Oppo, one of the best-seller smartphone brands in China, just doesn’t introduce new smartphones but also brings along some innovative technology with such releases. A couple of years ago, Oppo released the N1 and N3 which had rotating camera module. That is when I started believing, Oppo to be the smartphone brand that thinks out of the box while designing camera. This MWC, Oppo proved me right again with their new prototype model of smartphone that featured 5X optical zoom capability. If you like 2X Optical zoom in iPhone 7plus then you’re gonna love this.
How Oppo managed to get 5X Optical Zoom on a smartphone??
The shortest answer will be, Oppo managed to get 5X Optical Zoom with a dual camera module. But this dual camera setup is pretty different than what we’re familiar with. That is why Oppo has registered 50+ patents just for this dual camera module. This set of lenses were engineered just like a periscope to achieve 5X Optical Zoom.
According to Oppo, this dual camera setup uses a unique periscope-style structure to divert light through a prism and into a telephoto lens nested inside the smartphone, set at a 90° angle to a rear-facing wide-angle lens. As opposed to the traditional placement of telephoto lens and wide angle lens side-by-side, this innovative placement has made it possible to get 5X optical zoom from a module that is only 5.7mm thick.
When it comes to zooming, the stability is always a huge issue. And, Oppo seems to have kept it in mind while designing this module. Therefore, this module comes with newer Optical Image Stabilization. Here, both the telephoto lens and the prism are capable of producing mobility to encounter the shaky hand movements.
What will the results be like?
The theories don’t give as much of overview as the samples would do. So, from the Oppo’s official site, we’ve gathered few samples that are showing side by side comparison of iPhone 7plus 2X zoom and Oppo 5X zoom.
Oppo has uploaded a video of zoom test on it’s official YouTube channel. In this test video, iPhone 7plus with 2X and Oppo 5X zoom prototype are placed side-by-side and photos were taken. The stability in Oppo’s new dual camera module is also explained with respective samples. Here’s that video from Oppo:
Verdict:
It’ll be safe to say this technology can be noted as a milestone for achieving optical zoom in smartphones. Digital Zoom in a smartphone camera is all about cropping and enhancements. What is real and worthy is the Optical Zoom and with the release of iPhone 7plus, just a 2X zoom looked ridiculously amazing. But now, Oppo seemed to have proved itself to be a winner with a 5X optical zoom in a phone. We can expect Oppo to release a commercial product with such capability by the end of this year. How excited are you to see a phone with 5X zooming capability? Let us know in the comments down below.
