Just a few days ago, we brought word that many users were finding that the sliding lens cover on the Nokia N97 was actually scratching the camera glass, destroying itself. While Nokia has not, to my knowledge, released an official response to this major issue, a few enterprising users have come up with their own temporary fix.
You can order the camera slider assembly from CNN.cn, if you’d like a spare, for $12 and some change. While it’s uber-lame that you would need to do so for a $600+ phone, at least you have the option. So, how do you dismantle the sliding mechanism to fix things?
For starters, you’ll want to remove the memory card, SIM card, and battery from the phone. Next, remove the metal top piece from the camera slider. It is apparently just glued on, but do this carefully. You should now see the blue plastic piece, as pictured below:
Now, simply pull down on the top part of the blue plastic piece, and then pull up, and it should pop right out. You can now take a small nail file and file down *only* the part of the blue plastic piece that slides directly over the camera lens. If you file too much, you’ll end up with a slider that is far too loose, so be careful.
Once you are done, simply snap the blue plastic piece back into place, and don’t forget to put the spring back into position, as well. Replace the outer cover (you might need a *drop* of superglue) and let it set for a little while. You should now notice that the blue plastic piece is not constantly brushing against the camera glass, so no more scratches.
Big thanks to mimoss at HowardForums for the photos and walkthrough – you can ask him any questions in the thread there.
NOTE: Replacing the camera slider yourself will possibly void the warranty on your Nokia N97. We highly recommend that you contact your local Nokia Service Center before attempting the repair yourself. We cannot be held responsible if you try this and damage your phone.
That’s simple enough to do I guess, but it begs the question, are Nokia filing down N97s across the world? ;)
lol…anyone remember the tape mod for the wobbly N95 slider?
I still open up my N95 to replace the worn out piece of tape from time to time.
@touzeen
i never had issue with my N95-1 slider – guess i was lucky (i abused the hell out of that phone too).
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my N97? yeah, i’ve had a screen protector over the camera lens now since i first heard of the scratching. i was too late myself and some scratches were already there.
this solution, it looks to me that it won’t work right. by the nature of the physical design you press the blue plastic in towards the lens when you open and close it. maybe you can try not to, but eventually you’ll press in enough to cause it to touch and scrape the lens – even after this fix.
filing away the part that was touching before, but leaving the surrounding area alone, will cause the locale of the scratching to drift to the edges of the region you’ve files down. a more proper fix would prevent any of the camera lens area from being scratched by potentially lifting the blue plastic away from the lens.
perhaps you could do this by sacrificing the area of the lens already scratched: glue on a strip of plastic parallel to the LEDs that would act as a lifter to prevent the blue plastic from being able to press against the lens, perhaps.
my hope, personally, is to attach a thin piece of microsuede or chamois to the underside of the blue plastic. this would give it the ability to wipe the lens clean as so many believed was its original purpose. maybe a combination to the two would be best.
Nokia MUST fix this mistake for free. Love the phone, but the lens thing bugs me.
Nokia needs to step up their game, this the second flagship device which has moronic issues. Only a hardcore Nokia fan would put with with having to file the lens cover on his/her $700 device. Seriously, no one noticed the issues with that even though they had working prototypes since Nokia World 2008? And people wonder why they are losing market share (I know they are still well ahead of everyone else).
If someone has installed the cnn.cn slider assembly on their phone, i would like to know how difficult it is to do.
My slider doesn’t touch my lense, if you slide it back and have a look, yours shouldn’t either.
I have found that where the issue lies is if you are pushing down too hard on the slider when you close it again, as this does press it and any debris down onto the glass causing the scrathes.
So the theory is, just be gentle when you are closing the lense. I just flick mine across with my nail.