Lossless zoom on smartphones is a feature that’s been seen since 2015 thanks to the inception of the ASUS Zenfone Zoom. With companies like Huawei taking it one step further thanks to 3x and 5x optical zoom on the P20 Pro and Mate 20 Pro, respectively smartphones do not need to sport a massive a camera hump at the camera to attain such features. OPPO was earlier reported to come up with a 5x optical zoom camera several years ago, and the company is gearing up to reach the next plateau of smartphone photography thanks to a 10x optical zoom camera.
Focal Length Range of OPPO’S 10x Zoom Camera Will Be 15.9-159mm
According to the information obtained by The Verge, OPPO has confirmed that it’s developing a camera system that will allow a smartphone user to experience unprecedented levels of lossless zoom and snap images without witnessing a loss in quality. A couple of years ago, OPPO debuted its 5x zoom prototype, but the technology never got commercialized in mobile devices. Things are a lot different thanks to the engineering shift in the industry.
https://youtu.be/M7JwA1TD9eo
The focal length of the camera will be 15.9-159mm, revealing that the camera will start with an ultrawide view and as the user zooms into the subject, it will exhibit the same workings as a telephoto lens. There are three lenses primed into one, so the claim of lossless isn’t exactly true. Thankfully, the 10x optical zoom camera will support OIS (optical image stabilization), thereby preventing camera shake when capturing images.
OPPO has not confirmed if the same level of stabilization will be witnessed when recording zoomed videos, and the aperture value has not been declared by the company either. The technology will be shown at MWC 2019, which starts next month and if we’re lucky, it will commercialize and should be found in the company’s F19 and F19 Pro smartphone models.
Huawei also mentioned in an interview that it is developing a flagship handset touting a quadruple camera system and it will be able to achieve 10x optical zoom. Looking at the imaging prowess of the Mate 20 Pro, which supports 5x optical zoom, we’re inclined to believe that these technologies will be widely available for high-end phones in the near future.
OPPO’s 5x optical zoom prototype never made it to the market most likely because it would have been costly to produce and might not have yielded satisfactory results. The Chinese OEM might have learned from its mistakes and decided to develop a more capable iteration of a lossless zoom camera technology, which we’ll hopefully see in February.
About the author: Omar Sohail is a reporter and analyst for Wccftech's mobile section, specializing in the technology and business of the mobile industry. His expertise lies in the intricate hardware supply chain, covering developments in semiconductor manufacturing, chip lithography, and camera sensor technology.
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