Late October is when the camera gets a workout around Emu Plains and Penrith. School sport, a walk by the Nepean, and weekend photos all depend on a lens that is actually clear. If your iPhone camera is black, spotted, or soft after a drop, it is usually the lens or the camera itself, not a setting you missed. You can check that at home in a few minutes before you book.
At On the Spot Mobile Phone Repair Centre we replace iPhone rear and front cameras in store at Shop 7, Lennox Village. This is the same look we do at the counter before we quote.
Clean the lens before you blame the camera
A lot of "broken" cameras are just dirty. Sunscreen, dust from a sports oval, and pocket lint sit on the glass and turn photos milky. Take the case off. Wipe the lens with a clean, dry, soft cloth. Check the little lip of the case as well. A case that has shifted can cover the corner of a lens and make every photo look dark on one side.
If a wipe fixes it, you do not need a repair. If the spot stays in the same place when you tilt the phone, or you can feel a chip in the glass, the lens is damaged.
What a damaged camera looks like
These are the patterns we see on iPhones brought in from Emu Plains, Penrith, Glenmore Park, and the surrounding suburbs:
- The Camera app opens to a black screen, while the rest of the phone still works
- Photos are blurry, spotted, or have a flare that a wipe will not remove
- Only one lens is bad. On a phone with more than one rear camera, 1x might be fine and the zoom lens black, or the other way around
- The glass over the camera is cracked, foggy, or has a chip you can catch with a fingernail
- The front camera is black or soft, but the rear cameras still take a normal photo
Switch between the lenses in the Camera app. If only one of them fails, that camera is the fault. Restart the phone once. If the same lens is still black after a restart and a wipe, a software glitch is unlikely.
A cracked lens is not the same as a cracked back
A spiderweb across the coloured back glass can leave the cameras working. A crack limited to the camera glass can leave the rest of the back looking fine. Look at where the damage is.
- Glass cracked only over the camera bump, with the back still flat, is a camera repair
- A crack across the back, with the cameras still sharp, is a back-glass repair
- The back or the screen lifting off the frame is a swollen battery, not a camera fault. Stop charging the phone and bring it in the same day
Our guide to cracked iPhone back glass and swollen batteries walks through that difference. Do not press a lifting back flat.
Face ID sits at the top of the front of the phone, separate from the rear cameras. A cracked rear lens on its own does not stop Face ID. If the front glass over the selfie camera is smashed, we check the front camera and Face ID separately before we quote.
If the phone got wet as well
A drop into a drink, the river, or a wet sports bag is a different job. Power the phone off, do not charge it, and do not put it in rice. Follow our water-damage guide and bring it in. A black camera after liquid can be corrosion on the board, and charging it to test the camera is what finishes a phone that could have been saved.
What we do in store
We inspect the lens and test each camera before we recommend a part. Where a camera replacement is the right fix, the price is listed for your model before any work starts. Booking online saves $10 per repair. Most camera jobs are finished the same day, with a 12-month warranty on parts and labour. If we cannot fix the phone, you do not pay for the attempt.
Your photos and apps stay on the phone. A backup is still a good idea before any repair. You can walk in. No appointment is required.
While you wait for the repair
- Do not poke a cracked lens with a pin, a toothpick, or your nail. That pushes glass into the camera
- Leave a shattered lens covered. A case, or even a small piece of tape over the broken glass, stops cuts and keeps more dust out until you get here
- Avoid more drops. A second fall often takes out the camera next to the one that is already cracked
Camera repair in Emu Plains and Penrith
On the Spot Mobile Phone Repair Centre is at Shop 7, Lennox Village, Cnr Great Western Highway & 1 Pyramid St, Emu Plains NSW 2750. We see iPhones from Emu Plains, Penrith, Glenmore Park, Kingswood, St Marys, Blaxland, Springwood, Leonay, Lapstone, and Jamisontown. Call 0420 739 151, walk in, or check the price for your model and book online.