cover on it.
dashrink said:
Why did you take the protective plastic off the camera dood?
Sent from my GT-I9505 using xda premium
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itsonlyme999 said:
Then how come it looks and feels if there is still a plastic protective sheet on it?
This is only on the back casing as I already had taken off the protective plastic cover from the front screen.
But the back of the phone feels if there is still a plastic cover on it.
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That's because it is plastic. There is no more plastic stickers than what you mentioned...

Is there a sticker over the rear lens from the factory?

I know the bezel around the lens has a blue protective skin over it from the factory, but it looks like the actual lens itself may have one as there is a reflective coating that is not symmetrical inside the bezel. e.g. it looks like there's a sticker that is off-center over the lens...
It looks like an anti-reflective coating as it's a bit purple, but it definitely looks like a sticker.
Afraid to touch it, honestly...

I'm pretty sure there's not. There's a small piece of dust stuck under the glass on mine, I spent a while swabbing it with alcohol trying to figure out what it was. If there was some kind of film over it I would have surely warped or dislodged it.

Not on mine.
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blurry photos
Hi
I have the same issue with blurry images.
When reading the members comments here i understand that some has coating on the lens and some dont.
Please see attachment, is this what is being talked about? Should i remove it?
Thanks

I know on my Rogers 803 it's a sapphire lens. ...some say it's a coating. ... and it seems Verizon version are prone to scratches. ....son have even scrubbed it off with a trip and rubbing alcholol
Sent from my LG-D803 using XDA Premium 4 mobile app

sticker over camera

Is there a protective sticker over the camera glass I need to peel? The other stickers on my glossy white model were so tight and hard to peel off, it almost seemed they were part of the plastic body. There were no tabs to pull either. Was wondering if the glass over the camera was a sticker or not...

katamari201 said:
Is there a protective sticker over the camera glass I need to peel? The other stickers on my glossy white model were so tight and hard to peel off, it almost seemed they were part of the plastic body. There were no tabs to pull either. Was wondering if the glass over the camera was a sticker or not...
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Click to collapse
On the VZW model, there is a blue sticker around the lens that comes off.
Thanks Devs. From my VZW G2.