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Beware: the camera lens on the back of our SGS II is made of cheap plastic. I learned the hard way.
Yesterday I was using the camera and all was really good. Today all photos were blurred. I checked and noticed a small bend, yes a bend, right in the middle of the camera lens. It is not a scratch, which has been my concern since buying the SGS2, it was a bend. I may be wrong, but glass should not bend, it scratches. Now I don't have a lens anymore, I have a prism.
The phone did not fall, or was treated badly. Most probably, I put it in my pants' front pockets, as I have done for years with my HTC phones (horrible cameras btw, compared to the sgs2), there may have been a contact with a harder surface (a key, maybe, but I don't suppose so), and the lens bended. It's a real pity. I'm considering now removing the "lens" as it is not the actual lens, just a cover I guess, and see if this works.
This may be the best and most expensive cell phone right now, why couldn't Samsung put a real glass (like apple does, btw) to protect the camera?
I hope this warning helps others not to get into the same problem. Maybe using a leather pouch can prevent this from happening (I was using the mesh cover case).
A previously super happy owner, now a very desolate one...
what did you do to your phone? Don't blame samsung for something you physically you did.
Sent from my GT-I9100 using XDA App
thats strange? a bit of plastic with those dimensions shouldn't bend at all, unless put under direct heat and pressure? :S
can you post pictures taken and a picture of the lens?
I don't have another camera with me to photograph the lens. Besides, it is hard to see the bend, you need the correct angle for the light to hit it and be able to see. But attached is a picture I took with the cell. Kind of artsy...
I would have thought that if it did actually have a bend in it (which seems like an awfully difficult thing to have done), that it would cause a distortion and not just producing a blurry pic like that.
Looks more like something has been smeared across the lens cover.
It's not the lens that bended, it's the protective screen on top of the lense. Looks like glass to me, but it's possible to be plastic. Any way, i doubt it could bend unless you put a lot of pressure on it.
As I said, it was in the front pocket of a not so tight pants, so there might be little pressure, normal pressure as every cell phone suffers in this situation, but nothing exceptional, not much. Nobody sat on my lap as well... That would be a worthy reason at least.
I've had smartphones for the last 6 years, done the same thing since. I'm not asking for a replacement or whatever, so I have no reason to minimize my responsibility.
My point in posting is that it happened. Just trying let others know to not make the same mistake. It is not as solid a construction as, say, the HTC HD2. It needs more care.
Just beware, hope it does not happen to others.
PS: And no heat also, not a teenager anymore to have so much heat near the crotch area...
PPS: Yes, it is the protective screen. My hope is I can get rid of it, and have my camera back. Unprotected, but taking photos, with lots of care from now on...
OP, stupid question: that lens glass out of the box was protected with a transparent plastic film I think, just like the screen. Did you remove it?
Can you make a shot of the lens using a bathroom mirror perhaps, in macro mode?
mbernstein said:
I've had smartphones for the last 6 years, done the same thing since. I'm not asking for a replacement or whatever, so I have no reason to minimize my responsibility.
My point in posting is that it happened. Just trying let others know to not make the same mistake. It is not as solid a construction as, say, the HTC HD2. It needs more care.
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I agree with your here. The way Samsung designed the back of the phone makes it very easy to scratch/ even bend (like it happened to you) the protective screen. I had a HTC Touch HD before and the back of the camera could never touch the surface where the phone was put. With Samsung if you put your phone on a rugged area you might end up damaging the protective screen easily.
Have you been using the LED as a torch or anything like that? Perhaps the heat could have warped the plastic?
kreoXDA said:
OP, stupid question: that lens glass out of the box was protected with a transparent plastic film I think, just like the screen. Did you remove it?
Can you make a shot of the lens using a bathroom mirror perhaps, in macro mode?
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Sure, I took the plastic out. I saw no point in having a very good phone camera weakened by the plastic.
I tried to take the photo you asked, but was not successful. But as I said it was a very small bend, which makes the light enter the lens like a prism. Very difficult to photograph with a normal camera.
Actually, there was a power outage in the area I'm in now, but I don't recollect to use torch that much... I remember I used it for a while, the used some screen light, then on to Kindle. Id on't suppose it was torch, but could it really be so silly like this?!
mbernstein said:
Sure, I took the plastic out. I saw no point in having a very good phone camera weakened by the plastic.
I tried to take the photo you asked, but was not successful. But as I said it was a very small bend, which makes the light enter the lens like a prism. Very difficult to photograph with a normal camera.
Actually, there was a power outage in the area I'm in now, but I don't recollect to use torch that much... I remember I used it for a while, the used some screen light, then on to Kindle. Id on't suppose it was torch, but could it really be so silly like this?!
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Wow, I just tried pushing on mine with my nail, it moves a teeny tiny bit, but it springs right back up Maybe something in your pocket just happened to touch the middle of that little piece of plastic, and just managed to apply enough force to bend it beyond the recovery point, so your plastic piece did not spring back up.
I fully understand what you mean now. But not sure what your options are. It is clearly a physical damage. I would not advise trying to take that piece out and bend it straight, you will mess up the actual lens.
mbernstein said:
A previously super happy owner, now a very desolate one...
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flash back stock firmware, reset custom download counter with jig, return under warranty saying the camera takes blurry pictures
godutch said:
flash back stock firmware, reset custom download counter with jig, return under warranty saying the camera takes blurry pictures
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I believe warranty doesn't cover physical damage though.
Ingvarr said:
I believe warranty doesn't cover physical damage though.
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they wont know if you dont tell them plus they wont inspect the phone in that detail closely at the camera, worth a try. IF you bough it from a store, bring it back there and get a replacement.
Hi,
I have the same issue as yours.
Where is your SGS2 made in when you take out the battery and look at the back sticker?
Mine says "Made in China"
Wonder if yours is made in Korea or China.
Please share~
I would send it in too, your chances are good to get it repaired!
Mine is made in: Korea
I would try to replace it if I had bought it in my country. I bought it through a friend from Xpansys US (a UK phone), and I'm now in Brazil. I guess I would have so many troubles with customs here to send it out and back with no guarantee to have it replaced...
My idea is not to take the plastic out, and try to fix it. It is to just take out. I will have a hole there, but there will be nothing distorting light that comes into the lens. I will have to be extra careful, but considering how easy the plastic which was supposed to protect the camera was damaged, extra care is the name of this phone for me.
And I'm not complaining about SGS2's plastic finish as opposed to the metal/glass ones of iPhone or HTC. I actually like this, including the back cover. After you get used to it, it is kind of cool. And it is light. I just wished there was a cover or that Samsung used a hard glass on the camera, or perhaps that the plastic was so tiny and receeded that nothing could reach it. I always like the way Sony and Nokia used to put a sliding cover over the camera lens in their phones. With such a thin phone as ours, I wouldn't mind the extra thickness. Or like my HTC Kaiser, where the plastic was actually on the cover. If it was scratched or broken you could replace the back cover... Sorry, just venting my frustration.
Don't leave that hole uncovered. Your lens will get dirty in no time. Pocket lint , dust and dirt will accumulate in there and break the lens autofocus mechanism. Just don't even think about leaving that hole uncovered.
Hey guys, I need some opinions about my problem, check my video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yeApacv5_gE&feature=youtu.be
I think it's digitizer fault but before buy new one I need to be at least 90% sure its digitizer, tried to load many roms, pds fix...
Anyone? Somebody must know
Well honestly it is hard to say without actually having your phone here. But you can almost be sure of this. It is most likely either the digitizer or the multi pin socket that the digitizer plugs into. I am working on one right now that went into a swimming pool and the socket is bad. It does the exact same thing as yours with any digitizer that I try. I'm currently looking for a way to remove the corrosion from the inside of that sucker. Gotta find some kind of spray. I can't seem to get it good enough with emery cloth or scraping... On the other hand I've replaced the digitizer and fixed this same issue on my sons Atrix.
In case you decide that you want to try to replace it here are 2 on Ebay that have the frame built in. Link1 Link2 So far I've bought 3 that were assembled this way and it is so much easier than buying a ditizer alone. No messing with double sided tape or worrying about backlight bleed.
Hope you can get some relief.
Dude, I've got the same in the same places! It have to be factory defect... there is too much digitizer problems...
Yes its very good smartphone but too much bad digitizers disqualify it, so JdgM3NT4L sometimes when I squeeze frame bottom of the screen works fine but only for few moments, so there are three options: need to replace adhesive sticker, replace digitizer and pin socket. Damn even if I want sell Atrix for parts I am not sure if all of them are fine
I used to get that a lot, phantom touches that make the phone useless until I turn the screen off and back on.
Cannot say for sure but when I stopped using alcohol wipes to clean the screen and reduced the amount of static it was exposed to (keeping it polyester pant pockets seemed to make it worse believe it or not!), it seemed to pretty much stop.. now I've gone months without the issue.
lvl18 said:
Yes its very good smartphone but too much bad digitizers disqualify it, so JdgM3NT4L sometimes when I squeeze frame bottom of the screen works fine but only for few moments, so there are three options: need to replace adhesive sticker, replace digitizer and pin socket. Damn even if I want sell Atrix for parts I am not sure if all of them are fine
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Well, the socket is on the motherboard, so no replacing that... For 30 bucks, I would try the digitizer. I should have explained the part about water damage. That's one of the few ways that the socket would have been damaged. That's kind of what I was eluding to when I mentioned not having your phone here. If I had it here I would know the history and whether or not it had water damage, etc. My apologies for not being more clear about that. I just don't want you to buy the digitizer and then be upset because I told you to leap right in. In my humble opinion. A new one will probably take care of the problem. 90% if I had to call it.
I wish you the best of luck. And if you have any problems installing it shoot me a pm and I'll be glad to Skype or email to help you get through it.
Thanks, my Atrix never saw water. I just dissasembly phone for every single part and cleaned all socket with alcohol. Put back together but no result. I'll try replace digitizer with frame from ebay, it's risky but hope it will solve the problem.
Its the digitizer I'm 99 percent sure I had an identical problem. Dead zones and the phantom touches. Replaced the digitizer and problem solved. I believe the digitzer design is bad for our phone and is prone to this kind of failure
Sent from my MB860 using xda app-developers app
Just got a few weeks ago my I9505 from a repair centre.. I cracked it's glass and got a replacement for around $40.
I can clearly see a lot of dust under the glass, above home button. I think it also penetrated below back button.
The touch works fine in the rest of the screen, only in the parties mentioned above it doesn't, works hard sometimes.:crying:
My question is: Can I remove the dust without cracking the glass? I don't want to buy a new one..
I heard that you can heat it with a hair dryer and pick just the glass up without cracking with metal tweezers..
crystybz2010 said:
Just got a few weeks ago my I9505 from a repair centre.. I cracked it's glass and got a replacement for around $40.
I can clearly see a lot of dust under the glass, above home button. I think it also penetrated below back button.
The touch works fine in the rest of the screen, only in the parties mentioned above it doesn't, works hard sometimes.:crying:
My question is: Can I remove the dust without cracking the glass? I don't want to buy a new one..
I heard that you can heat it with a hair dryer and pick just the glass up without cracking with metal tweezers..
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Well i suppose you didn't go to the official service of samsung because if you have gone, your service would cost 160$. So it's a second man job. You can go and tell him to restick the glass only or you can search on YouTube for a tutorial to do it by yourself... I prefer the second one. I don't trust anyone, only me!
Cpsil said:
Well i suppose you didn't go to the official service of samsung because if you have gone, your service would cost 160$. So it's a second man job. You can go and tell him to restick the glass only or you can search on YouTube for a tutorial to do it by yourself... I prefer the second one. I don't trust anyone, only me!
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Thank you for the fast reply.. I don't have stick, I also don't know what kind of stick I need but .. Can I heat it with the hair dryer just where is dust and remove dust with a vaccuum cleaner or something?
crystybz2010 said:
Thank you for the fast reply.. I don't have stick, I also don't know what kind of stick I need but .. Can I heat it with the hair dryer just where is dust and remove dust with a vaccuum cleaner or something?
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At first you have to go o your service guy to mention your problem. After that,
if he won't do anything, you should buy a 2 mm double sized tape from eBay. But you must be very careful. The guy who changed your screen isn't the certified one huh?
Hi, I spotted a couple of motes on my rear camera lens. The long story is that those motes weren't there before I send my phone to the Huawei Service Centre that took them more than one month to fix my cracked camera cover.
So instead of sending it back to them and deal with their utter crap service (they didn't covered me with the warranty for the cracked camera cover) and not having my phone for another month I decide to dismantle the cover myself with the proper tools and clean the lens, the result is that I managed to clean one of the motes (up right corner) but the other three dots that can be easily spotted in the middle and another one in the left side were not removed.
I tried to cleaning it with air to remove dust, a lens cleaner solution applied to a cotton bud and a brush for cleaning lenses... And none of those solutions were able to remove the motes/dots there.
I'm starting to consider that the lens could be damaged (thought it doesn't looks to me like a lens damaged effect) or there is liquid solution or something stick to the lens that I can't easily remove (maybe they damaged it when they were repairing the cover)... It also looks like they are not in the same exact position, they are slightly moved in the two different images.
Any ideas?
The first image is before the cleaning http://imgur.com/a/4G7we
Same here, i think its on the inside of camera lens, because cleaning didn't help. Ebay has 6p camera modules for sale.
Sent from my Pixel using Tapatalk
lenitron said:
Hi, I spotted a couple of motes on my rear camera lens. The long story is that those motes weren't there before I send my phone to the Huawei Service Centre that took them more than one month to fix my cracked camera cover.
So instead of sending it back to them and deal with their utter crap service (they didn't covered me with the warranty for the cracked camera cover) and not having my phone for another month I decide to dismantle the cover myself with the proper tools and clean the lens, the result is that I managed to clean one of the motes (up right corner) but the other three dots that can be easily spotted in the middle and another one in the left side were not removed.
I tried to cleaning it with air to remove dust, a lens cleaner solution applied to a cotton bud and a brush for cleaning lenses... And none of those solutions were able to remove the motes/dots there.
I'm starting to consider that the lens could be damaged (thought it doesn't looks to me like a lens damaged effect) or there is liquid solution or something stick to the lens that I can't easily remove (maybe they damaged it when they were repairing the cover)... It also looks like they are not in the same exact position, they are slightly moved in the two different images.
Any ideas?
The first image is before the cleaning http://imgur.com/a/4G7we
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I know that this is a really old thread - but how did you resolve this issue?
My 6p has a speck of dust that I realized probably a month or so outside of warranty. I started doing things in my life that involve A LOT of picture and video now -- and I finally noticed the speck of dust. Now, it's really obvious (mostly because I know where to look for it).
Was yours fixable by taking it apart? Or did you have to order a new sensor?
pkopalek said:
I know that this is a really old thread - but how did you resolve this issue?
My 6p has a speck of dust that I realized probably a month or so outside of warranty. I started doing things in my life that involve A LOT of picture and video now -- and I finally noticed the speck of dust. Now, it's really obvious (mostly because I know where to look for it).
Was yours fixable by taking it apart? Or did you have to order a new sensor?
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Hey, mine wasn't fix, I've been living with that until now, taking it apart didn't help, recently I took it to a Huawei service center for another reason and they told me that my lens was damaged inside so... You may have more luck than me and be just dust.
I dropped my Nexus 6p with no case and the camera lens looked to be damaged. When using the camera there were black dots scattered on the screen/picture.
I purchased a replacement lens, opened up the phone, and replaced it. The repair seemed to go fine and at first look, the camera had no more black spots. But it won't focus and can't seem to take a picture. The front camera works fine, which makes sense since I didn't touch that.
I opened up the phone again and made sure all the connections were hooked up and things were in order and clean. Still not focussing or taking pictures.
I factory reset just in case it was software but that didn't fix.
I have seen others who have camera problems like not focussing but not also the issue of not taking pictures too. The phone works fine in all other areas.
Any ideas?
Same boat here, my old camera is worn out as won't focus up close so got new one from replacebase on eBay and it's blurry as hell and not saving, told them and they sent replacement but that's same. Any ideas people?
I opened up my phone to replace the battery and broke the glass cover, so I've been walking around with the lens exposed. Black smudges started to appear and multiply. Sometimes it doesn't focus either... I've ordered a replacement camera module from eBay, waiting for it to see if it fixes anything
quimbexa said:
I opened up my phone to replace the battery and broke the glass cover, so I've been walking around with the lens exposed. Black smudges started to appear and multiply. Sometimes it doesn't focus either... I've ordered a replacement camera module from eBay, waiting for it to see if it fixes anything
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Just a question, are you usa or Europe? As the ones I got from UK based replacebase where faulty, they kindly gave me a refund.
jimbomodder said:
Just a question, are you usa or Europe? As the ones I got from UK based replacebase where faulty, they kindly gave me a refund.
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Europe.
I actually just powered up the phone again after a while and the back camera still won't focus, but now suddenly it takes a picture and saves it. Still won't focus on anything farther away. Is this somehow a software issue?
htdroid72 said:
I actually just powered up the phone again after a while and the back camera still won't focus, but now suddenly it takes a picture and saves it. Still won't focus on anything farther away. Is this somehow a software issue?
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Not sure, got to wait and see if the other guy has same issue, if he does then I'd same faulty cameras, I run rr 7.1.2 and even went back to full official 7.1 and updated to find same issues.
quimbexa said:
Europe.
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Have you got your new camera yet?
jimbomodder said:
Have you got your new camera yet?
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Yeah! Good as new :victory:
quimbexa said:
Yeah! Good as new :victory:
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Dam, who'd you buy from and what was your steps?
jimbomodder said:
Dam, who'd you buy from and what was your steps?
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My original intent was to change the battery. I screwed up and ended up breaking the back glass, and the exposed lens started to degrate fast.
So I left the screws off, so I could access the interior of the phone more easily. Yesterday I opened it and unscrewed the motherboard, took out the old module and attached the new one, being careful not to place my fingers on the lens. Piece of cake. I screwed the motherboard back and plugged my new battery in too. I closed the phone without screws again and put my new glass cover.
Only waiting now for the new fingerprint sensor, which I also broke during my first attempt to open the phone. Doesn't matter. The parts are cheap enough and I like to tinker.
quimbexa said:
My original intent was to change the battery. I screwed up and ended up breaking the back glass, and the exposed lens started to degrate fast.
So I left the screws off, so I could access the interior of the phone more easily. Yesterday I opened it and unscrewed the motherboard, took out the old module and attached the new one, being careful not to place my fingers on the lens. Piece of cake. I screwed the motherboard back and plugged my new battery in too. I closed the phone without screws again and put my new glass cover.
Only waiting now for the new fingerprint sensor, which I also broke during my first attempt to open the phone. Doesn't matter. The parts are cheap enough and I like to tinker.
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Could you pm me where you got the camera module as both I got never worked as per ops experience. Glad you got yours sorted. My only other hope is getting from china
quimbexa said:
My original intent was to change the battery. I screwed up and ended up breaking the back glass, and the exposed lens started to degrate fast.
So I left the screws off, so I could access the interior of the phone more easily. Yesterday I opened it and unscrewed the motherboard, took out the old module and attached the new one, being careful not to place my fingers on the lens. Piece of cake. I screwed the motherboard back and plugged my new battery in too. I closed the phone without screws again and put my new glass cover.
Only waiting now for the new fingerprint sensor, which I also broke during my first attempt to open the phone. Doesn't matter. The parts are cheap enough and I like to tinker.
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New camera arrived today and works a treat. The serial numbers/manufacturer numbers match up which replacebase don't. Now I have virtually a brand new 6p. Thanks again.
jimbomodder said:
New camera arrived today and works a treat. The serial numbers/manufacturer numbers match up which replacebase don't. Now I have virtually a brand new 6p. Thanks again.
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Please, where did you buy the camera?
I've replaced my battery and now the camera is blurry, cleaning it didn't solve
shogunbr said:
Please, where did you buy the camera?
I've replaced my battery and now the camera is blurry, cleaning it didn't solve
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I got it from eBay but the seller was from us.
Sent from my Nexus 6P