OPPO today announced new technology that it says will allow for up to 10x lossless zoom in its smartphone cameras. This is done via a three-camera setup, including an ultra-wide angle lens with an equivalent focal length of 15.9mm, a standard primary lens, and a telephoto lens with an equivalent focal length of 159mm.
OPPO's 10x lossless zoom design makes use of a periscope design where the angle of the telephoto lens is rotated by 90 degrees. This allows for a deeper zoom without making a phone much thicker. A periscope-style prism is used to adjust the path of the light entering the camera to match that of the lens.
For comparison, standard smartphone telephoto lenses typically provide 2x or 3x optical zoom when compared to their primary camera. Some manufacturers - such as Huawei - use these lenses in combination with software tricks to achieve 5x hybrid zoom. At this stage, we're not certain as to how much software is involved in OPPO's setup.
It is however worth noting the 10x moniker does seem to refer to the amount of zoom between the telephoto lens and ultra-wide angle lens, rather than the telephoto lens and primary lenses. Most other manufacturers use their phone's primary lens as the baseline for claims regarding zoom capabilities. OPPO hasn't confirmed the equivalent focal length of its primary lens.
The company unveiled similar technology for 5x lossless zoom at the Mobile World Congress tradeshow in 2016. This used a 3x optical zoom lens and software to achieve a 5x image. It never ended up in a commercially available phone.
OPPO will further showcase its 10x lossless zoom technology at this year's Mobile World Congress at the end of February. Hopefully the tech actually ends up in a smartphone this time around
Alex Choros
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