Solve : Android Repair?

1.	Solve : Android Repair?
Answer» Don't know where it's appropriate to post a phone repair question here, but it seems like it wouldn't be far out of the wheelhouse of folks that post here frequently. (Additionally, it always seems like people on Android forums have to type in a hurry, because Mom is yelling at them to wash their hands and come to dinner...) Need some diagnostic advice, and also some hardware replacement hand-holding. I have a TMO GALAXY Note (1), but this isn't necessarily specific to the one MODEL as much as a general phone question. Last Monday, I noticed a streak and a shadow across a picture I was taking: This is on the rear camera, not the front facing camera. It had worked fine on Saturday. I had dropped the phone on Sunday - but no worse, I thought, than any other drops! (Setting it down, after a call, it slipped off the nightstand). Physically inspecting the phone, I saw what looked like a hairline crack over the lens cover. This made sense to me; the "streak" is from the crack, and the "shadow" is literally the shadow the crack is throwing from the lens cover on to the lens itself. I replaced the MIDDLE bezel, which contains the plastic lens cover: That did not work. The same "streak" and "shadow" appear in images. So now I'm stymied, from a diagnostic point of view. How could the camera lens itself be scratched, since it is well protected inside the phone? Alternately, what could be causing this issue, if not a scratch? From a hardware hand-holding point of view: I successfully swapped out the bezel. It appears that replacing the camera itself isn't that difficult. Has anyone done this? Is it more difficult than it appears? There's a repair shop a few blocks away (Welcome to Gadget Fix!), is this the kind of thing that I'd be better off paying them for? What should I expect to pay for a repair? What else should I be asking? ThanksI'd remove the bezel again and use a light and magnifier to inspect the actual lens...it could be as small as a cat hair to do that....You know, I thought that. Because it does look a BIT debris-like, not really scratch-like. Trouble is - no pets in the house, so it would have to be a human hair...? OK, so maybe it's not hair but something hair-like. When I had the bezel out, I played a bit with the camera itself (well, the lens and the piece of plastic it's mounted in; there's a power/data ribbon that comes out) to see how it's attached (by a power/data ribbon, as it turns out); when I did, I didn't see anything. Now, that's with the naked eye - not with any type of magnifier. I hit it (not literally) with a little bit of compressed air; all of this was before I took the pic I posted. But I will hunt down some kind of magnifier - and check it out in morning light. Thanks for the tip. I'm presuming it's not software, or it would also appear on images from the front-facing camera. (ETA: I just decided to try zooming the camera, and as it zooms, the "scratch" and "Shadow" images do move offscreen and appear (it's very subtle) to GET wider.)It appears that your "scratch?" & "shadow" are not consecutive or reflective of each other. The scratch is random whereas the shadow is a straight/er line. Seems to me that they are independent of each other. A small knock might have dislodged the camera's alignment and is causing a distortion of the lens. As to actually changing the camera, perhaps you could search youtube for some actually removal techniques. Here's a magnifier "Jewelry Loupe" I recently purchased, it was very cheap about $8.00 Australian posted free. I've found it very handy. It might be useful to view the insides. on EbayGood advice Imno...i have an antique one ... Use it often...

Answer»

Don't know where it's appropriate to post a phone repair question here, but it seems like it wouldn't be far out of the wheelhouse of folks that post here frequently.

(Additionally, it always seems like people on Android forums have to type in a hurry, because Mom is yelling at them to wash their hands and come to dinner...)

Need some diagnostic advice, and also some hardware replacement hand-holding.

I have a TMO GALAXY Note (1), but this isn't necessarily specific to the one MODEL as much as a general phone question.

Last Monday, I noticed a streak and a shadow across a picture I was taking:

This is on the rear camera, not the front facing camera.

It had worked fine on Saturday. I had dropped the phone on Sunday - but no worse, I thought, than any other drops! (Setting it down, after a call, it slipped off the nightstand).

Physically inspecting the phone, I saw what looked like a hairline crack over the lens cover. This made sense to me; the "streak" is from the crack, and the "shadow" is literally the shadow the crack is throwing from the lens cover on to the lens itself.

I replaced the MIDDLE bezel, which contains the plastic lens cover:

That did not work. The same "streak" and "shadow" appear in images.

So now I'm stymied, from a diagnostic point of view. How could the camera lens itself be scratched, since it is well protected inside the phone? Alternately, what could be causing this issue, if not a scratch?

From a hardware hand-holding point of view: I successfully swapped out the bezel. It appears that replacing the camera itself isn't that difficult.

Has anyone done this? Is it more difficult than it appears?

There's a repair shop a few blocks away (Welcome to Gadget Fix!), is this the kind of thing that I'd be better off paying them for?
What should I expect to pay for a repair?
What else should I be asking?

ThanksI'd remove the bezel again and use a light and magnifier to inspect the actual lens...it could be as small as a cat hair to do that....You know, I thought that. Because it does look a BIT debris-like, not really scratch-like.

Trouble is - no pets in the house, so it would have to be a human hair...? OK, so maybe it's not hair but something hair-like.

When I had the bezel out, I played a bit with the camera itself (well, the lens and the piece of plastic it's mounted in; there's a power/data ribbon that comes out) to see how it's attached (by a power/data ribbon, as it turns out); when I did, I didn't see anything. Now, that's with the naked eye - not with any type of magnifier. I hit it (not literally) with a little bit of compressed air; all of this was before I took the pic I posted.

But I will hunt down some kind of magnifier - and check it out in morning light. Thanks for the tip.

I'm presuming it's not software, or it would also appear on images from the front-facing camera.

(ETA: I just decided to try zooming the camera, and as it zooms, the "scratch" and "Shadow" images do move offscreen and appear (it's very subtle) to GET wider.)It appears that your "scratch?" & "shadow" are not consecutive or reflective of each other. The scratch is random whereas the shadow is a straight/er line. Seems to me that they are independent of each other. A small knock might have dislodged the camera's alignment and is causing a distortion of the lens.

As to actually changing the camera, perhaps you could search youtube for some actually removal techniques.

Here's a magnifier "Jewelry Loupe" I recently purchased, it was very cheap about $8.00 Australian posted free. I've found it very handy. It might be useful to view the insides. on EbayGood advice Imno...i have an antique one ...
Use it often...

Solve : Android Repair?

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