Protecting the iPhone camera

[Metal Dice]

I have just preordered my iPhone 4S (Denmark), and I'm thinking about somehow protecting the camera from scratches and such. I have had some bad experience with scratched camera lenses, and since the iPhone 4s camera really isn't recessed I'm worried.

I considered mounting some sort of slidable piece of plastic to the back of the iPhone, but it is really going to hurt the aesthetics of the phone, i.e. it will look fugly. I also considered creating little pieces of plastic that would stick on the back of the phone covering the camera. However both solutions are far from convenient.

I was wondering whether any of you guys/girls have ideas on how to do this.

 

[Stealthipad]

Just about any case or sleeve will leave the lens recessed to protect it.

if you want something minimal, look at the Case Mate Barely There. It does it for me without adding any bulk to the phone's size. Protects from scratches but not drops!

 

[vincenz]

How about not doing anything to cover it up? I had a launch-day 4 I used for 16 months without a case. The camera lens had hairline scratches that you could only see under direct lighting, but they didn't affect the picture quality at all. Compared it to a brand new 4 and the pictures taken looked exactly the same.

 

[JRoDDz]

How about not doing anything to cover it up? I had a launch-day 4 I used for 16 months without a case. The camera lens had hairline scratches that you could only see under direct lighting, but they didn't affect the picture quality at all. Compared it to a brand new 4 and the pictures taken looked exactly the same.

It's a phone not a family heirloom. Use it and don't worry about scratches.

 

[Metal Dice]

It's a phone not a family heirloom. Use it and don't worry about scratches.

I'm really only worried about the lens, I'm planning to go case less.

 

[wordoflife]

It's a phone not a family heirloom. Use it and don't worry about scratches.

The op is not concerned about wear and tear on the phone. The op is concerned about the camera getting destroyed in the process.

I'm in the same boat as the op. I'll probably have to use a case .. Sigh.

 

[Metal Dice]

The op is not concerned about wear and tear on the phone. The op is concerned about the camera getting destroyed in the process.

I'm in the same boat as the op. I'll probably have to use a case .. Sigh.

Exactly.

 

[wordoflife]

I would like to visualize this concern.

Scratched iPhone 4 camera lens:

https://forums.macrumors.com/posts/13070630/

 

[Dwalls90]

Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; CPU iPhone OS 5_0 like Mac OS X) AppleWebKit/534.46 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/5.1 Mobile/9A334 Safari/7534.48.3)

Take it from me, it will scratch if you leave it exposed. Ruined 2 camera lenses on my iPhone 4's before I bumpers it

 

[Agent-P]

Although this isn't really an ideal solution, but I've never scratched a camera lens on my phone because I don't place it on tables. Either on my bed or on top of my iPad (which has a case). Again, this might not be the solution you're looking for, but it works for me.

 

[buddgeez]

Although this isn't really an ideal solution, but I've never scratched a camera lens on my phone because I don't place it on tables. Either on my bed or on top of my iPad (which has a case). Again, this might not be the solution you're looking for, but it works for me.

You do realize you're replying to a nine month old post right?

 

[B'Rabit]

Lol

 

[Agent-P]

You do realize you're replying to a nine month old post right?

Haha, I had no idea. Don't I feel dumb now. But the weird part is I came across this while scrolling through the posts in the iPhone section. I didn't think I went that far back :/

 

[Small White Car]

I've had multiple iPhones without any kind of protection that I've damaged in a variety of creative ways over the years. The camera lens has always been fine on every single one of them, all the way to the end.

I honestly have no worries about my iPhone's camera lens.

I would like to visualize this concern.

Scratched iPhone 4 camera lens:

From what I've read and seen, that only happens with factory defects where the iPhone lens sticks out further than it should, past the metal ring. I've seen photos of phones like that, it does happen.

But what this means is that you can look at your phone the moment you get it and determine if it has this flaw or not. If it does, don't accept it. If it doesn't, I really think you'll be fine.