N95 Lens Protection

 This has been quite a sore spot of mine for some time now- ever since I saw the early shots of the N95 8GB variant- the lack of proper lens protection on the new iterations of the Nokia N95.

To the left is an image recently taken of my US N95, who also lacks the protection of the original device. There are severally many quite visible scratches on the anti-glare coating of the perspex window that poses itself as reasonable protection for the 5 megapixel Carl Zeiss optics. While it most certainly does what it is intended to do, which is protect the actual lens, I feel it's no where near adequate for the purposes of such an amazing camera as far as converged mobile devices go.

Click "Read More" to comment and view the link to a poll at N95users.com.

The main claim from Nokia is that the manually operated lens slider was dropped due to "popular demand" of N95 users. I have been no small part of a massive N95 users community for nearly ten months now, and have never seen any of the over 8 thousand members complain about the lens slider- in fact, I've seen nothing other than complaints and disgust for the removal of the slider ever since the topic was introduced with the N95-2 and N95-3.

Claims have been made that it somehow hinders the feeling of "spontaneity" with regards to quickly snapping off a shot with the camera- a claim that I think is complete and utter rubbish. What do you think? Do you have any thoughts on the subject yourself? I've started a poll at our sister site, N95users.com, to get to the bottom of this with a large core of N95 users. Please hop over there and at least submit a quick vote with the other members so that we can have a good idea as to what is really the bottom line with the lens slider, or lack thereof. Any comments on why you appreciate the lens slider, or the decision to can it would be very well appreciated!

 At the very least- please take a short minute to read my very opinionated thoughts over there on the subject and kindly submit a vote!

 http://www.n95users.com/forum/general-95/6394-new-poll-lens-protection.html

TrackBack URI for this entry

Comments (6)

Subscribe to this comment's feed

...
written by James @ Nokia Creative, November 26, 2007

I noticed that surface scratching on the trial N95, most disappointing. However, does it actually effect the photo quality, the scratches do look incredibly light.

report abuse

vote down

vote up

Votes: +0

...
written by PseudoFinn, November 26, 2007

Hey James- welcome mate! Yeah, the scratches are extremely light- I think the story is that it's just scratching in an anti-glare coating... even though I get quite a bit of glare off that little perspex window at it is. I just wonder if it would affect the photo quality down the road, when there are more of them. I just can't imagine how I'm scratching it at all. I've seen a few pictures like this from other N95 users- same story, carry it in a pocket with nothing else. Frighteningly careful with it at all times- still scratched. I mean, I know it's just a tiny little sensor and it's not a dedicated camera or anything- but we are talking about 5pmix Carl Zeiss optics here, right? I agree the slider mechanism had a pretty cheap feel to it- but I still preferred it to this. How do you feel about the mechanical slider on the N82? The ideal slider would be one that isn't manually operated- something that is opened by the application when it loads. Hold down the capture button- slider opens...

What I believe affects photo quality is finger grease and other smudges. Even when giving it a decent wipe with a shirt corner every time I pull the thing out of my pocket (perhaps this is how it is getting scratched- could it be that light and soft of a coating on the lens? How should I be cleaning it every single time I pull it out of my pocket?) it seems there's still residue on that bum lens cover window.

report abuse

vote down

vote up

Votes: +0

...
written by Simon, February 23, 2008

Hi James. I have the same problem. Can't see how I scratched it since I have the phone in an original CP-235 Nokia case. I think it is the anti-glare coating that comes off even with wiping it normally with a cloth of with your finger.I used a proper optical cleaning cloth one day & that's when I noticed small scratches. Doesn't seem to affect picture quality. My coating is now almost totally gone right in the centre of the lens. Perhaps nokia should put out a notice, and replace the back covers free of charge?

report abuse

vote down

vote up

Votes: +0

...
written by Colin, February 23, 2008

Well I have just had my N95-2 8G for a week and I too feel it is a let down not to have the ability like the N95 to protect the lens, I read somewhere along the way that it was left out due to the new battery..utter nonsense !..has anybody figured out if we could mod the phone and fit in the old style version ? must be a few broken phones out there that we could rescue the assembly from !.It is frustrating that Nokia would not think this problem thru..Perhaps the communication/recommendation needs to come from the folks who helped them out..aka Carl Zeiss, so maybe we all start to let the folks there know that we have a problem with their contribution, and that it is damaging the good reputation of Carl Zeiss optics !..this way the power comes from within the corporate structure, and lets just say nobody wants to damage a good brand!..Nokia seems to be dragging their butts on this matter so we need to look at it from a different perspective!..

report abuse

vote down

vote up

Votes: +0

...
written by PseudoFinn, February 23, 2008

Simon- It would be nice, but I doubt that Nokia is going to do anything for us on this one. It's a bummer, but looking at the N96- it seems that the lack of decent lens protection is gone. Judging by the results of the poll at N95u, it's obvious that the cover has not been removed due to 'popular demand'. Out of 200 votes, not even 10% agree that it should have been dropped... but whatever the reason is- apparently Nokia is not listening on this one. I'm disappointed with this every single day.

Colin- you're on to something here, but I fear it's too much of a job for me to tackle. You can purchase the blackplate from the N95-1 with the lens slider, but that's not going to do it for you, because the LED has been rotated to the bottom from the side of the lens. The old camera unit is also for sale, and runs about 60 bucks. I would gladly spend 60 dollars for a lens slider, but I don't think I'm up to the task of swapping the camera modules... at any rate, I agree- the current scenario with the smudge magnet camera 'cover' is BS, and an insult the the good name of Carl Zeiss.

I'd love for someone from Nokia to step up and have a discussion with the users on this issue... if anyone is still listening out there. I'm not at all satisfied with, nor do I believe, what we've heard so far.

report abuse

vote down

vote up

Votes: +0

I agree
written by Ricardo de Freitas, April 29, 2008

Hi! Ive had my Nokia n95 8G for about a week and since the first day ive been going to many shops asking if they have some sort of lense protector. I think it "sucks" that everytime I put my phone in my pocket or on a table I must always be carefale not to scratch the lense.
Well since there isnt much we can do now, seeing that we've spent alot of money on the phone, ide suggest that when some sort of product comes out in the market that can protect our lense please let us know.

My email is: This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it

Please let me know!

PS: if I touch my camera lense, will I be touching the actual camera lense or is there some sort of protection?

report abuse

vote down

vote up

Votes: +0

Name

Email

Website

Title

Comment

smaller | bigger

Subscribe via email (Registered users only)

I have read and agree to the Terms of Usage.

Write the displayed characters

Add Comment