Why does my Sony Xperia Z3 Compact rear camera turn black when I try to use it?

[AC Question]

Sony Xperia Z3 Compact rear camera issue

Hey,

Whenever I try to use the rear camera the display turns black while only showing the HUD. The HUD works fine, but the camera doesn't work at all. Nothing is blocking it either.

When switching camera modes (to slow-mo for example), an error pops up saying that the "camera is not available".

IMPORTANT NOTE: The front facing camera is working perfectly fine.

Things I tried to do (aside from shipping it for repair):
1. Android repair via the PC companion software
2. Internal reset
3. Safe mode
4. Clearing cache files for the built-in camera app
5. Installing an alternative camera app (the built-in one was disabled)


Anyway to avoide shipping it off for repair? The reason is that there is only one (100% reliable) lab in my country that fixes Sony smartphones and it just bums me out to do it

Thanks!

 

[pop_zc]

My phone is almost 3 years old.

After 3 month of usage, i dropped once from 30cm. Previously because it was overheating i got a tiny crack at the back. After the drop the crack was not even widening, but the camera turned black. I have sent to Sony UK, when they realized it cannot be repaired, they asked for money technically leave it untouched, or they just recycle it, or i pay 500 pound for a replacement. (very bad attitude)

They replaced the black glas, which never cracked again. The issue was not with the camera, it was with the motherboard. (I'm not sure that any case would have saved it - probably the shock absorption)

The only problem now that the glue is loosening the front panel, so sooner or later it will be peeled off. (If you have a screen protector, don't try to remove it, because it's peeling off the screen also, as it happened with me)

As most of the phone are very fragile on the market, put in a case. Anyway i don't prefer Sony.
I was sad that the camera stopped working, now i have decided to wait an another year to replace it completely.

 

[crebindiou]

Hi (excuse my poor frenchglish lol)

Spent half a day on that issue and OMG !!!! I finally fixed it. This kind of problem seems to come hand in hand with a flash LED issue that doesn't shut down from the dropdown menu. If so, consider that it's not a hardware pb. If not, try to gently press the phone between the LED and the lense, if the image comes back then it's a hardware pb. And of course, it usually occurs after the warranty expires (but planned obsolescence is a myth right ?).

Here's what I did for those facing the same problem :

1.First, clear the Camera cache in the settings>Application>camera. Then Clear the whole Application Cache in Settings>Storage and memory>internal memory>(swipe down to) Clear the shared application memory (or smthg like that).

2. Switch off your phone by holding the power button + the volume UP button (NOT the volume down button that makes a screenshot). Then turn it back on by holding the volume down button+the power button until it vibes AND the Sony logo shows up, then wait for it to start completely. Don't worry if the Sony logo disappears while turning on, it came back for me twice before running completey.

This worked for me twice. Hope it works for you too, because this is a great phone, not too big, great camera, not waterproof anymore for me because the gasket fell off, but...

 

[Fraginz]

Does anyone here have this problem after using Ultra stamina mode?
Because yesterday night I activate the Ultra Stamina, deactivate it, and this afternoon, the back camera just black. Just to see if there's correlation.

The thing that I can confirm is that I have the flashlight issue too. Like it won't turn off long after I pressed off in dropdown menu.

I've tried restarting using volume button, trying to push near the camera; nothing works so far.:'(