Error! Camera not Available!

[Ellisse]

I've had my Z1 for approximately 2 weeks now and I've just gone to take a picture and it's sitting on a black screen for about 6 seconds and then popping up a box "Error! Camera not available!" After having this phone for such a short period of time, and the camera being the main selling point of the phone I'm somewhat dissapointed that I'm having issues already. Any suggestions on what might be causing this issue? Or anybody else having this issue/had this issue and knows of a fix? Last thing I want is to be stuck with a phone that has no camera for a 2 year contract when the entire reason for getting a new phone was to double as a camera for the start of Uni... Already had one night worth of pictures missed now because of this let down...

[FIxmeister]

does anyone know if the porblem with the camera can be solved by rooting ?

f*ck sony honestly ..

[mehfoos]

Had this issue, and found it very frustrating because the workaround are not a convenient fix.

But I'm glad to say that once I informed Sony about this, there was a camera software update rolled out as part of the firmware upgrade (it's pretty small). That fixed it! Happy days! 

[ameliarose]

I had the exact same problem in the first two weeks and its so disappointing since i bought it on a two year contract for the camera as an art student.. I know you can clear the cache and force stop but thats frustrating enough as is and sometimes doesnt work and i have to reset the stupid phone..

[josemarquez1]

Do you have any permanent solution!!??? We shouldn't go to settings, etc,etc,etc and restart the phone every time that we need to take a picture!!! Please Sony fix that bug!!!

[GeoffH]

I have 2x Z1 phones and niether of them have this problem, as I already posted - this problem is happening because another app is keeping the camera in use, it is going to be something that I don't use or have installed on either of my phones

It might be worth looking at all running apps when this issue happens and shutting down any that use the camera

also note that I am not using any anti virus app

[girl_on_fire]

I've got a permanent solution to the prblem.. i brought my Z1 to service centre and they changed the camera of my phone.. it is now working so excellent as to speak.. you do not need to delete cache and restart again and again for the camera to work properly.. hope this enlighten you..

[Rickard]

Sorry to hear that you're having issues with the camera.

We have investigated the root cause of this and have prepared a correction which is now being delivered as part of a new software release.
The software release containing this correction begin with version 14.4.A.0.155 and onwards.
The software roll out has already begun in some markets however the exact timing may vary from market to market due to local approval criteria.

[spyrosn]

What about the Xperia L (C2105)? I have got the exact same issue. Will that be addressed with a firmware update as well?

[GeoffH]

I have hinted  a few times to what this issue is and it is obviously being ignored so I am going to tell it straight

You have an app that you installed and uses the camera hardware - when you close the app it is not releasing the camera hardware therefore making it unavailable to any other software including the default camera software

you need to look at the apps that you have running that are using or have used the camera and shut them down or uninstall them - people wrongly asume that apps they have installed work properly - some do not

go through the process of uninstalling none default apps that use the camera hardware and your problem will go away

I have seen this and done that and do not have a camera problem with any of my Z series phones

[Rickard]

@spyrosn

Sorry to hear that. There's however no issue with the firmware for Xperia L that could cause this.
A possible reason is what GeoffH says which is also something we have investigated. Some 3:rd party apps that uses the camera may not close the camera and then it's not available. This is not something that we can solve from our end.
I recommend that you try starting your phone in safe mode to see if it's caused by one of your apps.

If it also happens in safe mode i suggest that you try to reinstall the phone software using PC Companion.
If the issue should still remain I think that this needs to be examined and fixed at a repair center. For more information about how to submit your phone for repair and where, contact your local support team.