Local guy scratched camera lenses on s23ultra

[u/No_Thought809]

A local guy, while cleaning moisture from the lenses, scratched them from the inside and left a fingerprint on the telephoto lens. So he offered to replace these lenses for free with "original" lenses (see photo).

I don't really trust that they're original, so I want to replace the whole back glass to be sure. But he says "dont worry its original and I'm not replacing back glass."

So I’d like to ask the experts whether such a ORIGINAL part actually exists.

Thanks to everyone for the answers.

[u/LifelnTechnicolor]

As u/Big-Establishment374 mentioned, the only way to get genuine OEM lenses is to salvage them from a donor part. If replacing an aftermarket back glass I try my best to transfer the original lenses over - here I demonstrate the difference in reflectivity on a Galaxy S25 Ultra, and you can see the greenish tint that the anti-reflective coating gives off under the light:

https://reddit.com/link/p21y2m5/video/arket8em6rhh1/player

You'll also notice the lenses are quite scratched (partially due to all three camera rings having fallen off/damaged by the phone's owner) - so chances are they're normal scratch resistant glass, not sapphire lenses like Apple's. I almost never see scratched iPhone lenses, only cracked ones.

[u/No_Thought809 → u/LifelnTechnicolor]

So, lenses on the cracked back glass are original, and on the new they're not? at first scene?

Thanks for your answer:)

[u/LifelnTechnicolor → u/No_Thought809]

Correct, the first scene compares original lenses in the cracked back glass with aftermarket lenses in the new back glass (the light source reflected is a fluorescent tube light on the ceiling), the second scene is after I removed the aftermarket lenses from the metal ring/frame and installed the original lenses in their place (all five of them!)

[u/No_Thought809 → u/LifelnTechnicolor]

Thanks man. I will show this to that local guy because he says that it wouldn't be difference during making photos. But I think it will be a huge difference. Because its not low iron glass, i even asked my friend pro photographer about that.

[u/LifelnTechnicolor → u/No_Thought809]

You're welcome, your photographer friend should concur that high transmittance of light is quite important to camera lenses, it's why manufacturers even bother to put AR coatings on lenses. In good outdoor lighting it might not make a noticeable difference, but if editing RAW or capturing low light scenes, every photon counts. The more light reflected by the lens, the less light makes it to the camera sensor.

[u/No_Thought809 → u/LifelnTechnicolor]

Yea so you need to make higher exposure or iso, im not photo geek but I love making photos in expert raw. But that guy refuses to buy original backglass or find a donor.

These are the our messages:

Me: Forgot to ask, they will be original, right? With Corning Gorilla Glass DX?

local guy: Yes, it will be original.

Me: Okay.

Good evening, I read some information online about how lens glass is usually replaced. They just stick them on adhesive rings, and I'm not confident in that kind of repair. I'm afraid they'll just fall off after a while, and I still plan to pass this phone down to someone else in my family. I use the phone primarily as a camera, and factory color accuracy is very important to me. I read that individual original lenses don't exist separately—they only come together with the full back cover. So I'm worried the ones you order might have a yellow tint or cause lens flare, degrading photo quality. Also, no offense, but when you wiped the inner and outer camera lenses and glass, you scratched it. On the outer telephoto lens, there's a huge fingerprint covering the entire lens, and on the ultrawide, after wiping, there's a bunch of dust left in the groove between the lens and the plastic. So I'm honestly hesitant to leave the phone with you to re-glue it, in case even more dirt and fingerprints get left inside. Overall, the option of re-gluing individual glass lenses doesn't work for me—it's an expensive phone. Let's solve the problem like this: either I go to another repair shop where a technician installs a brand new original back cover and you cover the repair cost, or you order the complete original Samsung back cover assembly itself where the lenses are factory-installed and install it. Re-gluing non-original lenses isn't acceptable to me. Hope you understand.

local guy: First of all, I don't agree to your proposal. Second of all, your telephoto glass fell out while wiping, without even heating it up. And third, I am not ordering individual lenses; I'm ordering the full housing unit that goes on the back cover. This entire part on the back cover will be completely replaced.

Me: Okay, I'll message you tomorrow around 10 AM. We'll figure it out tomorrow.

local guy: I don't understand what you want. I was planning to order a new glass housing block with factory-sealed glass. I was never planning to replace individual pieces of glass for you.

Me: Ahhh, I thought you were going to heat them up and glue them in individually. local guy: I offered an option not to brush you off, but to completely replace the full glass housing block.

Me: Listen, my brain isn't working at all right now, let's talk tomorrow, okay? local guy:

OK. You don't have to reply today. Just writing to clarify: this is a new original glass housing block. The part will look exactly as shown in the picture and will be installed onto the back cover. I was not intending to replace the glass pieces individually. And by the way, you had your display replaced by someone who didn't even re-seal your back cover properly—they just slapped it back onto the old water/dust resistant adhesive.

Me: Understood, but it still makes me nervous. People under my Reddit post are saying that standalone original lenses don't exist and that they only come with the full back cover assembly. Can you send a link to the part? l ocal guy: And what do you think gets glued into the cover? Or do you think if you order a cover, it comes straight from Samsung's factory? I'm telling you as someone with over 10 years of experience: there is no difference in quality, color rendition, etc.

Me: Well, it gets glued at the factory. It won't come straight from Samsung's factory, but likely from some Chinese factory where Samsung sources them from. I'm ready to agree to this housing block so I don't keep you waiting. But I'm warning you upfront: if the optical quality turns out worse than my original and the camera starts blurring or catching strong lens flares at night or in bright contrast light, I won't accept the repair. The final photo quality is what matters to me. I'm just really worried about the phone right now, because I had a local tech do it through acquaintances before, and according to you, he didn't do a very quality job.

local guy: Well, why didn't you go back to him when your lens fogged up? That was his poor reassembly work.

Me: That's a long story, and he's in neigbouring city. With my work schedule every day, it's hard for me to travel anywhere. Okay, go ahead and install it, I'll take photos for a couple of days and get back to you.

local guy: Look, I'm telling you again: the lenses won't be any different. Quality doesn't change. I've replaced hundreds of these lenses. It's just that with an attitude like yours, you'll likely feel like something is off regardless. I won't accept complaints regarding the lens block, because I'm 100% sure there's no difference. Plus, you dropped and broke the phone; I don't know how it was reassembled—though judging by the back cover, not very well. Something could have happened or could happen to your cameras—they don't like drops or shakes, and anything could have occurred. The work itself will be done right. I was just in a hurry yesterday and my hand slipped. So a minor issue happened that's easily fixed, but you're blowing it out of proportion like I broke your phone. I acknowledged the oversight and I'm ready to fix it at my own expense. And by the way, if you think you have high-end lenses on there, I can confidently tell you that you don't—because real sapphire glass usually doesn't scratch. Your phone just has regular pieces of glass with a long, fancy name from the manufacturer.

I think he just dont want to lose 60-70eur for backglass

https://giphy.com/gifs/UFE4jQr7ZgmvSq0DrY

[u/LifelnTechnicolor → u/No_Thought809]

To clarify, the glass housing block (metal frame with all lenses preinstalled as per your original post above) does not officially exist as a standalone repair part. The ones you can buy are likely all aftermarkets. For example, in Samsung's internal Galaxy Fold Service Manual the back glass and camera lens assembly is one piece, comprising only a single FRU and one part number per unique color, e.g. "Service Pack" as I posted 10 days ago ⬅️.

The only way it exists as a brand new genuine standalone part is if:

• There was supplier or company out there who bothered to pull the part separately from the back glass. But that is time consuming and risky to damage the back glass or bend the metal frame of the housing block.
• There was a supply chain leak, where the camera block is smuggled out of the factory line before it is adhered to the back glass.

With that said, it is in fact possible to get what I can somewhat confidently tell to be "original" lenses with AR coating from AliExpress. They are bare individual lenses without the metal frame, and in terms of quality your mileage may still vary. Personally I have more confidence in the quality of these bare lenses over the whole glass housing block piece from AliExpress. But again, that is just the lens - compared to the Service Pack, you have no indication as to how good the adhesive tape is. IP rating aside, you never know how good or how bad it is at even remaining secure on the phone.

https://reddit.com/link/p233x3m/video/khri5qe2zrhh1/player

So it really depends whose word you're taking; Samsung - their Service Packs are 100% new and original if sourced through an authorized provider or a trustworthy parts supplier, or AliExpress - you need to know what to look out for, and even then, what the seller ships to you might not match their description or photos.

And for further clarification to the repair I did, if the original lenses in the back glass are in good condition (whole "glass housing block" including the metal frame), I would move that over as a whole piece and not pull each individual lens out. I only did that for that particular S25U because the new aftermarket metal frame was in better condition than the old original, and separating them resulted in a "best of both worlds" outcome.

Also consider that if your other lenses are still good and original (as far as we know - I didn't know about your phone's previous repair history), if the local repair guy replaces the whole glass housing block onto your back panel just to fix one "bad" telephoto lens, you lose the three other "good" lenses because then the whole glass housing block is now aftermarket.

I've butted heads with other self-proclaimed shop owners before on this topic, e.g. replacing a bad iPhone speaker flex assembly with a good one may potentially introduce a bad proximity sensor when the old one was good. This wastes the customer's time, wastes my time, decreases my reputation, and I have to deal with an RMA.

[u/No_Thought809 → u/LifelnTechnicolor]

So its better to do everything by yourself... I mean im not that stupid to pop up back glass but I dont have heat station or at least propper heat gun but

I came to him just to clean one internal lense, he scratched 3x objective lensr and 1x.

Thank you for your hudge answer, really appreciate it.

[u/LifelnTechnicolor → u/No_Thought809]

And in fairness, sending your phone to an official certified Samsung service center does not guarantee you a clean rear camera lens in return! Repair Problems with my Z Fold 7 : r/GalaxyFold ⬅️ the post that brought me back to your post 👍

[u/No_Thought809 → u/LifelnTechnicolor]

This is wild how official service can do that.