HTC One Camera Constantly out of focus?

James Hamann

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I got my HTC One about 3-4 weeks back from vodafone and everything worked perfectly, then about a week ago my camera started going out of focus and i cannot get a single picture in focus. The other problem I have is I accidentally dropped my phone, this was like a day after I figured out about the camera, and it's got the tiniest crack at the top of the screen. It's pretty much invisible unless you put the phone under a bright light and look for it, it doesn't bother me because it doesn't effect the screen and I cant even tell, however the people in the vodafone told me it voided my warranty. The sales assistant didn't even notice the crack until she went in the back to talk to her advisor about the camera problem. So my question is what do I do? I don't want to have to pay silly money to get the screen fixed so I can get the camera fixed, it's a hardware fault right? And if it is, shouldn't HTC take responsibility? Help please.
 

B. Diddy

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First, make sure your camera isn't stuck in Macro mode. It usually shows up as a flower icon.

2013-03-27_16.21.51.png


If Macro mode isn't on, then your camera does sound faulty, but you may have a tough time arguing that the camera problem was there before the phone was dropped. Usually, any evidence of physical damage will allow the manufacturer to say that the damage may have led to the other problems.
 

James Hamann

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Thanks for the reply and advice, I've checked, but it's not in macro mode. That's the problem I have, and I know it's a hardware problem because as I said I dropped it after the camera started playing up. I just feel a little like HTC don't give a damn, I totally understand the physical damage, but if you saw this little blemish on the screen you'd think what is the point of replacing it. As I said, it's pretty much invisible to the naked eye, unless you put the phone close under a bright light. So I'm kinda stuck which sucks, I switched from iOS and was so happy with this phone, but I just feel HTC don't want to listen, or believe the facts. I've had a similar problem with Apple, booked a genuis bar, and they sorted it, no questions asked. So yeah I think I'm going to switch back, it's an awesome phone, but I don't have the money to waste on fixing a screen that isn't even damaged just to get a camera fixed that was sold to me with a problem.
 

walt27

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I had problems with my camera I sent it in and exchanged it for another one. No problems with camera

Posted via Android Central App
 

Pollster

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Is anything in focus? By that, I mean if you take a picture with stuff that's close, stuff that's not so far, and stuff that's far, are there things that actually are in focus (just not the right things?)
If every distance is blurry, have you cleaned your lens?
 

Guy Sawyer

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I have the same problem as James.
To answer your question @Pollster, Nothing is in focus. Near, mid and far, and no the lens is not dirty, haha.

I'm sending mine in to HTC soon for repair, and if that doesn't fix the problem, they will replace it. I have given up trying to find a solution.
I had an old HTC HD2 with a typing issue which they replaced when they couldn't repair it, no questions asked.
 

bhavi_jp

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I have the same problem as James.
To answer your question @Pollster, Nothing is in focus. Near, mid and far, and no the lens is not dirty, haha.

I'm sending mine in to HTC soon for repair, and if that doesn't fix the problem, they will replace it. I have given up trying to find a solution.
I had an old HTC HD2 with a typing issue which they replaced when they couldn't repair it, no questions asked.

How did you get them to repair/replace the phone? I was with them on phone for about 45 minutes. I spoke with regular rep and her manager. Both of them kept repeating they are working on a software update to fix this issue (which is BS). Did you call the customer care center number listed on their website or any other number?
 

Joe Bains

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Hi,
I had the same problem so I sent it in to HTC repair and after 2 weeks they sent me a new phone. this worked for a couple of days and then I started to see the focus problem again.
just refused to focus.
I fixed it by going into Settings > Apps > Camera > Force Stop > clear cache > clear data
after this I went back into camera and it started to focus again
Hope this helps and good luck.
 

ram1220

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Hi,
I had the same problem so I sent it in to HTC repair and after 2 weeks they sent me a new phone. this worked for a couple of days and then I started to see the focus problem again.
just refused to focus.
I fixed it by going into Settings > Apps > Camera > Force Stop > clear cache > clear data
after this I went back into camera and it started to focus again
Hope this helps and good luck.

Did clearing data and cache delete all of your pictures too? I want to try this but I am afraid I'll lose all my pictures.
 

Yashovardhan Bhatia

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Hi,

I have had many issues with my HTC One camera in the past apart from the fact that it's horrible in low-light conditions. I have dropped the phone multiple times, scraping the beautiful matte black finish of it. Recently my camera started going out-of-focus. It just would not focus on anything near by or even at a distance & would immediately lose focus. I tried restarting settings, checked if the Auto-focus lock is on etc. but nothing worked. And yeah I even have a dark purple tint almost all over when the camera is covered with any object.

Solution:
- First try to focus on anything possible, even if it isnt too much. Far or near does not matter. Just get a clear picture somehow of anything. Lock your focus at that point for a few seconds. (Keep trying till you get a clear picture)
- Image adjustments - Contrast: 0.5 / Saturation: -0.5
- ISO: 400
- White Balance - AUTO
- Settings - Apps - Camera - Force Stop - clear cache - clear data

After making all these changes I have successfully managed to get my focus back in a perfect working condition. Don't worry about dropping the phone as long as your lens is intact. The focus does not have impact from the phone dropping. The tint is still there but has not creeped into any pictures & hence not a problem for me. Do try this & let me know how it works for you as there are a lot of people facing this problem. My phone is not covered under warranty and hence couldn't even get a replacement. Had to figure a way out myself.

Thanks,
Jimmy
 

Paul Mcshanag-munn

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trying fix camera out of focus and a lot of people suggest going into Settings > Apps > Camera > Force Stop > clear cache > clear data.

I go to settings>apps> then there is nothing for 'camera'???
 

juntjoo

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Ate you saying just clear cache and data? Not sure if you think camera settings have any effect. Either way clearing cache and data didn't help.
 

fybnx

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Final solution, You must dissasembly the smartphone, remove carefully the glue in camera, focus.png .
Then with a tweezer you must adjust the focus manually (as in webcams), until you get sharp picture, turn it clockwise first then adjust, maybe it works on other smartphones too.
 

juntjoo

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Final solution, You must dissasembly the smartphone, remove carefully the glue in camera, View attachment 216731 .
Then with a tweezer you must adjust the focus manually (as in webcams), until you get sharp picture, turn it clockwise first then adjust, maybe it works on other smartphones too.

I don't understand. How is forcing it to focus going to make it behave properly after you put it back together if it was malfunctioning in AUTO focus? Won't it AUTO malfunction again? What exactly does your solution do to stop it from misbehaving?