Phone camera repair: what can I do if my camera doesn’t work?

Not sure if your phone needs a camera repair or if you can fix the problem yourself? In this blog, we explain for each issue what you should do best. Here we address the following issues:

• Camera phone does not work (black image)
• Camera image has blurry spots
• Camera stabilizer broken (wavy image)
• Camera phone does not focus
• Purple spots in the image when taking photos and videos
• Should I have my camera glass replaced or the entire camera?

Camera phone does not work (black image)

Is the phone camera image all black? Then first check that there is no object, such as your case, in front of it. Is this not the case? If so, you may be suffering from a software problem. You can easily fix that by performing a reset. Read how to reset your phone here.

iPhone reset:

• iPhone 4 through iPhone 6S and iPads: press and hold the home and lock buttons simultaneously for 15 seconds until the Apple logo becomes visible.
• iPhone 7/7 Plus: Press and hold the lock and volume down buttons simultaneously for 15 seconds until the Apple logo becomes visible.
• iPhone 8/8 Plus and all models without a home button: briefly press the volume up button. Press the volume down button briefly. Then press and hold the lock button until the Apple logo becomes visible.

Samsung & OnePlus reset:

• Press and hold the power button and volume down (-) button simultaneously for 10 seconds or until you see the logo.

Huawei reset:

• Press and hold the power button for 10 seconds.

Camera image has blurry spots

There are several causes that can cause – when you use your camera – blurry spots to be visible:

• There are scratches on the camera glass. In this case, only the camera glass needs to be replaced and not the camera itself.
• Are there no scratches on it? Then you can try cleaning your lens with a microfiber or eyeglass cloth because dust or dirt on the lens can cause spots in the camera image.
• Another possibility is that there is dirt or dust behind the lens on the inside of your phone. This is the reason is that your phone camera stops working. In this case, stop by one of our branches. If the dust is not burned into the lens we can remove it through a free cleaning. TIP: You can test if the dirt has burned into your camera by pointing the camera at a white background with lots of light, do you see black blurry spots? Then there is a very good chance that the dirt is burning into the camera. When the dust is burned in, a phone camera repair is the only solution.

Camera stabilizer broken (wavy image)

Do you have the problem that your camera image vibrates or makes a wavy motion while holding your phone still? Then the optical image stabilizer is broken. This stabilizer ensures that videos and photos are sharp and stable when moving with the phone. It is common for the stabilizer to fail due to riding with the phone in a holder on the handlebars of the motorcycle, scooter or bicycle. Vibrating the phone causes the optical image stabilizer to break down. Replacing the camera solves this problem.

Camera phone no longer focuses

Is there no crack in your camera glass but the camera does not focus? There may be several reasons for this. First of all, it could be that because you dropped your phone once (in water) the camera is internally damaged. Even if the fall did not cause external damage, something may still be broken internally. This is especially true with water damage.

Just as we see with trouble with wavy images, it also often happens that due to the vibration of the phone on the handlebars of a motorcycle, scooter or bicycle, the optical image stabilizer breaks down. This problem is often remedied by replacing the camera.

Purple spots in the image when taking photos and videos

Are you suffering from purple spots in the screen? Then your camera sensor is broken. This could be due to your phone being dropped (in water), vibrating on the handlebars of a motorcycle, scooter or bicycle. It can also occur due to wear and tear or you just simply have bad luck. When the camera is replaced the sensor goes with it so a camera repair solves this problem.

Should I have my camera glass replaced or the entire camera?

When should you replace your camera or camera glass? You only need to replace your camera glass if it is damaged by a scratch or crack, for example. Are you experiencing other problems such as a shaky camera image, blurry image or black image? Then stop by for a phone camera repair.

Did the above tips not help? Go to a branch of a professional repair shop (for example, ThePhoneLab – check here for a branch near you), where they can start a camera (glass) repair right away. At ThePhoneLab, we do a diagnostic to find out what’s wrong with your camera. A diagnosis is always free of charge. After this you are not obliged to move on to repair, but of course you can!