Replacing the iSight camera on iPhone 5S?

[OrionsByte]

Has anyone had any experience taking an iPhone 5S to an Apple Store to replace the rear camera? If so, were they able to do it, and how much did it cost you?

My camera lens has some pits and cracks or something that creates some artifacts on every picture (they almost look like sensor dust). I'm replacing it with a 6s Plus (which literally just arrived as I type this) but I'm handing my 5S down to my 8 yr old to use as an iPod and if it's not too expensive to fix the camera I think I'll consider it. Honestly though I doubt she'd notice.

 

[AdamantAuk]

I have the same issue with my old 5 that just got handed down to my 9 year old. I read a couple of threads this morning and it looks like it could very well be sensor dust. I can't see anything on the lens itself; photos taken have what looks like a small gray smudge or grease spot in the same place. One poster said Apple was able to open the phone up and clear the debris. I don't know what the charge for that would be. Watching this thread with interest. I don't want to spend a ton of money, but if it can be fixed without replacing any parts, I'm hoping the charge would be reasonable.

 

[OrionsByte]

Here are a couple pictures to illustrate my problem. One is a shot of the lens itself - you can see all the pits and spots. One of those spots in particular shows up in all my photos, like in the other attachment, you can see it plainly between 2nd and 3rd base.

I also feel like the contrast has been really bad since the lens was damaged, so there is probably a lot of light bouncing around in there.

 

[AdamantAuk]

Oh wow... Yeah, that does look like something other than sensor dust!