Interesting...I'll give it a try since the camera i unuseable at this point I can't make it any worse...Have you tried polishing the lens to get rid of the haze? It might be possible to use toothpaste and a cloth to polish it.
They sell headlight restoration kits/compounds for de-hazing. I’ve had mixed results with some of them. I think the Mothers kit was the best I tried.if it's a plastic lens then yeah, it will haze over time due to UV degradation. same thing happens to car headlight housings. just gotta polish them and they should be good to go again for a little whil.e