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Right side of camera blurry?

O

ode2joy

macrumors member
Original poster
Jan 6, 2012
48
0
OK, I'm having a problem and am about to contact Verizon. I'm not a professional photographer, and I'm sure a handful of "professionals" here are going to bash this thread, so I'll be filtering the wheat from the chaff.

Here's the problem. I can hold my camera out to take a photo, ANY photo, and the right half of the screen is blurry while the left is in focus. I've cleaned the lens, removed the case, etc. Doesn't help. If I hold the camera RIGHT up to something, that is the only time I can get a clear picture. I tried rebooting the phone, but this didn't help, and it smells like a hardware issue to me anyway so I didn't think it would.
When I hold my phone RIGHT up to something close, I can get the whole frame in focus, and as I pull it a few inches away, it goes blurry on the right side. From a distance of 20' or more, like standing outside trying to take a picture of a tree or car, I get an entirely blurry image.
Here's an example taken from about 1 foot, standing outside in good light. HDR on or off doesn't matter either, no difference.

C11C625C-F818-4D27-9E5A-6FC90935DB9D-136-00000002CE13AFF8.jpg


BTW, let me go ahead and answer the obvious. NO trauma to phone. Brand new, got it Tuesday. Not dropped. Speck case on it since Wednesday. I wasn't having this problem until this morning, I have taken several great pics with it up to today.
 
ode2joy said:
OK, I'm having a problem and am about to contact Verizon. I'm not a professional photographer, and I'm sure a handful of "professionals" here are going to bash this thread, so I'll be filtering the wheat from the chaff.

Here's the problem. I can hold my camera out to take a photo, ANY photo, and the right half of the screen is blurry while the left is in focus. I've cleaned the lens, removed the case, etc. Doesn't help. If I hold the camera RIGHT up to something, that is the only time I can get a clear picture. I tried rebooting the phone, but this didn't help, and it smells like a hardware issue to me anyway so I didn't think it would.
When I hold my phone RIGHT up to something close, I can get the whole frame in focus, and as I pull it a few inches away, it goes blurry on the right side. From a distance of 20' or more, like standing outside trying to take a picture of a tree or car, I get an entirely blurry image.
Here's an example taken from about 1 foot, standing outside in good light. HDR on or off doesn't matter either, no difference.

Image

BTW, let me go ahead and answer the obvious. NO trauma to phone. Brand new, got it Tuesday. Not dropped. Speck case on it since Wednesday. I wasn't having this problem until this morning, I have taken several great pics with it up to today.
Click to expand...

Are you directly over the case or shooting at an angle. Put a piece of newspaper with text in the same place and try again. The text will give the camera something to lock focus on. The black case has no detail to lock on.

If you are directly over the subject and of shooting at an angle and all of you mages show out of focus on this one side, I would say you camera is defective.
 
HowardSmith said:
Are you directly over the case or shooting at an angle. Put a piece of newspaper with text in the same place and try again. The text will give the camera something to lock focus on. The black case has no detail to lock on.
Click to expand...

Look at the photo again. Its focus is all over the place.
 
unknownbeing said:
Do you see it in the camera app or just pictures?
Click to expand...

In the app as well.

----------
HowardSmith said:
Are you directly over the case or shooting at an angle. Put a piece of newspaper with text in the same place and try again. The text will give the camera something to lock focus on. The black case has no detail to lock on.

If you are directly over the subject and of shooting at an angle and all of you mages show out of focus on this one side, I would say you camera is defective.
Click to expand...

I'm directly over it, I made a point of taking it perfectly square. I realize there are other things in the photo that wouldn't possibly be focused, since they are different distances from the camera, like my feet, and the my yard 10' below at the top of the photo, , but the case is pictured straight on, and should be in focus.
 
I think I just have a defective camera. My wife just got home and I took some pictures with her 4s for perspective. I will, however, be watching closely to see if this is just a rare failure or a common problem.

2 pics of my kitchen with her camera, 1 in HDR and one standard
B0AAF687-AD3D-44BE-8FB5-A949E9B86B0D-8504-00000A3952CEA9FD.jpg

EE815C82-AD07-4DD9-9C92-B4C230402A43-8504-00000A39570E28BB.jpg


And the same picture, distance, etc. with mine. 1st in HDR and then standard
6EE22345-097B-4AC0-BCB4-18AD625F08FC-136-00000007AFED1308.jpg

16B6D08C-327D-49C4-BC19-C816AA571005-136-00000007B2EAC838.jpg


I can't seem to get autofocus to work at all either (by tapping the desired focus area that I want) as I have with other iPhones.
 
It's very possible one of the lens elements is shifted, they are so small it would be hard for QC to catch it.

Without a true focusing test though, you can't be 100% sure, take it in to apple. This is a common issue even with the most expensive camera lenses.
 
Much better images to compare with! I agree with another poster and there is something wrong with the lens. No doubt you need to return for exchange.

The 5 takes really nice images for a cell phone so settle for nothing less.
 
It definitely looks like theres some misaligned lens elements. It can't be fixed, so I would go get it replaced.
 
Well, I rebooted the phone yesterday when I was having this issue and posted about it. Rebooting did nothing. Then today the camera is working perfectly. Go figure.
I'll return it if it does it again but for now I guess I'm good. I took 20 or more great pics with it today.

Weird.
 
Interesting. Well the warranty is good for a year. Just keep an eye on the camera and test it once in a while. Apple will replace it if continues to act up.
 
Update:

2 months now and my camera focus has not screwed up again. Going back and looking at the pics I took are pretty weird, but it is going strong.

:D
 
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