Why does my iPhone 6 Plus camera only focuses on objects 24” away?

Greetings,

My iPhone 6 Plus rear facing camera only focuses on objects 24” away from the camera. Any objects farther away or closer from 24” of the camera becomes blurry. Touching the screen to force the camera to refocus doesn’t seem to do anything. I have cleaned the outer lens and made sure it wasn’t scratched. Is there some mechanical components in the iPhone 6 Plus rear facing camera that allows the camera to focus or is this all done through software? I have restore my iPhone OS to factory using ITunes to make sure that it is up to date and the camera still doesn’t focus properly. I am wondering if the focusing functionality can be resolved by just replacing just the rear facing camera or if there is something else that needs to be replaced (i.e proximity distance IR sensor or something that would calculate distance in order to properly focus the camera).

I Googled this problem and found that Apple has a website where I can enter the serial number of my iPhone 6 Plus and it would let me know if I qualify for a camera replacement for this known defect in the camera. However, because I am out of my Apple Care warranty coverage and that the good faith replacement grace period has already expired, I am stuck with having the rear facing camera repair done out of pocket. I noticed that iFixIt has a rear facing camera kit for my iPhone 6 Plus which is reasonably priced. I would like to know if anyone with the same symptoms that I described above has been able to resolve them by just replacing the rear facing camera or if they had to replace other components in addition to the rear facing camera.

Thanks,

Marc