vB Easy Archive - Nokia camera mod

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Nokia camera mod
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Posted by: zagnut

I've had my Nokia 6620 for about a week now. I'm not satisfied with the picture quality. I have owned a VGA camera before and the pictures looked much better. I also owned a cheap aiptek mini 1.3 megapixel camera and the pictures on it look much better than any 7610 pics I have seen on the web.

The problem is that all the Nokia pictures I've seen look like somebody held a piece of cheap plastic in front of the lens. Wait a minute! There is a piece of cheap plastic in front of the lens! I think that cutting out the clear plastic over the camera lens will bring a noticeable improvement in picture quality.

Cutting out the entire plastic piece would not be too difficult. A pin or two to start the hole, and then a good sharp Xacto knife should do it.

What I think would be better is this. There is a black ring around the outside of the plastic lens protector. If the clear plastic in the middle was cut out and the black ring of plastic was left in place it would still give the lens some protection. The hole in the middle of the plastic would be small enough that it would be hard to stick a finger in and smudge the actual lens.

Who will be the first to try this? Maybe somebody who has accidentally scratched up their plastic lens protector. Or somebody who is works with small plastic models a lot and has good knowledge and tools to do this.

I may give this a try myself when I get back from vacation. If someone else tries it first, pleas let me know how it goes.

Posted by: wakari

Hi, I have done this exact mod before to my palm zire 71 with some success.

I also own a 7610, and I have made a small scratch on the lens cover.

So, I am thinking of doing this mod, but I have not yet seen a way to remove and then replace the ring safely... any ideas?

EDIT: btw would it be a good idea to post this to the series 60 forum too?

wakari

Posted by: wakari

I did some exploring around my 7610. I removed the battery and the grey plastic shield/antenna piece which exposed the lens cover fully.

It sppears the 7610 lens cover is an integral part of the phone and can't be popped off seperately in any way. This leaves only the option of cutting a hole in the lens cover while still attached to the lens. A bit of a risk but not un-doable... I may attempt this today.

In the case of my zire 71, I found that the plastic covering cracked and chipped and was very brittle. I'll see how the 7610 reacts to some pressure on the cover.

wakari

Posted by: zagnut

I don't see any way to disassemble the 6620 in order to do the cutting or removing. Everything looks very tightly put together. Cutting the plastic while it's in place looks like the only option to me. As you say, not easy but doable.

I agree that other phone owners besides Nokia might benefit from cutting the plastic lens cover. But I'm curious to see how well it works on a phone like mine.

I hope it works out well on your 7610. If it does feel free to post your results in series 60 forum or anywhere you want to.

Posted by: JustinK

I personally, wouldn't play with it due to the risk associated with the tampering. You should consulate a repair shop or directly speak with Nokia about the issue as this would reduce your risk significantly.

Cheers

Posted by: wakari

This is a question of modding... not repair

No one wants their 7610 repaired, we are talking about modding the 7610 to be better. Yes, it's a risk

Posted by: JustinK

I understand mate, but you can mod a broken phone can you?

Posted by: wakari

Aye but you can't mod a phone without doing anything to it either.

Posted by: coleplacemb

Would this help?
Disassemble a 6600

Posted by: wakari

thanks for the link... that's interesting.

probably could be done to a 7610 but that seems to me more risky than simply cutting the lens cover.

i haven't done it yet as the one thing that concerns me is lint buildup inside the hole. but im still thinking of other approaches.

Posted by: coleplacemb

Quote:

Originally posted by wakari
thanks for the link... that's interesting.

No prob...

Looking at those photos got me wondering if it would be possible/practical to swap out the camera section for a better unit of the same size. I am not at all familiar with those types of electronics, so some one else with experience will hopefully chime in...

Posted by: wakari

I think the 7610 would benefit from having the clear plastic removed, but in fact there are other problems with the unit which affect picture quality. however the image is captured, there is some element of detail that is simply not there... a slight pixelization, a slight blurring... which i do not think it due to the lens cover. However, there are other slight blurring effects which i think the lens cover may be causing from time to time. Only way is to test and see.

Also i dont mean to sound as if the 7610 is to blame... this is true of all plastic lens covers found on a variety of phones and pda's.

Posted by: zagnut

Quote:

Originally posted by wakari
i haven't done it yet as the one thing that concerns me is lint buildup inside the hole. but im still thinking of other approaches.

I was thinking of using an occasional shot of canned air to keep the area inside the hole clean. It's available at camera stores.

There is a pretty good hobby store nearby specializing in models of all kinds. I want to take my phone over there and ask them about cutting the hole.

Posted by: wakari

please do and let me know what you find.

wakari

Posted by: zagnut

Quote:

Originally posted by wakari
I think the 7610 would benefit from having the clear plastic removed, but in fact there are other problems with the unit which affect picture quality. however the image is captured, there is some element of detail that is simply not there... a slight pixelization, a slight blurring... which i do not think it due to the lens cover. However, there are other slight blurring effects which i think the lens cover may be causing from time to time. Only way is to test and see.

I agree. With my 6620 I think (hope) some of the waviness and some of the chromatic aberration (purple fringing) is due to the plastic cover. I expect there will still be some lens flare and some graininess after the plastic is cut.

I'm back from vacation now and catching up on work. I hope to get this done or definitely decide not to within a week.

Posted by: wakari

any results?

Posted by: zagnut

I haven't done anything yet. I know I could rip out the entire plastic cover myself, but I'd like someone who is good at it to cut out the clear part and leave the black.

I walked around looking for the hobby shop last weekend, but somebody told me they moved. I think my 6620 will make phone calls, so I'll try to call them and find out where they are and what their hours are. :-)

In the series60 forum somebody posted comparison pictures, 6600 vs. 6620 and it was depressing. The 6600 does not have the purple fringing found on the 6620 (nice going, Nokia). I'd much rather have the camera on the older phone. Will cutting out the plastic cover help with that? I don't know, but it's one more reason to try.

Posted by: zagnut

I went ahead and cut out the plastic in front of the camera on my 6620. Preliminary photos look a little better than before, but that's just indoor shots. I will post a before and after outdoor shot as soon as I get a chance.

It was not easy to hack away the plastic cover. I didn't have good tools and there are some scratchas now on the silver ring around edge of the camera. I could paint the ring some other color I suppose, but I'll probably just leave it.

I bought the smallest neoprene washer I could find in the plumbing section of a local hardware store. After cutting out a small section of the washer I was able to fit it in the hole left after removing the plastic. The camera sees through the middle of the washer with no problems and the washer makes it just about impossible for anything to accidentally touch the lens.

When I get some dayling pics I'm going to post them in another thread in the series 60 forum:

http://www.howardforums.com/showthr...threadid=458400

The above thread is comparing photos from 6600 and 6620 models.

Posted by: wakari

hey, neat... definitely post some carefully shot pics with the mod

try an indoor, an outdoor bright light and outdoor cloudy light (should be best)

guess what? my 7610 got stolen. really sucks... i paid $590 originally... now they are "down" to 480 for my replacement... still OUCH

i'll probably do it though, as there really aren't other good options out right now except s700 which is over 900 dollars... i'll pass

wakari

Posted by: zagnut

I broke something. :-(

The pics are fuzzier with the cover taken off. I don't see any major positive changes. How long until the 6630 comes out???

before:

after:

Sorry to hear about the phone being stolen.

Posted by: wakari

Sorry to hear about your results... I wonder what may have caused that. Do the nokia lenses have natural distortion that the plastic cover "corrects" ? it's hard to believe.... Have you tried other pictures indoors and out?

Sorry it was not much of a success. At least the camera is still usable to some degree. You'll want a megapixel+ soon enough anyway

wakari

Posted by: zagnut

Quote:

Originally posted by wakari
Sorry to hear about your results... I wonder what may have caused that. Do the nokia lenses have natural distortion that the plastic cover "corrects" ? it's hard to believe.... Have you tried other pictures indoors and out?

I have tried many pictures, they all look blurry to me. Long range photos seem to be the worst. I don't think the part I cut out is a "corrective lens." I think I must have disturbed the camera itself at the very end of the process when I was taking out the cover and it broke into two pieces.

Posted by: zagnut

I think I have the camera working again. While I was testing and fiddling with it tonight the lens in it's black plastic housing came loose from the barrel of the camera. It's a threaded connection, so I threaded it back in and snugged it up.

Indoor pics look much sharper. I'll know for sure after outdoor testing tomorrow. I'll post another road construction picture here when I get a chance.

Posted by: zagnut

My Nokia 6620 camera is working OK after cutting out the clear plastic over the lens. Not much better than before, if at all. I will post the story and my conclusions in a new thread in the series 60 forum.

The short story is that the 6620 camera is so bad that removing the plastic cover doesn't help much.

Posted by: wakari

i'm truly happy that you did not worsen the camera... congrats on the find! you must feel much better about it.

im waiting for fedex to deliver my replacement 7610... it's almsot like getting a new phone! just wish i didnt have to pay for it again :[

i still hate waiting for fedex!

wakari

Posted by: youarecool

Hello, newbie here,

Somehow I managed to get some dust on the inside part of the plastic lens of my 6600. Has someone come up with a way to get rid of this dust without disassembling the phone?

Thanks!

Posted by: hillstrubl

you could remove the faceplate, then heat up a punch (the kind that starts a hole to drill through sheetmetal) with a stove, flame, etc then just slowly stick it into the plastic you're trying to eradicate. Shouldnt leave any scratches or burn marks if you have a steady hand