A cover is required for a camera lens absolutely and without question! Scratches (and dust) show up when a bright light (or flash) is used, small round sparkles appear in front of the subject, and scratches on the surface make the photos less sharp and slightly gray. What's more, I object to having to clean the fluff out of the lens every time I use the camera. It should be ready to shoot as soon as I am.

All cameras, SLRs and point-and-shoots have covers and they don't (usually) live in your pocket. For this exact reason I'm getting an N82 (cover) instead of the N95 to replace my N73 (cover).

Please Nokia, if you're going to give us half decent cameras, at least put covers on some of them and let us decide whether to buy them

I suspect that what has happened is that users of the original N95-1 (like myself) got annoyed by the cover opening when they didn't want it to (e.g. when putting in / taking out of pocket)... but Nokia failed to realise that this was a symptom of poor design of the mechanism for opening & closing the lens cover, NOT a call to remove the cover completely. It's patently obvious that optical clarity and pockets don't go well together, and something is needed to protect the lens from lint, sweat, keys and other substances/items that it might come into contact with.

So please, Nokia, put some design effort into coming up with a better lens cover design!

And here's my starter for 10... rotate the N95-1 cover 90 degrees so that the mechanism slider doesn't move the same direction as the mobile does when you're putting it in/taking it out of your pocket...

*Ouch* That's nasty. For a phone that expensive, one would think there would be a lens cover.

On the other hand, for a phone that expensive, what on earth happened for it to get scratches like that on it? For the life of me I dont know why people just put these high priced phones in their pockets.

Yes. Scratches like this can be avoided by not putting the phone in ones pocket and by purchasing a proper cell phone case to carry the phone around in.

Over here in the UK, phone cases are considered horribly naff (uncool), and besides I find the very idea that you shouldn't put your mobile in your pocket because it's too delicate rather ridiculous - IMHO it's a fundamental requirement of any mobile that you should be able to do so!

After all, surely what the vast majority of male owners will want to do... and similarly I would expect most female owners to want to be able to keep it in their handbag without worrying about other things in their bag damaging it... or are you suggesting it's reasonable to expect them to put their phone in a case, and the case in their bag?!! :p

@David I also do not like putting my phones in cases. Like @marcus said, I also think it is uncool and makes the phone uglier. I'm going to confess I can't stand people who wear their phones on their belt.

I should also add that not only do cases look silly stuck on people's belts, they are an obvious target for thieves (much easier to snatch off a belt than from a jeans pocket) AND are easily knocked against people/objects/walls/doorways/etc during the course of a day, which ironically exposes the mobile within to more potential damage (though of a different sort) than it would be if simply kept in a pocket.

Anyway, to each their own, my point is that it's entirely reasonable to expect to be able to keep your mobile phone in your pocket, and they should be designed with that in mind.

I am extremely happy to have bought N82 with flippable plastic lens cover. It is extremely good protection for the camera lens and I would not choose a phone from Nokia that does not provide such protection.

Unlike older devices the N95 8GB features a coating on the lense which appears to delaminate. On mine the scratches appeared to be under top coating, whilst the top surface was as smooth as when it was new.
Nokia made a big mistake dropping the lense cover, even unscratched pictures are poorer than the original N95.

More worrying is the fact that they choose to not fit a lense cover to the forthcoming N96, huge mistake.

Forgot to add I have recently purchased an N82, and agree with Apostol Apostolov, I would no longer consider a phone without a lense cover

It's interesting that we have not received a comment from a person who does not mind a missing lens cover. Perhaps Nokia was wrong in saying it was due to popular demand that they removed the cover.

Then here's your first comment ;)
i dont mind so far. I own my n95-2 since the day it was released in europe (pre-order) and am not experiencing any scratches on my lens whatsoever. The only thing im experiencing is that the solder of my volume down button has let loose so i have to return it for a week or 2... which really ***** ;). Anyways, one happy customer here.

one question though, could you take some sample photos, to see if the effect of this "scratch" is even visible? thanks!

I have mentioned this when i won the n95-3 prototype from s60 ambassador program. Mark i baby my phones never have it in pocket and always have it in a case, but it still developed scratches, now with the n95-4 i have a piece of screen protector over the lens and so far pic quality doesnt seem affected.I cant imagine people saying we dont want a lens cover, then why put one on the n82, i just think it was a mistake on there part and now they need someone to take the fall which is us the consumers.

I don't mind not having a lens cover. I've had my N95 8GB for about 6 months and in that time, I've never had it in a case nor used screen protectors. I throw my N95 8GB in my pocket along with my keys, coins and school cards every day yet there's not a single scratch on the lens(quite a few on the front thogh).

Obviously, I agree with you, Mark. :)

That poll running at N95users is now only about 5% in favor of the removal of proper lens protection after a couple hundred votes. I honestly don't buy this "popular demand" bit.

Here's a picture of my N95-3 lens shield about three weeks after I got it- http://www.flickr.com/photos/pseudofinn/2059261...

Here's a shot from last week- about six months later- http://www.flickr.com/photos/pseudofinn/2461600...



That coating has been all but completely worn off at this point. I baby my N95. It lives in my pocket, and it's ALWAYS alone. It's never accompanied by anything else in my left pocket. The only thing I can assume has worn off the coating is the mandatory wipe with some sort of fabric, which generally ends up being a corner of my shirt. What else would Nokia suggest I use. I mean, I've got 5mpixel Carl Zeiss optics on my very expensive mobile phone. Obviously I don't want to leave whatever fingerprint grease, dust and smudges from whatever else on that already added bit of perspex that light has to pass through to get to the sensor- I'm going to want to wipe it with something each and every single time I pull it out of my pocket- just to be sure I'm not going to get home, look at this image I've taken and realize it's smudged. Night pictures are near impossible if there is any sort of high level light source anywhere near my subject. No special fabric wipe is supplied- so what is recommended not to trash this horrible excuse for lens protection?

Do you keep sandpaper in your pocket with your phone?
Anyway, thats the design man, get over it. if you didnt like it you shouldnt have bought it...

That's not the design, the design allows for proper lens protection- the re-design has omitted such reasonable measures to protect the image quality.

The whole "if you didn't like it you shouldn't have bought it" mentality is certainly an interesting point of view. :-/

My N95-1 is lens-cover equipped and I wouldn't have it any other way. Key reason I went for that plus 8GB microSD rather than N95 8GB.

Plus of course I can add 16GB, 32GB, ... as they are released.

It really makes me sad to read people apologizing on behalf of Nokia's mistake. Consumer products (those products intended for casual use) develop unexpected problems all the time, manufacturers deal with it or get class action lawsuits. When it affects many people, without any way for a normal person to anticipate the problem, it is a design defect. My n95-3 has developed micro scratches, despite me carrying it in a separate, soft pocket no different than a dedicated case. It now has trouble with distance focusing. You can bet I will be following up with this, and I suggest we organize to make sure Nokia cannot ignore this issue. They should at the least provide an inexpensive way to have the lens replaced.

"PseudoFinn on 20 May 2008:

That’s not the design, the design allows for proper lens protection- the re-design has omitted such reasonable measures to protect the image quality.

The whole “if you didn’t like it you shouldn’t have bought it” mentality is certainly an interesting point of view. :-/"

He's right. Of course Nokia designed the non-covered lenses so as to keep them from being scratched under normal use, and that design works well.

For example, if you were to lay the camera side down on a table and somehow measure the distance between the lens and the table surface, there's a small distance. This is what keeps the lens from being scratched every time it's put down on a solid surface.

But if you put the phone in your pocket with, say, keys, of course the lens will probably come in contact with them and scratch.

Yes, if there were a proper cover, scratches could be deflected altogether. But I highly doubt Nokia was so stupid so as to design a non-covered lens setup that could intentionally get scratched under completely normal use.

And the idea that just because the latest N95-series may not have lens protection, you shouldn't get one is rediculous. That's like saying someone is offering you a $1,000,000,000 house for free and you don't want it just because one of the stones in the pathway leading up to the front door is crooked.

MarkJ: But I highly doubt Nokia was so stupid so as to design a non-covered lens setup that could intentionally get scratched under completely normal use

I highly doubt it too. And I highly doubt any of the many, many, many other product defects that emerge over time are intentional either. Those product defects are resolved.

I have never placed my n95 in a pocket with object that may scratch it. People should not buy the n95 or any other Nokia device until this issue is properly resolved.

Well obviously there are many ways the lens can get scratched or damaged.

Just putting it down on your bed sheets and pushing it around could possibly scratch it.

So no, ditching the lens cover may have improved the looks of the N95 a little bit but it definitely was not a physically "safe" idea.

I must say though that, aesthetically, I would prefer an N95 without the lens cover, but yea one with a cover would be a bit safer.

MarkJ, one of the main features of the n95 is the 5MP camera with Zeiss lens. It's like saying it's ok for a car's wheels to fall off if you don't cover them every night (didn't you read page 19232 of your owner's manual?) Nokia has to address this.

davidm, I'm not saying it was a good idea removing the cover completely. Well, I never said that.

So maybe we should all ditch our N95-2 - N95-6s and grab some N95-1s!

No.

I guess non-N95-1 onwers will have to live with the fact that there is no cover or downgrade to an N95-1. Or at least wait until Nokia DO something about it.

Mark J - "And the idea that just because the latest N95-series may not have lens protection, you shouldn’t get one is rediculous. That’s like saying someone is offering you a $1,000,000,000 house for free and you don’t want it just because one of the stones in the pathway leading up to the front door is crooked."

This has got to be the most _ludicrous analogy I've EVER heard. Think about what you are saying, man. It is in fact *nothing* like someone offering you a 1,000,000,000 dollar home for free and deciding not to take them up on the offer for some minor aesthetic problem. Nokia is not giving the N95 away for free- I paid a pretty premium price for the thing... I don't have subsidies from any wireless provider, the value of the dollar is in the toilet- so no, while the N95 doesn't cost a billion dollars, it's certainly not given away for free. Again- think about what you are saying. I like that analogy of your tires falling off your new car because you didn't cover it as per the instructions hidden in the manual- though it still misses. Does the manual provide instruction on how to care for the lens cover? Is there a sheath provided like the new Eseries devices? Does it go so far as to say how I should pocket my device? Since I DO NOT put anything else in my pocket with my N95, I think your argument is full of hot air- and frankly... complete BS. Doesn't hold water.

"He’s right. Of course Nokia designed the non-covered lenses so as to keep them from being scratched under normal use, and that design works well."

He's not right. I think the usage of my N95 constitutes "normal use". I don't do anything extreme with the device, it resides in my pocket by itself (as I and others have mentioned SEVERAL times now- you seem to disregard that point). The design is flawed, critically and obviously- though no one wants to admit it. It's strange that you are taking the argument against. I honestly don't understand what your motivation would be for that. There is a problem. Countless thousands of consumers agree that there is a problem- though you are adamantly opposed to their opinion- why is that? Hmmm....

"For example, if you were to lay the camera side down on a table and somehow measure the distance between the lens and the table surface, there’s a small distance. This is what keeps the lens from being scratched every time it’s put down on a solid surface."

Fantastic- one circumstance out of many that would again constitute 'normal usage' has been tackled. Bravo. Again- we're talking about a very expensive piece of technology that has been fitted with proper protection for one of the main features of the device- further iterations of this device have carelessly omitted this protection. In fact, as an admission of guilt, newer devices are even FURTHER recessed into the case- seemingly admitting that the simple effort that you've outlined above was in no way adequate.

So here's a "for example" for you, Mark J- I spent an assload of money on a phone because it has an absolutely brilliant camera in it. Carl Zeiss optics, a fantastic sensor for a cameraphone, autofocus- a great closeup mode as well as a myriad of other great features that rival some really decent dedicated point-and-shoot cameras. I want to take a picture with said device- but wait... there's a nasty smudge of some bodily grease of some sort, most likely from my fingers- and there's some dust or pocket lint adhering to this grease. Fantastic- I'll wipe it away. Since there is no special supplied cloth for this purpose, nor instructions of care in the manual, I assume I should be okay to wipe it with the corner of my shirt or some other seemingly acceptable soft fabric of some sort- right? Well, after a couple months and the buggering of one 700 dollar phone later, I'm realizing that this is not a good idea, night shots are nearly impossible, anything with an off frame light source that hits the lens creates a piss-poor image and longer focal points are hard to focus on. Apparently the coating on the 'lens cover' is soft as butter and I've now literally wiped it away. Can you tell me this is not "normal usage" to wipe grease from the miserably, paltry excuse for proper lens protection? What should I do? Should I purchase some sort of third party cleaning kit for the stupid little piece of optical interference that light has to further pass through to reach the actual lens and sensor? I should carry some tissue and a little spray can of cleaning solution with me wherever I go? Clearly they can't go in the pocket with my N95- so should I then reserve another pocket for these cleaning materials?

Hey- I know! I remember hearing about some guy that makes fine clothing with extra oversized pockets. I might look into that for all the accessories I'll carry for my ultra-converged device. Hmmm, Great Pockets... I think that was it. Anyone heard of them? /sarcasm

"I highly doubt Nokia was so stupid so as to design a non-covered lens setup that could intentionally get scratched under completely normal use."

1. I think you mean, unintentional- right? If I were the sort of chap to intentionally damage my N95, I don't think I'd be concerned.

2. 'Completely' normal use? I think you need to outline what you and Nokia mean by 'completely' normal use.

offtopic: Lol @ Pseudofinn
I like reading these discussions but your reply is just to long to read ;). Looks nice and structured though!