iPhone 3Gs camera not working, screen frozen gray, photos blank, any ideas?

This is crap, Apple. I was on the fence about buying an iPhone when the 3Gs came out. The 3 mp camera helped me make my decision. I have had my phone for less than a week and have already experienced the White Screen of Death once and have only been able to use the camera about 10% of the time. I am extremely disappointed. I'm taking the phone back tomorrow and telling them this is unacceptable.

I'm adding nothing new, but I'm having the same problem... just wanted to pile on so Apple sees that this is a legit problem.

--Brian

Add me to the list too. I've had a 3G since January, camera worked flawlessly until I upgraded to 3.0. Now, my camera lens stays closed, though i can view any pictures I took previous to upgrading to 3.0.

ARGH!

Well, I chimed in earlier on this topic, finding I had the same problem. It seems the issue comes in a variety of flavors (some with access to albums, others not, etc). As I followed up with, I shut off the iphone and found when rebooting it the problem was gone and so far it's not returned (about a week), though some say it can come back after a few days.

So, after going to the Genius Bar on Sunday, I have a new 3GS and so far so good with the camera. I found the photos to be "lost" as well, but when I went to photo roll instead of camera roll I found all the pictures I had thought to be lost. When I got my new 3GS I set it up as new and just dealt with the customizing I had to deal with. My contacts were sync'd with Yahoo but to my surprise the photos associated with those contacts sync'd back up as well. Not the worst experience, but definitely aggravating.

Same problem Apple. Camera shutter will not open. Restore to new did not work. Do something please!

This wasn't a problem for me until recently. It seems I'm not alone. One thing to note, I had recently downloaded/installed an app titled "Pano" to take panoramic photos with my iPhone. I don't want to point fingers, or make any blame, but the timing of this installation and when I started having camera problems are very coincidental.

Issue #1 - The shutter remains closed while launching the camera software. Reboot required to solve issue.

Issue #2 - It seems most of the previews for my images are all pixelated.

Issue #3 - I believe #3 is related to Pano (or the iphone's ability to display panoramic photos.) Simply trying to email a panoramic photo in my library results in a "Saving Photo" notice... and then nothing. Occassionally, selecting done or pressing the home button during this "Saving Photo" process has locked up my phone completely - requiring a hard boot.

I've since removed the Pano app, but my phone continues to have issues.

Okay... in reply to my own response.

After doing a bit of digging, it seems there is a bug with the iPhone 3GS and storing "large" images in the library. After deleting my oversized panos from the library, my camera started working again. I was even able to email one of my smaller pano photos; even the resolution returned to the other images in my library.

Debacle Software apparently knows of the bug (as of Jul 4) and has been working on a fix/talking with Apple about the issue. Voice your concern and let Debacle know you want an update! http://twitter.com/debaclesoftware

If you're in the same boat as me, but you don't want to delete the pano's you've created... connect to your computer, copy photos & REMOVE them from the phone. Even if you don't have Pano installed, removing large sized photos from your phone should help.

Add me to the list - I'm having the camera "lens" occasionally fail to open. A reset usually fixes the problem, but it's annoying. 16GB 3GS Black.

I am having the exact same issue. I have reset the phone. Restored twice, once as a new phone. The problem still exists! Come on Apple, I have numerous Apple products with no problems. You are Apple not Microsoft!

Food for thought: as mentioned above, I had the problem but it went away after I rebooted the camera, and it's not come back (three weeks)...knock on wood.

How do you like them apples?

I am having exactly the same issue with my iPhone 3G S. It worked fine at first but then began freezing whenever I tried to use the camera. Sometimes I can access the stored photos... but VERY slowly... but the camera becomes inoperative. If I reset the phone, it will work for awhile. Once the phone sleeps, though, it again stops responding. This issue is progressive and seems to get worse over time requiring the phone to be reset with increasing frequency. Now I must reset several times-a-day.

This is my second reply. I have been having exactly the same issue on my iPhone 3G S. As an update, I have now tried removing ALL third party apps and then resetting the phone. No improvement. The camera used to work for a few minutes after a reset but now it freezes all the time and the camera in inoperable. NOTE: My wife has the original iPhone running iPhone 3.0 and has had no problems at all. Has anyone had freezes with the original phone? The bug 'seems' to be related to the 3G and 3G S iPhones running 3.0

There is a rumored/known "large image" bug in OS 3.0. Try removing all of your images (backing up using iPhoto/Picasa/whatever), reboot your phone and see if it continues to still have issues.

I was having this same issue and this fixed my phone. Curious if it can help others.

Good luck.

Nope. I have no photos on my phone. Same issue. The aperture won't open. Shutting it off and restarting and resetting the phone no longer make any difference. My camera is now out of action.