system version: 6.16.211.xt912.Verizon.en.US
android version: 4.0.4
1 month out of warranty 
No system updates or android updates recently applied. During this issue, I have cleared cache, cleared data, cleared the cache partition, and done a hard reset.
Recently, my stock camera app stopped functioning correctly. What I mean by that is that the app will start and the image projected to the display, and then freezes. If I am fast enough to click the "take a photo" button, it freezes and no image is saved. Eventually the app fails back to the home screen. If I do nothing, my battery drains very fast. If I try to restart the app, it will not restart. I have found powering off/on stops the battery drain.
If I cover the rear camera lens with my hand, I can switch from rear camera to front facing camera and take photos which save. No problems.
So, to try to figure out what the heck is wrong, I tried using other camera programs.
Using Pudding Camera - had the same problems.
Using Vignette, I can turn on/off autofocus. By turning off autofocus within this app, I can take photos using the rear camera and save them without a problem. When I attempt to use autofocus in this app, it freezes (just like the stock camera app).
Also attempted using both the stock camera app and Vignette in SAFE MODE - same results; stock camera app freezes while Vignette (without autofocus) will function.
So, my questions (ideas)...
Can anything be done about autofocus on the rear camera? What could have caused the problem?
In the stock camera app, can I disable autofocus?
Can I make Vignette my default camera app?
Any other ideas? Thanks!
