Mounting your iPhone on your motorcycle can damage its camera (2022)
Learned the hard way that mounting your phone on your motorcycle can damage your iPhone camera
Welcome to Reddit,the front page of the internet.Become a Redditorand join one of thousands of communities.×678Learned the hard way that mounting your phone on your motorcycle can damage your iPhone camera (self.motorcycles)submitted 2 years ago by diodanyMy camera is fine but using my macro lens I can’t get a sharp photo anymore the focus just keeps shaking. Link to article
34 commentssavehidereportall 34 commentssorted by: besttopnewcontroversialoldrandomq&alive (beta)Want to add to the discussion?Post a comment!Create an account[–]authorizedscott 9 points10 points11 points 2 years ago (10 children)That’s why I got the extra vibration dampener when I purchased the Quad Lock mount that I am using. Still not a guarantee that over time it won’t cause issues with the phone camera, but it’s about as good as you can get (short of just putting the phone away in a backpack or something).
permalinkembedsavereportreply[+][deleted] 2 years ago (2 children)[removed]
[–][deleted] 3 points4 points5 points 2 years ago (0 children)This is why I use an old phone that grabs GPS so I don't fuck up my new phone
permalinkembedsavereportreply[–]authorizedscott 1 point2 points3 points 2 years ago (0 children)Most of the time I leave my phone in my pocket or my backpack. I mount it when im going somewhere I need directions for, but that’s it. Specifically so I can avoid camera damage for as long as possible.
permalinkembedsavereportreply[–]squidsemensupreme 1 point2 points3 points 2 years ago (3 children)Gotta get the dampener! Works great on my vibey Himalayan…
permalinkembedsaveparentreportreply[–]yeebok2018 Tiger XCA 800 | 2005 Bonnie 865[🍰] 0 points1 point2 points 2 years ago (2 children)Hang on there's an extra part? I have the handlebar mount and the lock, two parts. Is there a third i should have?
permalinkembedsaveparentreportreply[–]Fun-Tumbleweed-39562005 BMW R1200RT 2 points3 points4 points 2 years ago (1 child)Yes, the vibration dampener. You have to buy it separately.
permalinkembedsaveparentreportreply[–]yeebok2018 Tiger XCA 800 | 2005 Bonnie 865[🍰] 0 points1 point2 points 2 years ago (0 children)Awesome thanks I will get one before I use my phone on it again.
permalinkembedsaveparentreportreply[–]diodany[S] 0 points1 point2 points 2 years ago (2 children)Is this like common knowledge? I wouldn’t have known until it happened to me.
permalinkembedsaveparentreportreply[–]dylanosaurus_rex 3 points4 points5 points 2 years ago (0 children)There is growing awareness but it’s not common knowledge yet. If your paranoid about everything and do extra research about every little thing then it would eventually come up. I have the quad lock with the dampener. It’s great. iPhone 12 usage still good. Saw someone test it over a very long distance on an adv across off-road terrain and it be perfectly fine afterwards.
permalinkembedsaveparentreportreply[–]authorizedscott 0 points1 point2 points 2 years ago (0 children)I wouldn’t call it common knowledge, but I do remember wondering about it before I got a phone mount because I know the jarring from impact can ruin the cameras on phones, and thought all the vibrations from the bike could cause some issues. A quick google search found the answer. It needs to be more common knowledge though, with how expensive phones have become.
permalinkembedsaveparentreportreply[–][deleted] 1 point2 points3 points 2 years ago (0 children)Yea my bike has some cheap phone mount from the previous owner but I don’t use that shit. I just use my Apple Watch for directions. Works pretty good
permalinkembedsavereportreply[–]variably_random 1 point2 points3 points 2 years ago (1 child)I keep a cheap-ish phone that I use solely for mounting on my motorcycle. Especially if you buy used, you can get an old iPhone SE for relatively cheap that's totally adequate for directions, and you never need to worry about messing up the camera because you never need to use it!
permalinkembedsavereportreply[–]StarGazer01010 0 points1 point2 points 1 month ago (0 children)Hello mate, late to the party and this may be a dumb question, but did you use the same Apple ID for your second iPhone? Thinking of going down this route rather than buying an expensive GPS and wondering about how you use an additional iPhone? If you use the same Apple ID I thought it would share all the same apps, messages etc when all I really want to do is use it for maps. Also, do you just use personal hotspot whenever you use it? Sorry for all the questions but can’t find many answers online! Godspeed 🙏
permalinkembedsaveparentreportreply[–]greatwhitebusa 0 points1 point2 points 2 years ago (3 children)What phone mount did you use?
permalinkembedsavereportreply[–]diodany[S] 0 points1 point2 points 2 years ago (2 children)I have two ram phone mounts on my motorcycle, I switched to the quick grip bc it was easier to mount but had I known this I would’ve stuck to the silicone grip one
permalinkembedsaveparentreportreply[–]MotoTraveling 0 points1 point2 points 2 years ago (1 child)I've never heard of this. Is it only on newer phones or what? I've used my iPhone on a RAM stem mount for quite some time and never had issues. Can I ask what kind of bike and where you're mounting it?  

I have a sportbike and use the stem mount. I can see a cruiser being a lot shakier especially on handles or something. So I'm curious if sportbikes and stem mounts would result in similar issues. My iphone is also a cheap SE so i don't think it has as intricate of a camera as the better ones.
permalinkembedsaveparentreportreply[–]footielocker 1 point2 points3 points 2 years ago (0 children)it’s my understanding that the vibrations kills the optical stabilization mechanism in iphones, which are on the telephoto lens. there’s tiny little motors or something in the camera lens that stabilizes the image for shaken hands, but after being affected by the motorcycle, it keeps shaking and can never focus.

this is just my experience after my iphone 12 pro max got fucked after about 200 miles. normal camera still works fine though
permalinkembedsaveparentreportreply[–]That_Matt 0 points1 point2 points 2 years ago (2 children)This might be a dumb question but would it still suffer vibrations while in your pocket?
I assume they would be worse when mounted to the bike but do we think it could still get damaged just in your pocket?
permalinkembedsavereportreply[–]diodany[S] 3 points4 points5 points 2 years ago (0 children)Your body dampens any vibration significantly, whereas having it mounted on hard plastic transfers most of the vibration from the engine
permalinkembedsaveparentreportreply[+][deleted] 2 years ago (2 children)[removed]
[–]footielocker 0 points1 point2 points 2 years ago (1 child)hi, it’s been about 2 months and i was hoping if you could update me on whether your phone is still issue-free or not? thanks!
permalinkembedsavereportreply[–]VirulentMarmot 0 points1 point2 points 2 years ago (0 children)Another one bites the dust.
permalinkembedsavereportreply[–]slickback503 0 points1 point2 points 2 years ago (1 child)I've heard of this but convinced myself that my phone is safe because I don't feel any vibration in the phone mount (at least when idling). OP, we're you able to tell your phone was vibrating? I'm kind of wondering if a very small vibration that I don't even notice could kill my camera.
permalinkembedsavereportreply[–]Fun-Tumbleweed-39562005 BMW R1200RT 0 points1 point2 points 2 years ago (0 children)It really depends on your motorcycle. QuadLock's website has a list of bike models known to have damaged phone cameras. They sell a dampener though, so the list might be generous but it's a start.

Some engines are butter smooth, some are super buzzy. The 1200cc boxer in my BMW would instantly destroy my phone judging by the vibrations in the mirrors, but I know inline 4 are way smoother.
permalinkembedsaveparentreportreply[–]Mysterious_Look_2396 0 points1 point2 points 2 years ago (0 children)Hello 👋. Welcome to 2018.
permalinkembedsavereportreply[–]AWEDZ5 0 points1 point2 points 2 years ago (0 children)Are there any mounts that will work if you have a popsocket on your case?
permalinkembedsavereportreply[–]Jazzlike-Fix-5365 0 points1 point2 points 2 years ago (0 children)Not only iphone i damage two Huawei p10 câmeras because of this
permalinkembedsavereportreply[–]synth_alice 0 points1 point2 points 1 year ago (2 children)Could this be a problem on car mounted iPhones as well?
permalinkembedsavereportreply[–]salkcid 0 points1 point2 points 1 year ago (0 children)I'm wondering the same...
permalinkembedsaveparentreportreply[–]del-shit-ious 0 points1 point2 points 1 year ago (0 children)Not unless you’re driving a hundred-year-old car. The amount of vibrations a motorbike handle can get is insane compared to a car. Revving a stock motorbike can feel… uhm… very similar to tools that vibrate.
permalinkembedsaveparentreportreply[–]zidad 0 points1 point2 points 1 year ago (0 children)This post was sponsored by TomTom Rider ®
permalinkembedsavereportreply[–]AT_DT 0 points1 point2 points 1 year ago (0 children)My overkill solution was an Energica Eva Ribelle.
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