I have this broken iphone 5, and I was wondering if there was any way I could use the 2 cameras inside. Would it be possible to still use them as cameras that take a snapshot and save to and memory card or something?

 

Very unlikely; How would you even make the connections to them?

 

And even if you could connect to them, do you know what the cameras' supply voltage and input/output signal specs are?

 

Eventually you could try to use the mechanical part (lens and zoom system included) but the control part is extremely small and doubt you could reverse engineering it in a reasonable time to know how. I do not know that particular phone but in the past they used VCM. Now, I have no idea.

 

How broken is it? I'm guessing no screen? Can you tell if it takes pictures now? My old iPod will take pictures but the screen is not working after a kayaking mishap!

I believe you can take external control of an iPhone if you work with the SDK, but I haven't tried that.

 

So, basically there is no use for them now?

 

Yes, a broken iPhone has value. The broken phone and $200 gets someone a new iPhone 5 at an Apple store. This is a much better deal than paying list price for anyone who lost their phone before their contract is up.

 

Modern cellphone hardware is ridiculously small and fiendishly complex.
Not much use from a hacking / reuse perspective, unless you invest lots of time and energy.

 

So, basically there is no use for them now?

FWIW while I claim no knowledge of the iphone, I have, however, personally salvaged a 'Blackberry' camera for use in a working-model RWA --- The 'catch' is that you must get the phone to function long/well enough to 'profile' the camera (i.e. analyze and determine electrical parameters and data protocols thereof) prior to removal of same... If the condition of the phone is such that profiling is imposable (or you don't feel it's worth the effort) you can probably find someone who has 'waded' through the process (especially with so popular a product as the iphone 5) -- You'll get no 'joy' from the manufacturer though, unless you find "proprietary, proprietary, proprietary' - ad infinitum dulcet

Good luck!
Best regards
HP

 

I tried to replace the camera myself. Didn`t work out. Had to give it to an expert. This hardware is so small.