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!

 

[B. Diddy]

Re: Sony Xperia Z3 Compact rear camera issue

Welcome to Android Central! That really sounds like a failure of the sensor. You've already tried everything I would think of. Did this just start? Do you recall any recent drops or other trauma? Or water exposure?

 

[ynn0j]

I have the same problem with my Z3 compact. The rear camera displays as black. The user interface features seem to work but there is no image coming through the camera. There seems to be a small clicking noise coming from the phone when attempting to use the rear camera. The front camera is working perfectly well when I switch to it. I had dropped my phone 2 weeks before this issue first arose. The drop caused a small crack to start in the bottom left hand corner of the back glass.

I would like to know if anyone knows exactly what the problem is. I have ordered replacement glass and a new rear camera - I will post anything I discover about this problem.

 

[Michal Hamar]

Seems like same problem with my xperia z3 compact... tried everything i know, camera is not even detected in AnTuTu Benchmark or CPU-Z applications... Please HELP !

 

[gregovihs]

Same problem happened to me.
Back camera is not workin.
New phone, Been using it for a week only.

I'm in Africa far away from an option to fix it.
Hope to find a solution

 

[phanmo]

I have the same issue but I can get the camera to work by pressing on the back of the phone near the led. To me that confirms a hardware problem.

 

[glernern31]

Do u have Android 5.0 lollipop? If u have, try downgrade it to kitkat or lower

 

[coop3422]

Anyone get this looked at? I just bought a z3c off kijiji and didn't test the camera. It's just showing black, front works fine.

 

[Ahmed Abbas12]

Same problem here, I hope it's not a hardware issue

 

[Sebelo]

Yeah same here it's all black now, worked fine during the evening, did a bunch of timelapses and when walking home it was just black, also reacts when I swipe my finger in front av the censor and I see red-light (see through from my finger) and / or double exposure or just black.

Also front camera works fine.

Any body knows what have happened?
Kindly regards

 

[Nick Bennett1]

Mine is doing the same thing. I dont wanna do a factory reset if it doesnt even fix it. How is there no solution to this? Seems to be a common problem with Sony's and there's nothing on the net to fix this.

 

[Hoobster4]

Mine is the same,but the full sized z3. I took it to get repaired and they said it was common and it'd cost 100 to repair. I'm looking at other ways.

 

[Lukas Formanek]

yoh, i had the same problem. i installed the slow motion mode and one more, i guess time lapse or somethin, and my rear camera turned black while front camera and everything else worked, i uninstalled the slow motion and time lapse and the camera started to work again in 2 days. i guess i restarted my Z3 during those 2 days. give it a try, may be the slo mo is som kind of bug..

 

[Staceyruss]

I'm having the same problem my front camera is working absolutely fine as well as everything else but my rare camera isn't and I haven't dropped it and now water has gotten to it

 

[pietro18m]

Same problem from 1 week. Absurd!
Waiting for a fix

 

[mygumbos]

Same issue here, brand new phone.. Main camera shows black screen. Get some errors as others mention above. Is there a fix that I missed reading this forum? Thank you in advance.

 

[veryzak]

I have the same problem tried everything no fix so far

anyone had luck fixing this?

 

[Bigibr77]

Same here! Stopped working second week from no reason.-.-

 

[glernern31]

How do you uninstall it? The slow motion stuff?

 

[Michal8384]

Hi everyone
I have this same problem. Rear camera is black but front work perfect. I tried everything: restore, downgrade, upgrade, change camera for new one etc. Is someone fix this problem already? Is this a hardware problem?