Oppo shows off 5x optical camera zoom
Oppo’s plan to lead the way in camera photography rests on a periscope lens.
At Mobile World Congress, most vendors are busy releasing new handsets to market in order to stand out amidst the relentless hype. Oppo has instead used its MWC media launch to instead talk technology, and specifically camera technology.
It has announced that it has developed a 5x optical zoom sensor array for future smartphones that uses a dual lens array with one wide angle and one telephoto lens.
The telephoto lens in the array has a tiny periscope-inspired array which measures in at only 5.7mm thick. Light entering the lens goes through a 90 degree aligned prism in order to provide a 3x actual optical zoom. 3x isn’t 5x, however, with the final two degrees of zoom coming through a proprietary Oppo algorithm. According to the company’s claims, the end effect is a lossless 5x optical zoom.
Oppo did not disclose when it expects to release actual phones with the 5x optical zoom feature present, but it’s a fair bet that its next flagship phone will come with it.
