iPhone 5 Rear Camera Won't Focus

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iPhone 5

Sixth iteration of Apple iPhone, announced on September 12, 2012. Repair of this device is similar to the previous models, requiring screwdrivers and prying tools. Available as GSM or CDMA / 16, 32, or 64 GB / Black or White.

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denny1960

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Posted: 01/08/2013

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iPhone 5 Rear Camera Won't Focus

The camera in my iPhone 5 won't focus. The focal point is stuck at about 6 inches. I've tried resetting it to factory settings and restoring it, with no success. I also reverted back to iOS 6.0.1 from 6.0.2 after reading online that it might be a software problem. Other people say it's a hardware problem and that the phone will have to be replaced by Apple. Problem is, they only replace it with a refurbished phone, which is terrible customer service...I just got it in November.

Has anyone had this problem, and will replacing the camera with one from iFixit solve the problem?

Thanks,

Dennis

Product

iPhone 5 Rear Camera

$19.95

Answered! View the answer I have this problem too

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Sorry for a so stupid question : is your camera lens clean ?

01/08/2013 by xgonin

My camera won't let me take any pictures my screen is completely black and I don't know what to do about it I'm stuck

06/20/2015 by Katera avery

I had the same problem, i opened ifixit.com and fixed! My iphone back to normal. No slapped/tapped.. Wow! Thanks a lot!

08/04/2015 by meandmii

Thanks so much,honestly can't believe It was up to the Customers to fix this issue rather than the manufacturers,Apple to actually sit there @%^!* down and think.

10/05/2015 by dairuswhite

I opened my iphone with full of guts no worries at all because warranty is already expired... the reason sometime not focusing, the camera loosing his some part of screw that support or hold to the lens. i figure out, often slapping phone is not good. a little tightly screw back that hold the camera and it works!...

11/15/2015 by Francis Camara

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Richard A Becker

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Posted: 03/18/2013

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I just experienced the same issue. I slapped/tapped the top of the phone (rear camera lens end) a couple of times against the palm of my hand (back side toward palm) and saw no change. I flipped the phone over and did this again with the face forward, and the lens unstuck. Once again, it focuses on near and far subjects as it should.

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The "slapping/tapping" really worked with my phone. Thanks a lot. Sometimes we just need to go old school on stuff. Thanks for the tip.

03/19/2013 by Glory Ann Gierbolini

I just had the exact issue and the slapping actually worked! Old school indeed! I've only had my phone for two months and was very upset about the camera focus issue. Luckily I found this! Thank you so much!

03/31/2013 by Monique

The slapping on both sides of my phone really worked! Thank you @ Richard A Becker!!!

04/24/2013 by Morgan Patrick

Slapping worked for me too. Does it make sense to try to get the phone replaced before the warranty expires? What if it continues to happen? The rattling noise concerns me.

05/31/2013 by Carrie Sun

It really does work!! Soo happy! Thought i had to go through the hassle of getting it fixed! Thanks so much for the tip! So weird though that it's happening to so many of us...

08/27/2013 by Carissa Tanyag

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Sorry for a so stupid question : is your camera lens clean ? — xgonin
My camera won't let me take any pictures my screen is completely black and I don't know what to do about it I'm stuck — Katera avery
I had the same problem, i opened ifixit.com and fixed! My iphone back to normal. No slapped/tapped.. Wow! Thanks a lot! — meandmii
Thanks so much,honestly can't believe It was up to the Customers to fix this issue rather than the manufacturers,Apple to actually sit there @%^!* down and think. — dairuswhite
I opened my iphone with full of guts no worries at all because warranty is already expired... the reason sometime not focusing, the camera loosing his some part of screw that support or hold to the lens. i figure out, often slapping phone is not good. a little tightly screw back that hold the camera and it works!... — Francis Camara
I read on another site to slap the phone on a table top, tried it (its in protective case) even though I thought it might be a trick....it did work and I am back to normal photo's. — militarytankerdude
I have this problem too. I slapped my iphone it works then after a while it get back to its blurry condition.. And autofocus get stuck. What should i do — Syed Ameer Hamza
The answer to the (not) so stupid question at the top

fixed it — dt72family
The "slapping/tapping" really worked with my phone. Thanks a lot. Sometimes we just need to go old school on stuff. Thanks for the tip. — Glory Ann Gierbolini
I just had the exact issue and the slapping actually worked! Old school indeed! I've only had my phone for two months and was very upset about the camera focus issue. Luckily I found this! Thank you so much! — Monique
The slapping on both sides of my phone really worked! Thank you @ Richard A Becker!!! — Morgan Patrick
Slapping worked for me too. Does it make sense to try to get the phone replaced before the warranty expires? What if it continues to happen? The rattling noise concerns me. — Carrie Sun
It really does work!! Soo happy! Thought i had to go through the hassle of getting it fixed! Thanks so much for the tip! So weird though that it's happening to so many of us... — Carissa Tanyag
Wow! My iphone 5 had fallen out of my car holster yesterday and hit my middle console pretty hard. I just noticed that when I would take pictures in the dark they weren't focusing. So I googled and everyone said to call apple and have the phone replaced. But instead I tried this (hit the upper front part of my phone on my palm) and it actually works again. Weird!!! Thanks though! — Renee
toppie, i have the same problem with the rear camera, it won't focus. so i tapped at the rear lens and the front lens and now it focus again.

thanks for the tip — theo wesemann
Just had same issue. Slapping/tapping like you said worked!! — WindyMEllingerPT
Wow guys!!! Its like magic!!! My hands are red and my knee is bruise but it worked. :-) — Joenil Garcia
It needs a few hard taps and a little patience. I couldn't believe it either, but the focus for restored! Whoever came up with this is a genius. — Zainab Ashraf
Flicking the front of the phone behind the camera / AF unit with my finger worked for me (after some rough slapping!). Great advice. Another thread was suggesting hardware failure and I was all ready to deal with a return and all that hassle. — Domenico
i had the same problem, suddenly my rear camera wouldn't focus- i tried slapping the back of the phone against my palm, no change. i tried that again and slapped the front of my phone too and it worked!!!! Thanks so much for the tip :) — Mystic Tamilachi
NO LIE. MY IPHONE CAMERA WAS STUCK IN FOCUS WITH JUST ABOUT 6" INCHES OF FOCUS NEAR. WOULD NOT FOCUS FROM FAR. I CALLED AT&T AND THEY SAID TO TRY RESTORE SETTINGS AND IF NOTHING TO TRY RESTORING FROM BACK UP. I DID AND STILL NOTHING. I FOUND THIS TOPIC AND TRIED SLAPPING THE BACK CAMERA ON MY PALM AND NOTHING HAPPENED. THEN I FLIPPED IT OVER AND DID IT ON THE FRONT SCREEN SIDE. I THEN CHECKED AGAIN AND "IT WORKED!" As crazy as it sounds. It did work. Was frustrating to know my 3 month old i5's camera was broke. Thanks for the tip. — Chadc
Had to slap it both fron and back but it works thanks god!!!!:) — stina
Slaping really works. It took me a whole day of slaping the rear camera, even some hard kicks (on my palm)... and it works. I actually heard a soft clicking sound when focus unstucked.

Thank you all for posting comments. Really helps. — d123473
wow lucky me, i tried several times the slapping and saw this slapping back and front and after couple of times it worked like a magic. thanks a lot. — adonis macias
This is so true...just had same problem and tapping from the front is what worked for me!! Thanks so much!! — heatherowen30
Thank you for this post!!! It worked for my phone! So happy!! — Allie
Thank you so much slapping my phone really worked. You're a star xx — Kelly Roberts
Just to add to the litany of success, it worked for me to. Just excellent. Thanks for taking the time to share this solution in the first place — Peter Hunt
Wow I was trying to take a picture of a dab hit to show my Daddy and well it didn't focus at first it was like blurry and the background was clear didn't make sense — barbiestayhiiigh
Hi! Thanks the slapping & tapping really helped !!! U made my day!!! ☺️☺️☺️ — poppybriarty
i can't believe it actually worked. omg i'm so excited about this. — malejandragmz
HOLY CROW!!!! Tapping worked for me too! I couldn't focus on any small writing like taking a picture of a check for deposit through my chase account...it was so blurry, you couldn't make out the numbers on the check. So happy now!!! — Dayana
Slapping it worked for me too!! So werid! If you're hesitant to do this just try it! I was too and just tapped it about four times on my palm and it worked! Haha. This reminds me of the old days when you blew into your Nintendo 64 when it messed up hahaha. Best of luck to everyone! This is such a random problem! — Charles Ramseyy
Slapping the phone only works for a focus problem where the lens movement is stuck at one end of its in/out movement. You have to slap it a bit more than a light tap. Try slapping the camera end of the touch screen against your thigh while sitting down to see if a bit harder tap will free the stuck lens. If that doesn't work, you may be looking at retuning to where you purchased to see if they will exchange under warranty.

To see what it should be doing under the camera window glass when not stuck, here is website that has a video clip showing cell phone camera movement focusing.

http://www.newscaletech.com/applications... — Richard A Becker
I just opened ifixi.com and my iphone back to normal! Woow ! Thanks! — meandmii
Thank u very much , It just worked for me.I was told to replace camera lens

It saves my money — Gagandeep singh Mehta
Yay it worked! I got really freaked out because i don't have a warranty and i kept slapping it but it wouldn't work. I tapped the top part against my thigh and it got fixed im so happy! — Juana
Yup, it really works!!! Thanks!!! I had to tap with my palm and didn't work first time and I dropped the phone like 2-3 inches high and then it works! Thanks! — Kim
worked for me, too! and i was just about to make an appointment to go to the genius bar. thank you for posts telling how to fix this. — cjmaupin
Unbelived this work palm slap etc the iphone5 and work!!!! from Lima Perú. I remember my iPhone down of a Little distance, maybe this lock any lents?.

Exist a Little hole between lens and flash, maybe this is used too for focus?.

slap the iPhone and work fine!!!! thanks a lot. — MartinSarmientoN
Hahaha! I thought this was a joke, then I tried it and it worked!! I had to do it for quite a while, though - the first few tries didn't work. The move that did the trick was tapping the upper face side on my knee. — KBD
OMG, I was tapping/slapping and dropping w/ all the above input. Then I took 3 fingers and double tapped the face and it came back. Too weird! Thanks everyone! — diannakm
This is a marvelous solution! Just an FYI, if your phone is in an impact protection case like an Otterbox the tapping may not work until you take the case off. As soon as I removed mine from the case and tried the tapping it worked perfectly!

Thanks :) — Deborah Lukeman
I have the same problem with iPhone 5 rear camera and slapping the front on my palm really worked!!! — Stanley Chen
Thank you. Didn't think it would work, but it did.

Now can ayone tell me how to stop the pain in my hand from slapping my iPhone? — Alex Ford
The first post about the tapping really does work. What a dream!! Thanks, I panicked for a while thinking I'd have to get it professionally repaired. These things are so fragile! — CID
Same thing, just had my iphone 5 camera not focus and I banged on the fron of the phone (where the back of the lens was) and now it works.....crazy but true — Debi
Can you believe it! It worked for me too... Jumping for joy!! Thank you!! — Jessica
O yessssssssss

Buddyyyy its really really works thank GOD i found you solution man.

Thanks alot — PreeT
!@#$ it's real , slapped it a couple of times on both sides of my palm , it worked !! — Zain Abdeen
amazing! worked for me as well. a few min. of tapping and it's fixed! thanks! — adir
OMFG. THANK YOU SO MUCH. This is awesome! I thought I was going to have to get a new phone. I must have dropped it my phone or something. A couple days ago it just stopped focusing and it was extremely frustrating. Glad that I don't have to get a new one! This forum rocks! — Zoe Paine
Yes the tapping/slapping worked for mine as well. I did have to do it a few times however to get anywhere. I noticed that the camera didn't look like it was in the middle of the opening, so tapped to get it back to center-works great now. — rockydi
Fixed mine! Had to take it out of the case and do a lot of slapping front and back. I thought it was fixed once but then the minute it tried to focus it was blurry again. Slapped a few more times on my thigh fairly hard front and back and it's back to normal. Thank god I so did not want the hassle of getting a new phone! — Lacey
I could not believe that by dropping it will work. I misread the article. It said you must drop it from knee high, but I drop it from 2m. The phone was protected in a Lunatic case. WOW, I was amazed! It worked! But still I believe it is a BAD design / Apple issue! — Jacques Walters
to whoever suggested slapping it against wrist, thank you so much!!!! i didnt believe it and was so hesitant as i didnt want to smash my front screen but after a couple of minutes of slapping and testing, my camera is focussing perfectly againt!! i have a hot little wrist but sooooo grateful!! — mathilda
had to slap it enough times that my hand hurts but it works now thankyou so much!!! — Hannah
Thank you so much slapping and tapping really worked, took me 10seconds and you saved me a trip to apple. !!! — Jana Wallace
sooooooo great! :)))))) i had the same issue on my iphone 4s! the slapping method fixed it! cant't stop laughing! =)) — amir hossein sarshar
My problem was that it wouldn't focus on far objects but it did on near ones. PALM-SLAPPED on both sides. It WORKED!! Thanks a lot!!! — shimeng10
Unbelievable!!!! After all these years of slamming, hitting and throwing things finally it WORKS!!! May take a couple times but will eventually work! — vancefillingame
Cannot believe it but it worked. It did take more than 4-5 taps. In fact I had to do this 4-5 hard taps on back and front camera about 4-5 times ie. total about 20+ taps. But happy that it finally worked!! — Yogender
I dropped my phone quite hard, which made the camera not focus anymore. I went through several rounds of hard tapping and it worked! — andrewkao
After dropping my iPhone 5C (it's in an Otterbox case) on carpet, the rear camera would not focus. I examined the camera and compared it to vectors and other iPhone images. The camera wasn't centered like it should be and was towards the left. I fixed it by taking off the case and slapping it a few times against my palm on the phone's sides, back, and front near the camera. It worked! — Morgan Andrews
Just happen. Try slap not to hard. Yeah it works! Thanks dude — brainwave
Do you guys have any video how to tap or slap the camera? I'm confused how to do it. My problem is if I took any close up pictures with texts on it, it came out blurry. My phone is iPhone 5s and I'm using iOS 9.0.1. — Abilia Ines
Just laughed at this crazy suggestion. Then I tried it. Thank good for people who fearlessly go where reasonably sane people would not. Respect! — eherron73
Yes it is working. I had the same issue. it is just perfact working normally. Thanks for thr solution. :) — vky6317
I read all these comments thinking, yea freakin right...the weirdest part...the slapping the phone on the hand(screen side, for me) worked...that's just crazy but it worked!! — tashianaholt
I thought what a bloody ridiculous idea And decided to take a trip to Apple as soon as i can. Then i thought what have i got to lose let me just try it. So i took a picture of some small writing in a book. Blurry as usual. Then tapped as directed on the back.took a picture of the same page, No difference. Then slapped the front and oh my gosh i am so pleased!!! I toook a picture and the writing is clear and visible!!!!! YAY — amirajai

michael Rep: 25 1 · Answer 1 · 2014-05-01T08:05:16-07:00

michael

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Posted: 05/01/2014

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Let me offer another solution:

I had a piece of the rubber/foam that holds the camera in place get stuck in front of the lens after replacing the power button. I could visibly see it through the lens cover on the back of the phone. When I tried to use the camera app, everything was very blurry and it would not focus.

I re-opened the phone and moved the foam piece back out of the way. After closing it back up the camera works properly.

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This one solved the problem for me! Thank you!

09/11/2015 by Ville Vaarala

The slapping and tapping really worked thanks a lot

09/30/2015 by Tim Tim

Tired of slapping and tapping and even banging...

Yes i found it too, when i read this. Out of my curiosity I get my reading glass and flash light observe the camera movement and i saw a piece of tiny square like greyis foam playing inside the lens, that block to autofocus lens.. the problem is i don't have special tools to remove screws... solution bring this tomorrow to cellphone repair or iphone center... solved... :0

10/27/2015 by pranziscam

5 stars and 4 thumbs up including my ginger toe... toink!

10/27/2015 by pranziscam

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Ryan Rep: 119 3 1 · Answer 2 · 2013-01-09T04:53:40-07:00

Ryan

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Posted: 01/09/2013

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Even though your device would be replaced by a refurbished product, you would at least still have your warranty. If you were to replace the camera yourself, your warranty would be voided. Just food for thought.

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Tom Chai @tomchai Rep: 22.1k 17 26 8 · Answer 3 · 2013-05-31T06:00:13-07:00

Why would people refuse to accept a refurbished product that is throughly remanufactured and individually tested for free, and instead they would only want their original device. Even after it is crudely repaired.

As for the camera problem. Maybe the lens unit is stuck. It's a hardware problem. Restoring obviously will not help. you should try shaking and slapping your phone, hoping to free the stuck lens. If you can't make it to work, go to Apple and have it replaced. Or you can replace the faulty camera yourself.

Also if you're following the ifixit guide to replace the camera. DO NOT REMOVE THE BATTERY. You do not have to remove the battery to get to the camera. The battery has to be discarded after removal for safety reasons. Do not try to disassemble the camera unit or manually freeing the lens. it is very easy to wreck the camera or get dust into it. You'll get very noticeable dark spots on the pictures

sweetdiane93 Rep: 1 · Answer 4 · 2013-12-30T14:55:07-07:00

sweetdiane93

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Posted: 12/30/2013

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Please do not try to slap or hit your phone to try and fix it yourself.. It did not work for me and it did not return to normal even after a week. I suggest finding an iPhone repair shop (not apple, they will charge you $100+ to replace) and have them replace the camera instead as the hitting/slapping will for sure damage the inside of the phone if done repeatedly. The place I went to charged me $25 for the rear facing camera and it works perfectly!

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tonyjchong Rep: 1 · Answer 5 · 2014-05-19T19:43:37-07:00

tonyjchong

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Posted: 05/19/2014

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Had this issue after installing a new rear camera from ifixit. Camera would focus on object more than a foot away but anything closer than that was blurry. Tapping and dropping didn't help.

I opened the phone back up and noticed the ribbon cable that's connected to the flash didn't "bend" correctly and was covering up about 25% of the camera lens area. Once I bent the ribbon cable correctly, it was out of the camera's way and focus worked perfectly.

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Steve @mackinback Rep: 1 · Answer 6 · 2014-09-29T22:43:10-07:00

I know this has been answered and replied many many times over, but I wanted to throw my 2 cents in because my old iPhone5 has this problem. And I think the reason for my focusing issues may be the problem for most of you. I have a hair or something stuck between the camera and lens on the inside.

So my thought is the camera is trying to focus on the hair a lot of the time. I've decided to leave it as the display has been replaced and I don't trust these cheap replacement screens from cracking as I open the phone back up.

So the banging might be moving around whatever it is that got stuck in your phone and therefore allowing the camera to focus.

tes42007 Rep: 1 · Answer 7 · 2015-06-25T11:05:37-07:00

tes42007

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Posted: 06/25/2015

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Don't slapping because this will happend again pretty soon, you must wait from 2 days or 7 or 1 month until your lens automatically will fixed. I recommend to replace your camera module.

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elisagalan1 Rep: 1 · Answer 8 · 2015-10-28T09:56:08-07:00

elisagalan1

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Posted: 10/28/2015

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I have the same focus problem in my iPhone 5c after installing 8.13 like 3 weeks ago or so. I just tried taking a selfie of an object and focus was perfect. Still closer pictures of same object , taken with Camera, come out blurry. Lapping tapping did not work for me.

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me too

i have the blue one and i'm on ios 9

12/23/2015 by Grace Isabella

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Jason Alpuin @soufflej Rep: 1 · Answer 9 · 2016-07-12T10:30:41-07:00

Jason Alpuin @soufflej

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Posted: July 12

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can somebody please post an answer

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iPhone 5 Rear Camera Won't Focus

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