Smartphone cameras are already famous nowadays but they have some way to go before they can match the latest mirrorless cameras. One main limitation that smartphone cameras have is that they have traditionally fixed focal lengths. To get around this, device makers have turned towards multi-camera solutions for providing a wider field-of-view with ultra-wide-angle cameras and narrower field-of-view with cameras having fixed telephoto lenses. The limitation means that the secondary and tertiary cameras have poor optics in terms of aperture and resulting ability for capturing light and small sensors in general. Traditional mirrorless and DSLR cameras have one camera sensor and interchangeable lenses that has variable focal lengths. A few camera-specialized smartphones in the past like the Galaxy K Zoom had physical optical zoom technology with retractable lenses and it never became famous on mainstream phones. This might change the future as now Xiaomi has introduced the latest self-developed Retractable Wide-Aperture Lens Technology after taking inspiration from traditional camera designs.
The company announced at Weibo that their retractable wide aperture lens technology has a retractable optical structure that has been designed to compactly lodge within the phone and can extend out when required. The design will allow the retractable telescopic camera to have a bigger aperture for increasing light amount by 300% and Xiaomi specifically did not provide an f-number. It showcases better performance in portraits and night photography compared to available camera structures of today.
Xiaomi says that the technology incorporates a new image stabilization technology which provides a larger anti-shake angle that makes images more stable and increases sharpness by 20%. The company says that it will continue to integrate the professional imaging technologies to smartphone photography and bring professional photography to smartphone users and add it to the list of imaging technology breakthroughs.
The lens extends from the body of the phone like point-and-shoot cameras that allows it to physically move in and out. Xiaomi has not specified a zoom range for the technology and the guaranteed benefit for such technology is to provide the ability to do real optical zoom without relying at a secondary camera. Xiaomi does not state this specifically that this will provide the ability to physically zoom at subjects.
Including this technology in a future Xiaomi phone might allow the company to have a single camera instead of dual and triple cameras because the need of a secondary telephoto camera with poor optics and small sensor is neglected. This would also have an adverse impact at the thickness of the phone as the lens has to extend out physically and this is why until now, device makers have not been keen to offer retractable zoom technology on smartphones.
Xiaomi has not said when the new Retractable Wide-Aperture Lens Technology will be available at a commercial phone. Its too late to expect it to feature at the company’s upcoming Mi 11 flagship but if the company manages to mass produce it with great execution, it can result in big image quality enhancements mainly in zoom and low light photography.