Phone camera damaged by vibration

[oxnard]

Thought I'd share a little PSA. I've now had to replace my second camera module in my phone (iPhone XR). Seems the optical image stabilization doesn't tolerate vibrations from mounting on the handlebar (RAM mount & cradle). This can can happen to any phone with optical stabilization. Previous phones using digital stabilization were fine for many, many miles.
More on this here: https://www.reddit.com/r/motorcycles/comments/b6gxw5/motorcycle_is_killing_my_phone/

 

[hisport]

Interesting!

(I'm trying to find the best mix of electronics for GPS, etc on C14; see "Best GPS" thread. Seems a hardened MC GPS, eg Zumo or TomTom, linked with a smartphone carried in your pocket, is the best approach)

Had a BSA 441 as a kid which would ruin a wristwatch within 45 minutes of riding

 

[HeavyRotation]

Iphone is your problem. Ive used my SG7 on my DS bike and my YZ250 woods bike for 4 years of relentless pounding and plenty of hard spills. Camera still great.

 

[texasdw]

I've had two cameras on iPhone 8's die...one was mine (on a bike frequently) and one my daughter's.  Both had the same problem - camera pointing outward just bit the dust.  Would freeze.  Or go black.  But the selfie camera still worked fine.  On her phone they replaced the camera and it didn't fix the problem.  So when it happened to me I just replaced my phone.

So, this vibration thing...does it kill the camera entirely?  Or just the "front" camera?  Is this what we're experiencing?  I'm not sure what kind of image stabilization the 8 (or 8s or whatever it is) even has.

 

[Whitey]

I've had this issue with my past phones being a Note 9, Galaxy s9 and a galaxy S10+.

I've returned them each time as they were under warranty but starting to think I need to change my mounting options.

It doesn't kill the phone just half kills the camera front or rear. (On mine anyway)

The issue I have is when you go to use the camera it constantly trust to focus but can't or the lens appears it vibrates.

Will see if I can find some photos I have taken with the broken cameras.

 

[Bud]

IMHO smart phones aren't as bulletproof as folks think they are.  Lot's of heat generated with use as gps and music and then add to that vibration and I think that's a recipe for issues with soldered connections to occur.  My previous LG G3 got to the point where it would start acting up.  The short term cure was to pull the motherboard and bake it in the oven on a piece of cardboard sitting on a cookie sheet.  350 degrees for 10 minutes.  Turn off oven, open the door and let it all cool down.  After that my phone worked.........for a week or so.  Got tired of that.  Bought a used LG V20. It has a removable battery. (big deal to me)  I do my best to keep my phone from getting hot as well as I'm probably not going to subject it to the vibes from an inline four.  Just something to think about.

 

[oxnard]

The issue isn't specific to iPhones, it's with the 'optical' image stabilization on many smartphones. On the iPhone line, the front facing camera(s) from the 6S Plus on up have this. And the selfie camera just uses digital stabilization. What happens is the auto focus mechanism has tiny moving parts that do NOT tolerate extreme vibrations or shocks. My older 6S was (and still is) just fine. After the second failure on my XR, the Apple guy asked if I ride a motorcycle. Seems they are seeing a pattern with the camera focus mechanism when mounted to handlebars.

I've had two cameras on iPhone 8's die...one was mine (on a bike frequently) and one my daughter's.  Both had the same problem - camera pointing outward just bit the dust.  Would freeze.  Or go black.  But the selfie camera still worked fine.  On her phone they replaced the camera and it didn't fix the problem.  So when it happened to me I just replaced my phone.

So, this vibration thing...does it kill the camera entirely?  Or just the "front" camera?  Is this what we're experiencing?  I'm not sure what kind of image stabilization the 8 (or 8s or whatever it is) even has.