Why can't my iPhone camera focus? The camera on the phone does not focus Autofocus does not work on the Samsung phone
Reading time: 2 min
Autofocus helps the iPhone's camera take good, non-blurry pictures. Accordingly, if the camera does not focus on the iPhone, the quality of the photos is drastically reduced. Therefore, when such a problem occurs, Apple smartphone owners begin to look for ways to fix it as soon as possible.
Possible reasons why autofocus does not work
If autofocus does not work on an iPhone 6, iPhone 5, or another model of Apple smartphone, then a number of factors can be the reason for this:
- Accidental blocking of autofocus by the user.
- Mechanical damage or moisture ingress. After being hit or dropped, in addition to the loss of autofocus, other problems may occur: the camera does not turn on, a message appears that the removable device is in sleep mode.
- Failure of the controller that controls the camera.
- A bumper or case that interferes with the normal operation of the camera.
- Software failure.
Some reasons can be eliminated on your own, but if it comes to damage to the camera, moisture ingress, or controller failure, it is recommended that you immediately contact the service center.
Self troubleshooting
To lock the function, it is enough to hold your finger on the screen for a few seconds when the camera is turned on. To unlock autofocus, touch the screen elsewhere. Even when auto focus is on, the subject does not always work properly. For example, on the iPhone 4, sometimes you have to click on an area of the screen to focus, otherwise the camera does not understand which object to photograph more clearly.
There is another way to make autofocus work. Take your phone, turn on the camera and shake the device a little by moving it up and down. If this does not help, try restarting your device. The problem may be caused by a software glitch that will no longer affect the camera after the system is restarted. As a last resort, you can reset or restore your iPhone after backing up your data.
A large number of running applications. Due to insufficient memory, the phone cannot cope with several heavy applications running at the same time. Yes, iPhones are great. specifications, and it copes with a high load, but still not just in case this reason is also worth checking.
Sometimes the camera stops functioning normally due to dirt and dust getting on the lens. A gentle cleaning should be enough to get autofocus working again. Also pay attention to the cover or bumper. Try to take it off and use the camera. If autofocus works without a protective accessory, replace the case / bumper - it simply does not fit your phone.
Hardware failures
If you cannot resolve the problem yourself, contact the service center for a thorough diagnosis. It is possible that the camera module itself, the cable, the controller may be damaged - only specialists can accurately determine the cause.
Modern phones have long ceased to be ordinary dialers. One of the important features of the mobile is the built-in camera. The quality of shooting is constantly improving and has already reached such characteristics that the smartphone has become a full-fledged camera. But there are times when there are problems with the camera on your phone (or tablet). Why this happens, the main symptoms of a malfunction and how to repair the phone's camera will be discussed later in the article.
Basic camera malfunctions
Important! No diagnostics
Camera problems arise for various reasons. It's hard to say what to do and how much the repair will cost without diagnostics. For example, water got into the phone and the camera stopped working. In this case, both the camera module itself and the control circuits may fail. It may be possible to restore damaged elements, but it may be necessary to replace the camera. The second case - the phone fell hard and the camera does not turn on. In this case, the camera cable may come off and you just need to re-click it; the camera matrix may be damaged and will have to be replaced; there may be problems with the power controller, etc. I think the point is clear - we need a preliminary diagnosis.
1. Camera error
When you try to turn on the camera, the message "Failed to connect to the camera. Try restarting the device" appears. The reason for such an error may be water getting inside the phone, a malfunction of the camera module, and even the appearance. Need diagnostics.
2. The camera does not turn on or the phone freezes
When you try to turn on the camera, the phone does not go into photo or video mode, hangs on the camera shutter, or the application simply does not load and crashes. All other functions work. It can also be observed that if you try to turn on the camera, the phone freezes, does not react to anything, and only rebooting or removing the battery helps. This may be due to a malfunction of the camera module, for example, after the phone has been dropped, water has entered inside, and even a factory defect. In this case, problems can be both in the hardware and in.
3. The camera does not focus
When you aim your phone at an object, the camera cannot focus on the object. Neither manual nor auto focus helps. Photos are blurry even in daylight. An effect can be observed when the camera takes pictures normally near (or vice versa, far), but when changing the focal length, it “smears”. The cause of this camera problem may be lens shift or misalignment. Sometimes this can be corrected manually, but more often you have to change the camera module.
4. The phone does not save photos
The camera turns on and takes pictures, but the pictures are not saved either in the phone's memory or on a flash card. This usually happens when the phone's firmware fails, possibly after a virus infection. The memory of the smartphone may also be full and there is simply nowhere to save the pictures. You need to understand, but most likely the problem will be solved by flashing.
5. The camera stopped working after being exposed to water
The ingress of water into the phone is fraught with the fact that the liquid oxidizes the radioelements up to their complete unrepairability. First of all, the control circuits with full supply voltage rot away, and this is just the power of the camera flash, screen backlight, and others. Repairing a recessed phone is generally a separate issue, we advise you to take action according to the article "".
6. Camera flash not working
In this case, the first step is to check the camera settings and make sure the flash mode is enabled. Alternatively, you can check the flash in flashlight mode. If it does not shine, then the problem is clearly hardware. A malfunction can be observed after water enters the phone, when the backlight power rots. The LED may fail due to frequent use of the flashlight. There may be a manufacturing defect during assembly. Phone needs to be inspected.
Many buyers, when choosing a smartphone or tablet, pay special attention to the capabilities of the camera. It is difficult to imagine a modern person who would not want to take high-quality and clear photographs or record a family video. However, like any other part of a complex apparatus, cameras have certain problems. Next, we will talk about why the camera on the phone stopped focusing and what can be done in this case.
How to determine that there are problems with focusing?
To begin with, it is necessary to explain that a modern camera module has mechanical and electronic adjustment. To adjust the focus, the device analyzes the image (distance, illumination, dynamics) and adjusts the lens based on the calculations made. It follows from this that failures can occur both at the software and hardware levels. Moreover, such failures are also characteristic of cheap models and lines from Samsung and iPhone.
The phone lens does not focus - what to do?
There are several ways to check. As a rule, professionals use special tools, prepared pictures and much more. The simplest test can be done at home. To do this, you only need a white sheet of A4 format.
Instructions for checking and adjusting the focus at home:
- Fix the device. For these purposes, use a flat, non-vibrating surface or a tripod.
- Take the sheet in your hands and hold it at a distance of 2-3 meters so that the person standing with the sheet fits to the level of the belt or knees.
- Move away, holding a sheet in your hands, at a distance of 5-6 meters to fit in the frame at full height. It is important that the camera does not capture other moving objects.
This procedure is suitable for manually adjusting the focus distance and color balance. Ideally, the device should easily capture the focal length and concentrate on it. This check also helps to roughly determine in which area the mechanical damage is located and the movement of the lens is jammed.
How to fix a software crash
The launch of the camera module leads to the activation of a significant amount of calculations that are carried out in real time. It is quite logical that the lack of phone resources can cause the device to simply not have time to process and adjust the picture in a quality manner.
In addition, the reasons for the loss of focus are:
- OS failures;
- the presence of errors in running processes and the Camera application;
- changing the settings of the phone, and, in particular, the camera itself;
- switching to manual mode;
- use of incompatible applications.
By the way, check out this article too: LG V10 new dual screen smartphone
What needs to be done to fix the problem:
If nothing from the list helped and the phone's camera does not focus, then the reason is clearly not on the part of the software.
Camera not focusing due to hardware
If you decide to try to repair the device yourself, then the maximum that can be done without specialist diagnostics is to check the cable connection and gently twist the lens (no more than 10º-15º). But do not forget that without checking the device and the module by the master, you risk damaging the camera, and the reason may not be in it. Here is a visual video instruction, where the camera worked normally only in macro mode.
Conclusion
If the camera of your Android or iPhone started to fail and stopped focusing, follow the tips above - they should help. Do not go further, especially if the device is dear to you. I once ruined the lens of my Lenovo just like that - the focusing mechanism turned out to be very gentle. Better turn to the masters. Depending on the model, the cost of replacing the camera module will cost $10-50, and if the master has the right module, the replacement time is only a few hours. If you fall under a warranty case, even better, because no one canceled the marriage.
Photos taken with a smartphone camera can be beautiful. We understand this by looking at the beautiful images posted online by our comrades. And only they themselves always get something wrong: either the lighting is bad, or the shutter speed “let us down”, or the picture is overshadowed by the imposition of all kinds of shades. Then we try to fix the situation with filters, but we only make it worse. So how do you need to take pictures so that the camera Android smartphone worked at the right time?
First of all, it is worth noting that until a person learns to take pictures, the quality will be terrible even with a professional camera, while beautiful pictures can be obtained even with the simplest camera, regardless of the “bells and whistles” and the number of megapixels.
The best pictures are taken in natural light conditions. This is how you can achieve maximum expressiveness of the object and minimal overlay of extraneous shades.
The light should hit the subject, not the lens.
Exposure affects the brightness and clarity of an image. However, it does not allow you to configure it manually in the factory Android software. Special applications open access to wide settings, allow you to set the required camera sensitivity.
White balance allows you to adjust the color scheme of the future photo. You can also adjust this parameter and change the automatically set values using various applications.
Focus. Android smartphones focus automatically, but at the same time, you need to ensure that the camera is stationary at the time of shooting, and make sure that the object that you want to focus on is in focus.
Composition. The golden rule of any photographer who respects his work is to divide the space into 9 equal parts, and position the subject or subjects at the intersection of lines, or along them. At the same time, in the camera settings of an Android smartphone, there is always the opportunity to show these lines on the screen, so the matter is small.
Dedicated photography apps
To make the final result pleasing to your eye, let's look at the software for shooting from an Android phone.
Google Camera is one of the most adapted applications for the average user. Provides access to many useful options, while featuring a clear and simple interface.
There are no filters and photo editing options, but bundled with other software like Photoshop Express, for example, Google Camera shows itself as well as possible. In its arsenal: the bokeh effect, or the “Lens Blur” mode, the ability to adjust the exposure, and HDR mode is turned on in poor lighting.
This application has the following advantages:
Grids for framing and composition (several options).
Manual adjustment of focus and exposure.
Lock white balance before shooting.
Independent adjustment of shadows, brightness, color temperature.
Wide variety of filters.
