I have experienced the same issue with the new FP2 generation (bought June 2018).
The disassembling/reassembling “solved” the issue for my phone only for a couple of weeks, before I had the same issues (over) again.
Now I have found a “solution” that is stable for months which I would like to share here (maybe worth trying for some of you):
The main camera module is tightened by three screws: two screws at the electric contacts and one screw close to the camera lense. The latter (screw close to lense, see picture below) I did not tighten during reassembling - instead I kept it almost completely loosened (maybe you can also just remove that screw completely…).
This way I hoped that the electric contacts are more stable (without any forces bending the piece away from the contacts). For me, this works now reliably for months.
Hi there…i tried your suggestion a few times…but still no results…this fairphone 2 is only one month old…i am losing faith in this product already…any other ideas that might be helpful…
camera does not connect…please help…
Stefan
I had the same problem as you, I contacted the support and was sent a new camera module (free of charge, since my phone also was new) free of charge. I had to reinstall the new camera module one time but after that it has been working perfectly.
Before emptying the cache it rarely worked. The hours after cleaning the cache it worked perfectly, then not at all. But these days it works often, and when it doesn’t I just shake it a little bit to… (paradoxically) “stabilize the image” and it mostly works now.
Which is, of course, nothing even remotely close to how it should be aka just working perfectly all the friggin’ time
@mamue Your tip helped my colleague, simply bending the contact tongues worked perfectly for him. For myself it is not resolved yet, so I’ll try cleaning the contacts later on.
OK, I’ve just tried your trick with the camera screws and I loosed off the top one. I’m a bit pessimistic though because it wasn’t tightly screwed in anyway and it is the two other screws at the bottom of the camera which seem important - they are either side of the contact plate underneath. I’ll report back when I’ve got something to say.
OK, I followed your advice @FairFlo and a month later I haven’t had a single recurrence of the issue. Hope it works for everyone else. You do need a tiny screwdriver though
This just happened to me, with an FP2 I’ve had for just 2 months. It happened a day or two ago then worked again - so does seem like a dodgy connection somewhere. Going to try the re-assembly and see if it goes away…
Exact same issue - new phone, within 1 month getting this exact camera failure. Can do a temporary fix by disassembling phone or doing a power cycle, but come on…
Really frustrating - and hurting the reputation of fairphone - if you look online you get repeated reviews citing the same camera failure.
Totally support the idea, but honestly between this and random overheating, cannot recomm
end this phone to others, even with the ethical credentials.
Today somebody can to me (I am a Fairphone Angel) with a refurbished FP2 which camera worked in the beginning .
After a few week the camera couldn’t connect any more.
Installing the OpenCamera didn’t solve it.
So I removed the main camera and put it back.
And the problem was solved.
I have many issues with my new Fairphone which is very poor, this is one of them nine times out of ten when I open the camera app it says ‘Camera Error Can’t connect to the camera’ - I have to try a few times or restart the camera.
Also when I get the camera app to work the camera quality is very poor indeed - very blurry and cannot really function at night (even with a flash it is just a blur) - is this just the price of replacing my unethical but good iPhone with a Fairphone?
I also have this issue, intermittently. Sometimes it is vertical purpley-etc lines, sometimes it is a black screen, both with the message: “error: cannot connect to camera”. I’m not keen to go down the road of replacing a part if it’s not a guaranteed fix as I’m in Australia so postage is very annoying.
Follow FairFlo’s advice above. It works for me. You need to take the phone apart with a tiny screwdriver that you’ll have to buy or borrow if you don’t own one.
It’s scary taking the phone apart - I was convinced I’d lose a mega-important but microscopic part and be stuck with a dead phone, but it was OK, it is made to take apart. Do it!
There shouldn’t be massive problems with the image quality. If you do still have issues, start a new thread, it’s not the same issue as this.
And yes, it does look like this is the price of our ethics but weigh that up against the fact that you are lucky enough to afford one in the first place.
but weigh that up against the fact that you are lucky enough to afford one in the first place.