Chinese smartphone company Oppo said last week that it was going to show off its new 5x camera technology at the Mobile World Congress 2017 in Barcelona. It officially announced its “5x Dual Camera Zoom” technology today. It didn’t unveil a new smartphone with this technology, mind you, but it goes without saying that one will arrive in due time which will showcase just what this new technology can do. Oppo says that this new camera technology has been designed to allow for 5x zoom in thin smartphones, which means it’s going to leave camera bumps in the past.
The 5X zoom shows a much clearer zoom photo. Not sure why the camera made the G6 so blue (?)
Oppo’s 5x Dual Camera Zoom technology addresses vertical height constraints by opting for a periscope-style lens array which runs horizontally along the top of the device. The system seems to be based on around a secondary longer prime lines much like you get on the iPhone 7 Plus. It achieves the intended objective by shrinking the module size while increasing the degree of image magnification at the same time.
The telephoto lens has optical image stabilization and is offset by 90 degrees, it focuses light on the image sensor after it has passed through a prism. The lens has a focal length that’s 3 times longer than the primary wide-angle camera. Oppo says that allows for lossless 5x zoom enabled by a “proprietary image fusion technology for digital zoom.”
Oppo also adds that this new camera module is only 5.7mm thick which means that it can easily be incorporated into smartphones without needing a big camera bump. Oppo is yet to confirm which of its smartphones will be the first to feature this camera technology and which OEMs will be sourcing this module from it for their upcoming handsets.
