Why is the camera app on my htc A9 causing my phone to crash?

[AC Question]

Two days ago my camera was working just fine. I tried using it today, the screen is black and the camera app closes itself within a few seconds. Sometimes after this has happened my phone is then permanently locked for some time. I've used different apps to see how the camera responds (Whatsapp, Snapchat, Instagram) and the result is the same. If I try to record a video the picture has bright pink bars flashing across it but there is a picture. The selfie camera is perfectly functional and I haven't downloaded anything within the last two days so there is no software on my phone that could have caused any interference.

If anyone has any idea how I can fix the problem or what could be causing it, that would be awesome.

Thanks x

 

[Rukbat]

Either a corrupt app or a bad camera module. If a few apps respond the same way, I'd suspect the camera module. A main (rear) camera can be expensive ($50 just for the part and you have to pay for the labor if replacing it - and this is NOT a D-I-Y project).