Improper focus for non-macro subjects

[TheCube]

I've been enjoying my Nexus 5 for almost a year now, but recently the camera has been acting weirdly. For macro, the focusing is fine:



But farther away, not only is focusing much slower, but it never properly focuses:



It's weird though, sometimes I'll catch a glimpse of the viewfinder when the focus finally sets perfectly, but then it looks as if the camera is now oscillating vertically very fast (like the sample below, where horizontal lines are "blurred" as if I moved my hands rapidly):



I just tried factory-resetting and found no difference, and so far I haven't found anything related to this specific problem. My phone's been through a couple of falls in the last month or so (with no visible scars), so I'm starting to speculate that maybe this is a issue with the hardware.

Any help would be appreciated!

EDIT: Crap, got posted to wrong section (and seems like I can't even move this?).

 

[B. Diddy]

It's possible the trauma might have damaged the autofocus mechanism.

An update to Google Camera just came out for me today. Have you gotten it yet? See if that makes any difference.

Thread moved to proper forum.

 

[TheCube]

Gone through the update, and no difference.

In addition, it seems the direction of the "double-exposure" look depends on the orientation of the camera (vertical in landscape, horizontal in portrait), which means it is much more likely to be a hardware problem.

I just called Google and (since I had already gone through their standard troubleshooting protocol) they offered free replacement, so I suppose this was quickly resolved.

 

[BA Baracus]

I am having this exact same issue that you described. I've tried many different camera apps, but it's the same. When zooming in, you can really see the "double exposure" that you referred to. It does change depending on the orientation of the phone too.
I'm thinking this is probably a hardware issue. I've ordered a new camera online with the hopes of replacing it myself. I hope this works! If anyone has any fixes for this issue, please help!