iPhone 5 rear camera is not working

Hi Gibox,

Thanks for using Apple Support Communities. This article has some steps you can try if your iPhone camera is not functioning properly:

iPhone: Hardware troubleshooting

http://support.apple.com/kb/ts2802

Camera isn't functioning

1. If the screen shows a closed lens or black image, force quit the Camera app.
2. If you do not see the Camera app on the Home screen, try searching for it in Spotlight. If the camera does not show up in the search, check to make sure that Restrictions are not turned on by tappingSettings > General > Restrictions.
3. Ensure the camera lens is clean and free from any obstructions. Use a microfiber polishing cloth to clean the lens.
4. Third-party cases can interfere with the autofocus/exposure feature and the flash (iPhone 4 only); try removing the case if you have image-quality issues with photos.
5. Try turning iPhone off and then back on.
6. Tap to focus the camera on the subject. The image may pulse or briefly go in and out of focus as it adjusts.
7. Try to remain steady while focusing:
   • Still images: Remain steady while taking the picture. If you move too far in any direction, the camera automatically refocuses to the center. Note: If you take a picture with iPhone turned sideways, it is automatically saved in landscape orientation.
   • Video: Adjust focus before you begin recording. After recording begins, you cannot readjust focus until you stop recording. Exiting the Camera application while recording will stop recording and will save the video to the Camera Roll. Note: Video-recording features are not available on original iPhone or iPhone 3G.
8. If your iPhone has a front and rear camera, try switching between them to verify if the issue persists on both.

Cheers,

- Ari

*WORKAROUND FOUND* - I know there are a bunch of tricks that don't work. My wife had this same exact problem on her 5, which I took to the Genius Bar today and they told me I had to shell out $250 for a new phone. I went home and started playing. *FYI My wife's quicklaunch screen had the Flashlight dimmed out and that would not work either... This fixed them both!

1. Go into Settings

2. General

3. Restrictions

4. Select "Enable Restrictions" - Put in a passcode of your choice / 0000

5. *When the restrictions become available, de-select Camera and Facetime

6. Back out to home screen (Camera should be gone)

7. Reboot phone (hold power and home until phone shuts off)

8. Turn phone back on and go back into Settings > General > Restrictions

9. Enable Camera and Facetime

10. Disable Restrictions

11. Back out to home screen (Camera should be available)

12. Swipe up to quick launch - Flashlight should be available

13. Check Camera, rear facing camera should be functional

If this works for you please spread the word, this is NOT a hardware issue, but a software one, the people @ the Genius Bar should be doing this for customers instead of recommending they buy a new phone.

Adding to this.

I bought a refurbished iPhone 5S mid 2015. The somewhat inconsistent issue with the camera became worse (back camera not working at all, selfie camera working <50% of the time, mostly without some functions).

I tried every SOFTWARE-related solution I've read about, to no avail, and even had a little short-lived luck pressing the camera back in I think.

Just before I was about to send it in (near the end of my 6 mo. warranty), it started working again, so I didn't send it in. Of course, a week later, it was back to it's ways...

My solution:

I picked up a rear camera kit on Amazon ($10-15) and replaced the rear camera. I used this guide: https://www.ifixit.com/Guide/iPhone+5s+Rear+Facing+Camera+Replacement/20259

What i noticed was that that the thin insulating material over the camera was missing (see pics in above link). After process of elimination (over 2hr and dozens of variations of parts in place with the old and new camera in place), I decided to leave the "front panel assembly cable bracket that covers the logic board" OFF as it seemed that this might have been shorting out the camera due to the lack of the small insulating piece of material. (I even tried to substitute a small amount of electrician's tape for this missing piece, but it didn't help.)

FYI, I also noticed that the bracket that would normal cover theh home button cable was missing, and one of the screws (upper left) for the aforementioned bracket was stripped. I presume this reflected the refurbishing and made me wonder if the missing insulating piece that normally goes over the camera was also secondary to the refurb. I even suspect that the refurb was for the camera, as the replacement camera that I got did NOT have this insulating piece. This may be my phones 3rd camera.

So, with the phone back together, with a new camera (not taking any chances that the old camera was damaged), the phone's camera has worked normally for several days now.

-Scott

Hey people!

I had the same problem this afternoon!

Iphone 5

Rear Camera stopped working out of the blue and got black screen and when I tried taking a pic it froze.

Front camera worked in Instagram.

Came here to solve it but nothing worked UNTIL

My wife told me she had the same problem with her iphone 4

Solution

Hold the lock button and home button until your phone switches off, leave for about 30 seconds.

Turn back on

My camera worked straight away!

Please post reply if this worked for you so others know!

Goodluck looks like it was software problem.

Folks I too started to experience the same problem earlier this week, where the rear camera on my iphone 5 suddenly stopped working. I tried all the following steps as suggested by others who've posted their remedies but to no avail.

After trying all suggested options (see below suggested listings), I managed to swipe to Video mode and hit record and it suddenly started focussing and the rear camera started working!

Suggested Steps as posted by others:

1. Clean the camera lens with soft-cloth
2. Back up all data (i.e. on icloud or through iTunes).
3. Switch Off/On.
4. Soft-Reset (Hold Home + On/Off button) till Apple Logo appears.
5. Whilst the Camera App is active, gentle tap your phone (with rear camera facing down) on your palm several times.
6. Press down hard with your thumbs on rear camera for 5-10 seconds.
7. Swipe up the quick-menu bar and see whether you can activate the flash light.
8. Start Camera App and try any or all of the following:
   • Scrolling through the options (i.e. Pano / Square / Photo / Video);
   • Enable/disable Flash (on upper left of the screen);
   • Enable/disable HDR;
   • Click on bottom left icon which takes you to Camera Roll;
   • Click on the option to use the front-facing camera;
   • Scroll to select Video mode and hit record. You should see it start recording and the screen start to focus. The camera will then start! - This feature worked and resolved the problem.

I believe that the issue is a software related (unless you have dropped your iphone hard that the lens is kaput!) most likely due to the recent software update patch released by Apple.

Hopefully they are looking into this and will release a patch to prevent this issue from becoming apandemic!

Good Luck!

Tried the Voice Over and got a blurry pic for a few seconds before it went back to black / hanging blurry pic.

Then i tried Pressing down top right corner hard - reboot - Voila! It worked!
Both cams are now working.

Got this phone from my brother. The screen is just a little bitt loose on the top right corner. Also theres a bump on the metal casing on the same corner.

So i would blame this problem on both hardware and software.

Looks like the software isnt good enough to reastablish the camera when theres a bad connection to the camera.

Pressing hard on the corner reestablish the camera connection and the reboot makes the software able to comunicate with the camera again.

I tried all the software "fixes" with no joy.

I decided to open up my iPhone 5 myself (it was out of warranty anyway) to see if there was anything loose I could fix. And yes, the camera seemed to have come loose somehow and simply by pushing it firmly it did physically click. At first I thought the click was probably just me breaking something, but when I tried the camera again it worked perfectly.

This might not be the most common issue, but if you've dropped your phone a couple of times, then it's possible the camera may have become disconnected inside the phone. If your phone is out of warranty, you may as well open it up and give this a try. You just need a small screwdriver to remove 2 screws and a suction pad to take the front cover off. You can get these as part of an iPhone repair kit (about £3 in the UK).

I seen other suggestions on this thread to press firmly on the camera from the outside. I did try this and it didn't work for me, but it makes some sense that this might work for some people if the camera isn't as loose as mine was.

This was the only thing that worked for me. It's obvious it's a hardware issue by the overwhelming amounts of people getting replacements issued. I just squeezed on the top right corner of my phone with my thumb and pointer finger and it suddenly decided to start working! I hope this isn't an issue in the new iPhone SE. This was my girlfriends 5c and she is very accident prone so she constantly drops it. Would make sense how something can start having issues internally considering the corners of the device are the most likely to receive shock in a drop.

I have the same problem with my iphone 5c. I tried all the 'tricks' &amp; none of them worked.

I've had the phone for 3mths all working fine till outta nowhere the rear camera froze while I was trying to take a photo. Now the rear camera only shows black background, then can switch to front cam &amp; when I switch back to rear all is frozen.. Anyway after much frustration, I called Apple &amp; they are sending me out a new phone.. I suggest you give Apple a call cause it seems there's nothing that can fix the problem.

Let's hope it just doesn't happen again on the new phone!!!! Not holding my breath!

@WtHongkong--It worked perfectly. Turning Voiceover on and off cleared up both the sometimes non-functioning rear camera and/or the Camera app software - an easy fix and it saved me a 100 mile trip to the apple store. Thanks a million!

Thank you for this! I did what everyone else was saying; restore, reset, etc. but didn't work. I was ready to give up and bring it in for repair...but I then tried what you suggested - turned on my voice control, then turned it off and it worked! It was like the app for the camera was stuck and it needed something to wake it up.

So yes, anyone who hasn't tried this workaround, try it out. It might just work.🙂

hi,

iam using iphone 5 and i have that same problem, iam here in th Philippines and iam thankful that i had found this Apple service center, they tol me that, if the iphone 5 camera problem can't fix by soft and hard reset, the problem is the hardware witch means the unit must be replace, unlike iphone 4s, 5c and 5s that the camera parts can be replace and not the whole unit. If the phone is under warranty the replacement is free, but it must passed to a check like water damage, broken, any dents etc. But i dont have any idea if there is a payment for a replacement if its out of warranty. I suggest bring your phone to the nearest iphone service center.

Just like folks above, both of my cameras, front and back, are not working.

Only a black screen. Gentle tapping, squeezing, rebooting, etc. would sometimes turn on the rear facing camera. But front refuses to turn on and rear only works a few times till it locks up.

Truly frustrating!

So...is this SW or HW? Typically if doing a restore or switching settings fixes it, its SW.

However, squeezing/tapping hints at HW issue.

One comment stated turning it off for a while fixed it...so I tried a new avenue.

I put mine in the hotel refrigerator for 45 minutes. Yep...one chilly iPhone 5.

Viola...it fixed both front and back cameras. Been working for 12 hrs.

Why does this work? Commonly HW overheats and circuits expand.

Cooling it down resets the phyical properties.

Caution - don't leave it in too long and do not put in a freezer. This could cause permanent damage.

Let me know if this worked for you. Good Luck!

(iphone 5s, iOs 9.02) - Here was my problem: rear camera was
black, could toggle to front camera which worked fine, toggle to rear camera -
would freeze & get triangle notification that "flash too hot and would
have to cool down in order to use."

I did all the recommended things I could find on the internet: soft reset, reset all settings, pressure with thumb on rear camera, etc. Finally, feeling like I would not be able to find a solution, I decided to inquire if it is a hardware issue but not by going to Genius bar.

I live in LA, and took it to a private party iphone repair place. The owner opened up my phone, and his work station is in a open bullpen area which I like since I can see exactly he is doing to exam the phone.

He indicated a cable was loose and noticed that the cover to hold the wire down was missing. He put a new on for me. Camera and flashlight all fixed!! So my recommendation is that those who have this problem may have something as simple as a wire that is loose. If you are in LA, let me know, and I will tell you where I went. If you are not in LA, then I advise taking it to someone or open the phone yourself as I am sure a loose wire will be easy to see.

I had the same issue..what happen was when I open camera its just black screen..front cam works..then i tried to use the flash it says phone is heating..wait to cool down..what I did was I dismantle the mobile using video guide..then check the ribbon point of camera is properly attached to the motherboard and found it was not properly attached. so i pulled it out and re attached..then it works fine for me..but make sure to be careful when you dismantle the mobile and removing the ribbon clips might damage to your mobile..also please don't do it if you have valid warranty with you..