Oppo has showcased its new dual-camera module called “5x Dual Camera Zoom” technology at Mobile World Congress (MWC) 2017, featuring 5x lossless zoom.

According to the Chinese tech company, the dual-camera is inspired by submarine periscopes. It works by combining wide-angle and telephoto lenses in a periscope-style structure, giving the lenses more space for a deep zoom, without them sticking out the back of the phone.

Like Us on Facebook

The new dual-camera module of Oppo is a product of a joint partnership with Corephotonics, an Israeli startup that also displayed a camera module called Hawkeye Camera at MWC 2016. The original patent was licensed from Corephotonics, which worked on the same principles as its new tech. Oppo's engineers worked on the project for more than a year. 

“We are definitely putting a stake in the ground in terms of technological breakthroughs for mobile photography. The dual cameras with wide-angled and telephoto lens, together with the periscope-style construction, our image fusion technology and the Optical Image Stabilization, edges mobile photography even closer to what digital cameras are capable of doing. Our 5x Dual-Camera Zoom will again set yet another technological standard that others will emulate,” said Sky Li, VP, Oppo, MD of International Mobile Business & President of Oppo India.

The new module is only 5.7mm (0.22 inches) thick. The periscope design accommodates a slightly longer telephoto lens in its slim form factor, diverting the light 90 degrees to the sensor. As a result, it focuses light onto an image sensor after it travels through a prism. The lens features a focal length 3 times longer compared to the primary wide-angle camera. 

This is not the first time that Oppo showed off its new camera technology and modules. It has introduced 206-degree rotating camera for the Oppo N1, the first smartphone to have 16MP front-facing camera which can be found in Oppo F1 Plus as well. The Chinese tech firm did not disclose which smartphone will debut the new “5x Dual Camera Zoom” technology.

TagsOppo, MWC, MWC 2017, 5x Dual Camera Zoom, dual-camera module, 5x lossless zoom