iPhone News Updated

iPhone camera modified to focus at closer range

The iPhone has become quite a popular as a cameraphone, as it has proven a big hit with Flickr users. One of the most noted shortcomings of the device, however, is that its focal length doesn’t allow it to take very good close-ups. Flickr user Danial Forsythe took matters into his own hands, however, and manually refocused the iPhone’s camera in order to take good close-range pictures and pictures of bar codes.

There are already third-party iPhone camera lenses and filters available, but those products don’t actually alter the focal length. The iPhone’s camera doesn’t have a fixed lens and is instead an adjustable camera module that has been glued into place. You can adjust it, but that involves disassembling your iPhone, breaking the glue, and tinkering with the lens a bit.

And that’s exactly what Daniel did. Fortunately, he has published a handy set of instructions detailing the process, which doesn’t appear to be that difficult (as long as you’re not squeamish about cracking open a running iPhone). Once you’ve fired up the camera application, you will need to open up the case, get the screen out of the way, flip the camera up, break the glue, adjust the lens, and plug the screen back in to check the focus. Easy, eh? Once you’re done, you’ll be snapping pictures of bar codes and miniature figures with ease, and you can even refocus the camera later if you need to do some longer-distance photography.

[Thanks: http://arstechnica.com]