Oppo retractable camera prototype showcased at Inno Day 2021

14 December 2021
The fancy camera tech should trickle down to an Oppo phone eventually.

Sort by:

Good stuff

    What is "One downside is that the fancy tech is only available once the camera retracts so it's useless in its stationary position." supposed to mean? The sentence doesn't really make sense.

      • ?
      • Anonymous
      • TL%
      • 15 Dec 2021

      rizki1, 15 Dec 2021People still use real cameras at my place, wedding photos, ... moreAs a long time DSLR user, I haven't carried one around for 3-4 years. It's just heavy carrying it around with about 1-2 lens. I know I'll get better pictures with it but I want to be able to move around more freely. Now that smartphones can take decent pictures, I just don't see the need to carry a DSLR around anymore. I just see DSLRs for professionals, semi-professionals and hobbyists now and I am none of those.

        • D
        • AnonD-909757
        • pZV
        • 15 Dec 2021

        rizki1, 15 Dec 2021Look how, all camera phones are above $1000 even $2000. I w... moreBecause they make a huge margin and always go crazy on features not related to camera.
        To any "why they don't do x?" question, just remember :
        Why would anyone make any efforts into making any product other than the same over and over again when the product is basically a need anyway and they'll have to buy it AND that all you year from the community is hate and hate again for things clearly meant for those people but who react as if it was the only option available or it they were forced to buy it.
        Don't like small phones? Don't buy one.
        Don't like thick phones? Don't buy one.
        Prefer Bluetooth over 3.5mm Jack? Just don't use the Jack and use the Bluetooth instead.
        Don't like moving parts? Just buy any of the 99% of phone on the market who don't have any more than the usual.

        Etc, it is common sense, why would anyone complain about something that they don't have to deal with?
        Funny part is that when people like me complain about punch hole being everywhere and preventing from having other options, I am the "bad guy", but the guy who say "I don't like it, even if it will be on a single phone, it serves no purposes to me, so it shouldn't be made at all" is totally right, like, what?
        So, yeah, of course it was bound to happen, of course they would endup only sticking with only a single design and not even considering anything anymore for the user and the community, as long as it sell.

        That's why every single other markets have diversity and the smartphone one doesn't.
        Regardless what, toothbrushes, nail clippers, forks, clothes, sunglasses, cars, toilet paper, watches, whatever it is, you name it, except for stuff that are bound to a single design because of physic limitation, every single thing you can think about have a ton of diversity, from super rare to the most common, there is everything for everyone to be found.
        There are niche's niche's niche's niche's items, and even brands living only out of those and being profitable.
        From the biggest industry like car, to really small things, everything have variations, options, etc, except the smartphone market.

        Smartphones nowadays are basically all the same, almost all of them have either a punch hole or a teardrop notch, if it is a flagship it has curved edges otherwise it is flat, camera quality and variety (more different lens) is dependent on how powerful and full of options the phone have, most non-flagship and entry have 2Mp, most high end to midrange have no more 3.5mm jack, they are all around the same size.
        Etc, etc, etc...

        If this market had the same diversity as the others, we would have amazing phones from all the major brands.
        From unique phones like the Xiaomi Mi Mix Alpha to modern equivalent of those old huge camera phones, some super powerful but stripped down so they are cheap like the Pocophone F1, some high end that doesn't necessarily have many camera, some middlerange that have amazing camera with dual periscope Telephoto a Wide, an UltraWide, a ToF and all that, midrange with curved edges, phones of all range with and without the Jack.
        Although, there is a general rule of thumb for features like Jack and Curved edge :
        If it can be perfectly ignored, like the Jack, except if there is a good reason, keep it on as long as it is still used.
        If it can't be ignored, then it shouldn't be too common.

        If CPU were like smartphones, the entry would only come with an integrated radiator as a cooling and the most powerful one would only have an integrated waterblock.
        If the car market did the same thing, Hatchback and smaller cars would all be underpowered and have no options and driving aids at all (not even power steering) and larger cars like sedans would obligatorily come with all options by default and only be available with extremely powerful engines, and above that you'd have all brands making the exact same design, like Porsche, but no luxury sedan.
        And there would be no other designs, no pickup, no SUV, no minivan, etc, except by some obscure Chinese brands that no one would buy from outside of China (think about Infinix, Centric, Elephone, Techno, etc).
        Thankfully, only the smartphone market is that awful.

          Nick Tegrataker, 15 Dec 2021Here's a question for you then: How hard is it for you... morePeople still use real cameras at my place, wedding photos, planes, nature, vlogging etc even though camera phones are already a trend from Nokia 808, 1020, Zenfone zoom, galaxy K zoom, And this is a mi 11 ultra, some Sony $2000 and this crazy retractable Oppo. Will it change? I don't know but these ultra tech camera phones have been out since early 2010.

            AnonD-909757, 15 Dec 2021Guess what, my Poco F2 Pro did cost me 300€ used or would h... moreLook how, all camera phones are above $1000 even $2000. I wonder why manufacturers don't make real camera phones? No need fast processor unless modified for needs camera only. I think memory, big ram, 120hz, etc is also not necessary but it must support microsd cause we don't need for gaming.

              • P
              • P C M
              • PGS
              • 15 Dec 2021

              N

                • ?
                • Anonymous
                • 3L4
                • 15 Dec 2021

                AnonD-909757, 15 Dec 2021Guess what, my Poco F2 Pro did cost me 300€ used or would h... moreYou can buy a k30 pro zoom camera for $20 and replace it on your f2 pro, if you really think that you need it that much.

                  rizki1, 15 Dec 2021when it comes to cameras, people on the web here are very b... moreHere's a question for you then: How hard is it for you to buy a camera body, spend hundreds or even thousands of dollars on lenses separately, carry them around with you and switch them on the go depending on the scenario, when your priority is not absolutely the highest image quality that wouldn't fall apart when printed out on a large canvas, but rather portability and ease of use?

                    It's great to see the physical zoom mechanism idea like in the 2014 Samsung Galaxy K zoom made a comeback in modern days. I know it will be a while before we can get a compact 10x physical zoom mechanism, but this is a great start.

                      • D
                      • AnonD-909757
                      • pZV
                      • 15 Dec 2021

                      rizki1, 15 Dec 2021when it comes to cameras, people on the web here are very b... moreGuess what, my Poco F2 Pro did cost me 300€ used or would have costed me 400€ new (now the prices have skyrocketed for new ones).
                      And had they put a good enough 2x or 3x Telephoto on it like the K30 Pro Zoom, rather than the useless 2Mp depth, and use the same 8Mp sensor for the TeleMacro, it would have covered all photography need I could come across.

                      It takes little space (like any smartphone) and I carry it with me everytime I get out, (like most people).
                      Buying a good camera mean a budget of at least 300€ if I want a DSLR, not even counting the lenses nor accessories here, and we are not talking about the space it all take nor about how fragile it can all be, and how people tend to really want to steal those, because some can cost a lot, but many thiefs won't know if it is a cheap one or not, and since it is much more cumbersome than a phone, there are much more opportunities to get it stolen.

                      So yeah, I would happily pay an extra 100€ to 200€ for my phone and get better capabilities and be able to take a great picture whenever I feel to without having it planned ahead, because I find a good or rare occasion, rather than buying a camera that I'll only want to take for specific moments and therefor miss a lot of opportunities because it isn't practical to carry around.
                      Do you see yourself carrying a camera to go to the grocery store or to a dentist appointment?
                      You could find a lot of interesting things in the way to and from there, from a beautiful rare old car, a magnificent Maine coon cat, a fantastic sky, a street artist doing something amazing, etc.

                      That's why.

                      Now, with good tech evolution, we could get smartphones to have great setup, such as :
                      *Main (Wide) + UltraWide + Telephoto that can also do hardware Portrait and Macro.
                      *Same, with Telephoto having a true zoom (variable FL) to get even more versatile*
                      *Zoom that get from UltraWide to Wide + Periscope Zoom that get from Wide to 120mm+.
                      In all cases, it allows to ditch useless lenses and camera while gaining more capabilities and having a better quality.
                      Who would NOT want that?

                      I TOTALLY agree that not ALL phones need to be camera centric, that's part of the diversity I often talk about, a phone like the Pocophone F1 that had a minimalistic camera and everything put into power is a great thing that is now missing, but so does midrange with great camera (you don't need to buy a limousine to have comfort options like AC or heating seats or good audio).
                      But we definitely need some phones with powerful camera setup.
                      A smartphone is a technological hub nowaday, it is supposed to be the "one device to replace them all" that can do anything from surfing the web, calling, taking pictures, navigating.
                      I mean, we could say that you don't need a phone with satnav as you could buy a SATNAV, nor to be able to read music as there are MP3 readers, nor to be able to connect to internet as there are laptops and tablets.

                        when it comes to cameras, people on the web here are very busy in the comments, what's wrong with camera phones all this time? And how hard is it to buy a real camera?

                          • A
                          • An0n
                          • U}}
                          • 15 Dec 2021

                          Interesting, but then again I remember the galaxy camera... I don't know whether this is will become popular.

                            Cool so release it on a phone.

                              • ?
                              • Anonymous
                              • fk{
                              • 15 Dec 2021

                              Anonymous, 14 Dec 2021 like those oneplus 7t pro didn't had their camera sto... moreI have had a OnePlus 7 Pro for two years now. The only thing that went out was the screen during the height of the pandemic. Replaced it and it's working flawlessly since then. I'm actually never trading it off until there's a new flagship from Samsung without a "hole" in my screen, regardless of the solution for that.

                                Oppo hitting hard on camera tech. 50mm a bit long but really good for portraits. I guess the technique or lens has more potential for larger viewing angles on larger sensors

                                  • D
                                  • AnonD-909757
                                  • pZV
                                  • 15 Dec 2021

                                  Anonymous, 15 Dec 2021Small sensor is behind small lens. When I say backgroun... moreI thought you meant that it can't blur background of close subjects.
                                  Lens size isn't relevant, the ratio is what matter.

                                  Because there are two distinct things about focus :
                                  *Focus distances (minimum and maximum distances at which you can focus with a setup).
                                  *Depth of field (how deep is the area in focus).

                                  Any lens that allow you to focus to infinity (like Telephoto) but are capable of focusing on close subjects, like 1m away, will be able to give a blurry background ONLY IF they can get their depth of field shallow enough.

                                  The issue is, camera's lens have an iris rather than a fixed aperture for most of them, and this is what control the depth of field, smartphones doesn't.
                                  There are ways to do that without an iris : through lenses alone or with lenses + inner pinhole.
                                  But if the camera is capable of delivering a shallow enough depth of field at closer focus distances, then it will perfectly do background blur regardless of the size.

                                  A Varifocal could be used in such cases where from 1x to 2x (50mm equivalent) the focus distance is short and the depth of field is shallow, and while the focal length increase, the focus distance drift quickly toward maximum focus distance but with the depth of field increasing.
                                  There isn't much use case where a Parfocal would be more useful on a smartphone than a Varifocal.
                                  The only other way (other than an iris) would be to use a periscope that has a lens group dedicated to depth of field partially independent of the focus group (partially, as they need to act together still).
                                  But the size of the lenses and sensor won't change anything as long as the ratio stay the same.
                                  A Full Frame can't do things an APS-C let alone an APS-H can't, it just gets more quality.

                                  Edit:
                                  Also, the Sony lens you talk about as a F1.8 to F22 and not a fixed F1.8 :
                                  https://www.sony.fr/electronics/objectifs-appareil-photo/sel135f18gm/specifications

                                    • ?
                                    • Anonymous
                                    • 8Kf
                                    • 15 Dec 2021

                                    Anonymous, 14 Dec 2021So it's need more time to be complexLet's suppose that a module with 1/3" sensor behind 50mm lens has 3,5mm thickness.
                                    If you use larger sensor behind 50mm lens, the module will be thicker than 3,5mm.

                                    This is why the 3rd camera is always the smaller.

                                      • ?
                                      • Anonymous
                                      • 8Kf
                                      • 15 Dec 2021

                                      Anonymous, 14 Dec 2021Retractable without continuous zoom? What is happening here?It is not zoom.
                                      It hides the bump to avoid damage if user drops the phone.

                                        • ?
                                        • Anonymous
                                        • 8Kf
                                        • 15 Dec 2021

                                        AnonD-909757, 14 Dec 2021Wow, wow, wow... I am really sorry to tell you that, but y... moreSmall sensor is behind small lens.

                                        When I say background blur, it is not about putting phone 10cm away from the object. Nothing to do with macro.

                                        You can point the camera to someone 5m away and you will not have blur unless you use the "Portrait Mode" that will use software to create very flawed fake blur.
                                        You do not have same photo without using the "portrait mode".

                                        The best lens for portrait is Sony GM 135mm f1.8. Does not matter if subject is 1, 5 or 15m away. There will be blur. The periscope of Mi 11 Ultra is equivalent to FF f22. Uncapable of doing same.

                                        If you get this same Sony GM 135 1.8 and change the aperture to f4.0, f8.0 or f16, the amount of blur decreases.

                                          2 of 3