[dcastrog]

Ok I have read a lot of post complaining about the flash flooding pictures. This means that there is a side which seems whiter than the other, this side always matches the place where the flash is sitting. I have been looking at this since I got my phone 1 month and half ago.

At first I thought this was because of smudge all across the glass, you can even find tests I did on here /discussions/board/message?board.id=smartphones&message.id=143299#M143299

But then I discovered something else. The Flash is recessed into the glass, so there is a gap besides the flash that leads through the glasses all the way infront the lenses/sensor. So the light will travel all the way inside the protecting glass. If the glass is completely clean the light will travel without problems to the other side of the glass. If the glass is smudged the light that hits the smudge will bounce back directly to the lens. The result is the flash flood, but this is different from just a normal smudge, because it concentrates on the left side, the flash side. A normal smudge would produce a small halo around bright objects. Hope you are following me here.

So the best fix would be blocking that gap in the flash recession. So I took a sharpie marker and painted all that gap.Then I tested taking a picture in complete darkness and with the flash on. First with the glass completely clean, the result was a perfect picture. Then I smudged the glass and the result was a normal smudge with a halo outlining bright objects. Then I cleaned the sharpie with a special cleaner and took another picture with the smudge, the result was a flash flood.

So I might be wrong but this seems to be the reason of the flash flooding the pictures, if you want to experiment also, you may grab a marker and paint the whole gap where the flash is sitting, this is the wall that separates the flash and the glass. If you do so please leave feedback here. I also want to note that I also have some small scratches caused by the cover. 

[ercanmetin]

I am on the device right now but I only used the N97 at night twice for photogrphy and the flash flooded the image.. I decided not to use the n97 for night photography.. But the bad thing is evertime i run the camera app the flash it set defaultly to auto.. I want to cancel the flash and even forget it is there it is such a lousy job

[jmkcornel]

Hi I did the sharpie and that did the trick. looks like  NOKIA didn't do a good job about this one for a $700 phone I don't think it's acceptable.

Message Edited by jmkcornel on 18-Jul-2009 07:13 PM

[darthfern]

Would you please explain how exactly you used the sharpie, please? Was it one of the thicker ones, or one of the skinny ones? What if it gets on the whole flash? Is it easy to remove in case things go wrong?

Thank you

[androllo]

Hi,

Ye can you upload a pic of where you used the sharpie exactly?

Thanks Andrew

[burettou]

Thanks for the tip - what a basic design flaw that is! I cleaned the glass and took pics in low light and got the flash flood and then used a permanent overhead transparency marker (fine tip) for the edge of the glass lens cover between the flash and the camera lens and for good measure I 'coloured in' around the camera lens so there is no refraction back to the lens from anywhere. I then took the same pics and Woila! perfect pictures!

[runmeier]

I have the same problem. Tried with a permanent pen just now, but no big difference really.

I would also very much like to see some pictures to understand what you did that made this work for you. Thanks in advance!

[Ibanez_JS100]

yeh same here , worst Cam design ever :/

 I saw a tutorial once .. u can cut a circle from the plastic film paper covering the lens with a sharp thin blade , most logical fix sofar i think .. but you gatta beware of dust later on coz the film is there to cover the lens , & btw its what's being scratched from the sliding cover & not the actual lens .. 

 i just wish I didnt get the N97

[puniksem]

I recently noticed that all my flash taken images were lighter vertically half way across the images, this I found to be caused by something gritty-like scratching a line in the plastic lens cover. It's only a slight scratch but enough to make the poorly designed flash light housing bleed light across the screen/image. I've been informed that it's not an easy job to replace the plastic lens cover.

[gaspirez]

I did the sharpie marker stuff, and worked like a charm. Can´t believe that I had to do that for a 600 bucks phone!!

Man, thank you so much for the tip!! Nigth pictures now are 200% better! 

Thanks,

Gastón.- 

[runmeier]

Could some of you please upload a little guide or some pictures of what you have done? I do not get it, and have tried what has been described. But maybe due to language problems - I just can't get it...

[tatiana059]

hello dcastrog

this is an interesting post you have written and i left a kudo for you.

my n97 is about 2 weeks old.

the first few photos i took were brilliant. then i noticed that they are starting to have a yellow section on them.

it is difficult to explain.

the photos look like they are paper reproductions that have been printed on glossy paper that has slipped in the printer.

i don't know if it because of the flash, as you have mentioned.

 i just did a test, and i found that the lense itself was dirty and so after cleaning it the photo came out better.

i will keep your post in mind and continue to monitor my camera and see what it does in the future.

i will be watching for any further discolourations.

thanks

from tatiana

[caygill]

My N97 has had its "frame changed", which was supposed to cure the camera flash issues. Since I also take pictures for a living, I'm basically very familiar with this fenoma usually effecting cheaper lenses, when bright stray light hits the lens. In the N97's case you can see the obvious, the large halo/reflection, but there is also present the equally common lost of sharpness, contrast and color.

A sample: http://twitpic.com/x6j6f 

Nokia care admits there is an issue, but the "don't know what to do, when it doesn't affect all".

I've also tried the permanent marker with little effect.

[puniksem]

A quck update and a sure fix to prevent futher damage to the lens cover, firstly I got the lens cover replaced under the Nokia's one year manufacturer guarantee, then I went out and purchased a simple ipod screen protector kit, I then cut out a small rectangle that I measured and fitted carefully over the lens cover. NO MORE SCRATCHES!

JOB DONE!!

[Fender77]

Sounds like a good idea. Will have to do that now as all picture taken with flash in the dark, looks awful.

[francoisph]

Hi,

I cant believe that Nokia n97 are **bleep**  700eur ! I took the picture, and it flooded the pics by the flash

Nokia please help me?   how to fix?  I have to upgrade the firmware?   mine is v20

[burbanktsi818]

Its a pretty simple fix. My phone does this all the time, but when I take a soft cloth and clean the flash,lens really well the grayness from the flash doesn't show up in the pictures anymore.

[anonymouse]

I know this is a long time after the initial post, but what I have done is avoided using the flash altogether. By adjusting the exposure and ISO settings, I can usually get a pretty decent night photo.