Photos: N86 Camera Lens Protector Was Done Right – Why Did N97 Fail?

This isn’t going to be another huge and long post about the horrible N97 camera lens protector problem and the nasty scratches it’s creating. Instead I’ll keep it simple and short. The Nokia N86 is Nokia’s newest flagship device, featuring the same great hardware as the N97. On the outside of both devices the camera lens protector looks the same. But upon close inspection, the N86 was slightly modified to prevent this problem that the N97 is having.

My twitter pal Nikki (@shewhowearsred) tweeted me an image of her N86 lens protector close up, asking me if she might eventually have the same problems as my N97. Look at the two images below to see yourself what the difference is…

Nokia N86

N86 Camera Lens Protector

See the small gap on the yellow pad where it would cover the actual camera lens? The gap is big enough to prevent dirt particles from being pushed up hard against the glass or whatever it is made of. Now look at my N97…

Nokia N97

N97 Camera Lens Protector

You can see how there is a something underneath the blue pad that is flush with the N97 camera lens. I imagine small pieces of dirt getting caught in there and rubbing up and down against the lens every time you flick it open. It is obviously a very simple design flaw, and it’s shocking this wasn’t caught by Nokia’s testing department. Even more shocking that a device that comes out at nearly the same time (n86) was done correctly.

Mark from The Nokia Blog recently posted proof that the scratches are affecting his photos, somehow causing light from the flash to flood his pictures. Mark says,

This past weekend (approx. 45 days of usage), I notice photos that used flash were washed out on one side. It looks like more scratches appeared on the lens that are now affecting the photos.

Not good news for N97 fans, but hopefully this article brings peace to N86 users like Nikki. Thanks again for the image Nikki!

Article by Mike Macias

Mike has written 84 articles for your enjoyment.

On The Web: http://twitter.com/mikemacias

About: Mike is the editor-in-chief of N97fanatics.com and a huge mobile fanatic. He also runs MaemoFanatics.com and the popular E71fanatics.com. Contact him via email at contact@n97fanatics.com or at his Twitter page.

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Tagged as: N86, n97 camera lens scratched

Mike

im a bit late at posting this but the N86 lens wasnt done right either. take a look here (post #458): http://forum2.mobile-review.com/showthread.php?t=84105&page=10

vaqar001

Well actually if you just place a thin regular transparent tape on the lens it actually reduces just 1% or less (Depending upon the tape quality) of the pic quality. SO its best to place a tape on it. i have seen that some websites are selling the whole lens cover part for 13$ or so but its the exact same cover and will again scratch the lens sooner or later. So in short that willl not work and you will spend ur money for nothing. There are only two options either you completely remove the slide cover or put a thin tape to the lens. I prefer to put a tape coze you wil not have to go through the slide removal process. and if the tape is thin it wont even bother the slide to open or close. i have currently put the tape and it works great. Pic quality loss is un noticeable. you can replace the tape regularly after a month if it gets foggy.

Mobile Jorge

Nice, wow, what a mission and a massive fail on Nokia behalf to have this design mishap, this is the kind off thing that really dissuade me from getting the N97 or perhaps the upcoming mini, the more and more I see myself getting the N86, although I'm really enjoying the usage I'm getting out of my N95 8GB which is near mint condition so upgrading to the N86 is still kind off not in the near future, I can't justify the slight improvements the N86 has over the N95 8GB to spend $500+ on that device, I dunno, I guess I'm as confused as most non Nokia diehards out there, so imagine, I'm confused and I run several blogs, I can't even imagine how regular Nokia users that read our blogs feel.

Name

I used a small piece of screen protector on the lense of my N96 and I can confirm that image quality was reduced :(

When I get my N97, I will be taking it apart and removing a piece from the blue lense protector to make it the same as the yellow N86 protector.

emcc

Great idea! Please post how that works out for you. I'd be too nervous to take mine apart, not sure if it would break.

emcc

Has anybody tried to cut a small piece of a screen protector sheet and stick it to the camera lense? I'm wondering if this would affect image clarity, or if it would have trouble fitting under the sliding lense protector.