how to clean iphone 5s lenses?

[RedTomato]

Just bought a second hand iphone 5s 32GB for about £245, which is quite cheap here. Phone arrives and it is in fine working order apart from the cameras (both front and back) which have a substantial amount of dirt in the lenses.

The front camera is the worst, images are very foggy from the amount of dirt. I use the front camera a lot for facetime, so I'd like to fix this.

Is it easy to clean out the lenses or would I be better off sending the phone back?

I've looked on ifixit.com but removing the front camera on a 5s seems quite a major job.

 

[AppleFan22]

Just bought a second hand iphone 5s 32GB for about £245, which is quite cheap here. Phone arrives and it is in fine working order apart from the cameras (both front and back) which have a substantial amount of dirt in the lenses.

The front camera is the worst, images are very foggy from the amount of dirt. I use the front camera a lot for facetime, so I'd like to fix this.

Is it easy to clean out the lenses or would I be better off sending the phone back?

I've looked on ifixit.com but removing the front camera on a 5s seems quite a major job.

You're talking INSIDE the lenses? Wow, no wonder the guy sold it... If he/she didn't mention the dirt, DEFINITELY get in contact with them, if you're using eBay, be sure to open a case. If he/she DID mention it, there's not a lot you can do other than ask politely for a refund...

 

[RedTomato]

Sorry I've been ill the last couple of days.

Here are some photos to show what I'm talking about. I bought the phone through Amazon (Marketplace) so I have a 30-day return slot (I avoid buying high value items through eBay!)

If I'm gonna open it, I may need to order the special screwdriver so I have to act quickly to attempt a repair before returning it as unsuitable for purpose.

The first three are the front camera, which is pretty gunked up. The bottom two are the rear camera, which is more or less OK.

What do you think?

 

[Newtons Apple]

If not successful, I would not want to allow a return if you had opened up my phone. Too much can go wrong but judging the amount of dust on the front camera there is something else going on here and the phone has likely been opened before.

 

[RedTomato]

I'm certain it's been opened before, and I'm not too bothered about that, I did get it rather cheaply. What I would like an opinion on is - how easy is it to open and clean between the camera and front cover?

 

[xymay]

I once cleaned my phone camera lens by the toothpaste as I happened to watch a video about how to remove camera lens scratches simply by toothpaste. That’s amazing and easy to operate. So I decided to give it a try after I saw many successful cases online. As what’s guided, I applied some paste on a Q-tip and gently wiped on the lens surface back and forth for about 5 minutes. After that wiped the paste on the lens away by a microfiber cloth. It works! You may give it a try before opening your phone, good luck.

 

[techspin]

I once cleaned my phone camera lens by the toothpaste as I happened to watch a video about how to remove camera lens scratches simply by toothpaste. That’s amazing and easy to operate. So I decided to give it a try after I saw many successful cases online. As what’s guided, I applied some paste on a Q-tip and gently wiped on the lens surface back and forth for about 5 minutes. After that wiped the paste on the lens away by a microfiber cloth. It works! You may give it a try before opening your phone, good luck.

It definitely doesn't look like a problem with scratching though. I'd return the phone if you're within the return period.

 

[Newtons Apple]

It definitely doesn't look like a problem with scratching though. I'd return the phone if you're within the return period.

The phone was purchased 2nd hand and been opened before. The dust on the front sensor is INSIDE the faceplate so toothpaste is not going to help much.