iPhone 5 rear camera is not working

My iPhone 5 camera completely stopped working recently, and appeared to stay that way despite forced resets, killing camera apps, and every other traditional troubleshooting trick in the book. What do I mean by stopped working? I mean the Camera app loads, but the camera viewfinder shows nothing at all just a black screen, and other apps that’d tap into the iPhone camera also fail to function entirely. Instagram throws an “Error: Error Launching the camera. Please try again.” alert message, while most other apps just show a blank screen.

Because the camera seemed unresponsive to software based intervention like quitting apps and rebooting, I started to suspect a physical hardware problem with the iPhone, perhaps with the actual connection of the camera hardware itself. This is where things get interesting; the iPhone 5 camera hardware on this particular device is a bit loose and can actually be physically depressed slightly by applying some light pressure against it… certainly not normal behavior of a properly functioning piece of hardware, and not what you want your camera to do. But guess what? Pressing against the physical hardware camera actually made the Camera app able to work again, as well as all the other camera apps in iOS. Curious.

By applying some *very* light pressure against the rear camera, the actual camera hardware depresses into the iPhone 5 enclosure (to reiterate the obvious, this is not normal camera behavior, and this should not happen):

The Camera now works again after it was pressed lightly… hmm.

Why does this work? Maybe it reconnects a slightly off connection, who knows, but this is a pretty odd troubleshooting trick, and if you have this problem you should take your iPhone in for professional repairs. Doing this yourself could be risky depending on what’s going on behind the loose camera, so you’ll have to decide if it’s safe on your iPhone, you could easily make things worse. If you are going to try this yourself, it’s hard to overemphasize that light pressure is all that is required when applying a slight press against the camera. Too much pressure could easily break something and make things worse, so don’t do that. For the curious go-getters out there, here are the basic steps to take that worked for me:

1. Quit out of any app that can access the iPhone camera – things like Camera, Instagram, Facebook, Snapchat, Afterlight, etc
2. Flip the iPhone over and apply very slight pressure against the physical camera hardware using a finger, it may depress slightly indicating this loose camera issue
3. Now try to use the Camera app as usual (from lock screen access, or third party app is fine), it should work fine now and take pictures as usual

So, a malfunctioning camera, no camera apps are working, and loose physical camera hardware on the iPhone? That clearly indicates a hardware issue, and whether or not it impacts many iPhone 5 users is not entirely clear.

Wondering if I was alone in this camera failure, and if having a slightly loose piece of hardware is unusual, I discovered that other users on the official Apple Discussion Forums have the exact same problem and discovered the exact same solution of physically pressing against the camera to get it working again (some users report squeezing the Camera from both sides – front and back – worked for them). The cause of this is unknown, however. Perhaps a certain production run of iPhone 5’s are vulnerable to having the camera jiggle loose over time (I’ve owned my since it was released), or perhaps the camera gets loose due to user issues like dropping the iPhone or heavy device usage, this isn’t known, but it’s certainly an interesting observation that a fair amount of users are experiencing the same thing. So, if your iPhone 5 camera seems to stop working entirely out of the blue, basically a total failure of the camera and any apps that try to access the hardware, and you think it’s dead, try this weird press trick out, then either kill all camera apps or restart the phone and try to use the Camera app again… if it works you’re likely impacted by the same issue, whatever the cause.

If you do have this loose camera problem, or just a failing iPhone camera in general, you should try to get the phone looked at by Apple’s official support channels. That means either taking it into an Apple Store and letting a Genius look at it, or if you can somehow afford to go without your iPhone (and camera) for a week or so, you could even mail it in for repair and/or diagnosis. As long as the iPhone is still under warranty they should fix it for free, and Apple sometimes makes exceptions for out of warranty repairs as well, particularly if they think the problem is not cause by abuse or misuse.

If you’ve encountered this problem yourself, and if the weird press trick resolved it, or you took it in for repairs, chime in the comments with your own experience, we’d love to hear from you!

Courtesy : http://osxdaily.com/2014/06/22/iphone-camera-not-working-press-fix/

Above response to nelsoncris Jul 1, 2014 10:28 AMRe: iPhone 5 rear camera is not workingin response to Mayham006

nelsoncris had written:

"I had the same problem... I think I figured out. It is a hardware problem, no doubt about it. HOW TO SOLVE IT?

Apply pressure over the rear lens CAREFULLY and then clean it. This will solve the poor contact the lens is making and will return back your camera.

It works fine for me... probably will fail sometimes, so you will have to apply the same pressure again...no way. I hope this works for you !"

This is what worked for me...

Wondering if I was alone in this camera failure, and if having a slightly loose piece of hardware is unusual, I discovered that other users on the official

Apple Discussion Forums have the exact same problem and discovered the exact same solution of physically pressing against the camera to get it working again (some users report squeezing the Camera from both sides – front and back – worked for them). The cause of this is unknown, however. Perhaps a certain production run of iPhone 5’s are vulnerable to having the camera jiggle loose over time (I’ve owned my since it was released), or perhaps the camera gets loose due to user issues like dropping the iPhone or heavy device usage, this isn’t known, but it’s certainly an interesting observation that a fair amount of users are experiencing the same thing. So, if your iPhone 5 camera seems to stop working entirely out of the blue, basically a total failure of the camera and any apps that try to access the hardware, and you think it’s dead, try this weird press trick out, then either kill all camera apps or restart the phone and try to use the Camera app again… if it works you’re likely impacted by the same issue, whatever the cause.

My son had a 5S and smashed the front screen so our Verizon insurance covered him for a new "refurbished" 5S. Well, a short time later he lost his phone and a few days after that a neighbor found it on our street, and it had been driven over. The Otter case mostly protected the phone, and the tempered glass protector screen was shattered. I peeled that off and the front was spotless. The rear glass surrounding the camera lens has chips and tiny cracks in it. That's the only damage to this phone. However, the camera no longer works. And I mean both front AND rear facing cameras, just black screen. The app loads, and you can scroll between the camera functions. You can click HDR and the flash settings, but as soon as I click the Filters icon (the 3 overlapping circular objects) the app freezes, which seems odd to me.

Meanwhile I'm torn as to whether this is hardware or software and none of the methods prescribed by folks here have worked. Come on Apple!

Hi

I am using iPhone 5s for almost two years and observing this again and again some times back can flash does not work and sometimes front cam. my phone back cam and flash is not working since last six month or so I don't know what is going wrong with iPhone my hardware is ok but software creating this problem

It shows msg iPhone needs to be cold down I even put my phone in freezer but in vain

So I want to ask this question what I need to do in order to resolve this problem or iPhone team will do something to sort out this problem because I am sick of this error and I will switch to Samsung if it's not resolved soo

Thank you for this clue! I did what you suggested. I heard a slight crack. Then I turned on the camera and it now works. (I had tried everything else suggested by others short of replacing the phone [or paying for outside repair]. Nothing else worked. So I hope this will continue to work over time.

I had the same problem, but yesterday I try this trick and it seems works:

- go to Settings > Battery > Low Power Mode ( Turn on/turn off 3x)

- Click on button Power + Home until Apple Logo

- go to Settings > Battery > Low Power Mode ( Turn on/turn off 3x)

- Swipe up in Control Center > Activate Flash

- go to the Camera

My iphone5s began showing a cached blur of the selfy camera when i was trying to access the rear camera. I ordered a new rear camera for my phone (figuring that my camera was shot). when i tried to replace the camera i got as far as disconnecting my rear cameras connections only to realize that i had been shipped the wrong camera. after reconnecting (my supposed) defective camera and reassembleing by phone my camera works fine. I am assuming that re-seating my cameras connections was the fix.

This solution worked for me, press the camera with your fingers hard enough that you will not break the screen, close the camera app, restart or reset all settings. I open an iPhone once and camera is plugged with a notch so it could perfectly unplug or near to it.

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

i have the same problen as well my iPhone 5 rear camera all of a sudden went blank and it freezes when i try to swipe through it . below is the question i originally posted here

Does anybody have this problem on their iOS7 on iPhone 5 whereby the back camera is blank and freezes and when you try to swipe through. I have restored my iPhone 5 but still the same problem. i noticed it today , it has never happened and i used the camera today as well. the front facing camera works fine just the back one. Any ideas from this valuable community.... thanks in advance much apreciated

Same problem here...

The app seems to be frozen or laggy.

I am able to switch to front camera which seems to be working.

However switching back to the rear camera fully freezes the app.

Below is a screen grab from my phone:

As you can see you may notice a few features missing;

1. The filters option in the lower right hand corner
2. Camera roll last shot in the left hand bottom corner
3. and the HDR on/off option at the top-centre

Some functions such as switching through the flash settings seem to work on occasion.

Also in some instances I am able to flick between photo settings i.e. square/vid/pano.

The stock standard trouble shooting steps mentioned above are rather useless with this issue.

Do you have any other suggestions?

Are apple looking into this issue, as it seems there are some pretty wide spread cases?

Thank you

it turns out mine was a hardware faulty... getting a replacement

WORKAROUND FOUND ! Download and install "Awesome Camera" app and take a picture with that app. After 1-2 seconds of standby, it will work. Then you can go back to default Camera app which would work again.Please let me know if this works also for you 😉