Other iPhone 14 Pro OmniVision Camera concept ; Liquid Lens Camera! DSLR killer!

[BluMac]

Recent rumors say that Samsung is working on a continous zoom camera system which would be a killer for the iPhone .
But here's a concept camera for the iPhone 14 , which if implemented would cement Apple as the smartphone camera king.

This concept camera makes use of liquid lens technology which enables us to change the focal length of the camera by changing the shape of the lens. This means we can use the same camera to capture photos at different focal lengths. In addition liquid lenses are capable of rapid focusing. One such liquid lens is only about 1-2mm thick so two of them can be stacked on top of each other to achieve 2.5mm to 250mm focal length. This means the lens can variably adjust from macro (2.5mm) to ultrawide (15mm) to wide(25mm) to 10x Telephoto(250mm) .
This means we need to have only one rear camera for the phone !

This superior lens system would be paired with a top notch 48 MP 1" sensor to create an absolute monster camera setup .

So instead of spending your budget on developing and making good several cameras, we can make one Excellent camera.

In addition the Lidar and flash and mic would also be present. They will be placed in the camera square in such a way that the large camera would be in the center and the Lidar, flash and mic in the corners of the square .

Here are the specs of the concept camera

48 MP (12 MP) 1" Sensor
2.5mm to 250mm variable focal length
f/1.4 aperture
10x Optical Zoom
LIquid Lens Tech
Sensor Shift Stabilisation

Pros :
◆Superior camera system with continuous optical zoom, and all focal lengths
◆Less manufatcuring cost due to only one camera ( R&D cost may be high )
◆Less internal space taken up. ( this setup will surely fit into the square of iPhone Pro Max )
◆(Possibly) No camera bump : since lens elements are replaced with two 1-2mm lenses

CONS:
◆Can use only one focal length at a time

Any other pros and cons ?
What do you think about this concept

 

[aRByJr]

This isn’t really new technology, Microsoft had a patent for a liquid filled optical filter camera for their surface back a few years ago, but even farther back in the 1950’s there was a concept for a liquid filled lens element,
you just have to think that seeing this concept has been floating around for over 65 years if it was at all an feasible it would have made it in to production by now, being a photographer i think i would rather just stick to glass elements…

 

[maerz001]

Great concept. But physics are the boarder.
you speak of a 1mm lens in front of a 1“(25,6mm) sensor. This doesn’t work. You need the curved geometry to bend and focus the light.
Thats why even a fixed glas lens sticks out a few cm on a DSLR.

Just as realistic as the concept of a battery which never runs flat

 

[aRByJr]

Also, Samsung has been sitting on a patent for a liquid filled lens sine ~2010, but they have stalled and shelved that project,
Xiaomi is the company that announced back in the end of March that they were going to be releasing a smartphone with the liquid filled lens, so with them being one of those Chinese companies most people in North America may not really get a chance to see how they actually work, we’ll get to read about it and hear second hand accounts of how it works, well that if it even makes it to market see many others have already played with the idea…

 

[aRByJr]

The Xiaomi liquid filled lens will also not be the primary lens, the phone will have a normal 108 megapixel main camera, a 13 megapixel wide angle camera and then the 8 megapixel liquid camera that will have a 3-x zoom (up to 30x hybrid digital and optical zoom) lens but also a macro mode where that will focus to down to 3 centimeters,

A macro feature, i could really like that…

It also says that Huawei is working on a liquid filled lens, but again stuck in the Chinese market and most of us in North America will only get to read about this concept if it ever makes it to market

 

[RRC]

Even a 1” sensor isn’t going to touch a high end DSLR or mirrorless camera for quality. Still far too small. The Sony RX100 basically uses that, and it’s not even close to what a APSC sensor can achieve.

 

[BluMac]

What if we use a smaller sensor ?

Even a 1” sensor isn’t going to touch a high end DSLR or mirrorless camera for quality. Still far too small. The Sony RX100 basically uses that, and it’s not even close to what a APSC sensor can achieve.

 

[aRByJr]

What if we use a smaller sensor ?

It’s still not going to be close to the quality of a DSLR or mirrorless or a real camera for that matter,
Huawei makes smartphones that come with Leica camera/lens units, but compare the quality of one of the Huawei to a real Leica and they are not even close, even if the smartphone image sensor was slightly bigger your still not going to get quality close to a real Leica…

 

[Tsepz]

The Xiaomi liquid filled lens will also not be the primary lens, the phone will have a normal 108 megapixel main camera, a 13 megapixel wide angle camera and then the 8 megapixel liquid camera that will have a 3-x zoom (up to 30x hybrid digital and optical zoom) lens but also a macro mode where that will focus to down to 3 centimeters,

A macro feature, i could really like that…

It also says that Huawei is working on a liquid filled lens, but again stuck in the Chinese market and most of us in North America will only get to read about this concept if it ever makes it to market

Yep, the Xiaomi Mi Mix Fold: https://www.gsmarena.com/xiaomi_mi_mix_fold-10817.php
Seems it’s already in the market in China rocking a 8 MP, 80mm (telephoto/macro), liquid lens with PDAF and 3x optical zoom.

Mr.Mobile has a review on it to:

 

[BluMac]

OK so let's remove the 'DSLR Killer' part and 'no camera bump'. And let's use a slightly smaller sensor .

Still that would pit Apple as the smartphone camera king ?

Now does this concept look feasible?

 

[BluMac]

I said two 1-2mm thick liquid lenses which would at maximum add up to 4mm thickness. Enough to fit in a phone with a slightly thick camera bump

Great concept. But physics are the boarder.
you speak of a 1mm lens in front of a 1“(25,6mm) sensor. This doesn’t work. You need the curved geometry to bend and focus the light.
Thats why even a fixed glas lens sticks out a few cm on a DSLR.

Just as realistic as the concept of a battery which never runs flat

 

[maerz001]

I said two 1-2mm thick liquid lenses which would at maximum add up to 4mm thickness. Enough to fit in a phone with a slightly thick camera bump

But optically it doesn’t work with a 1” sensor.
you need a thick lens and the space in between for the light to focus. Otherwise it just does as much as a glas protector

 

[Okta]

There will never be a DSLR killer until Physics changes. Phones were compact camera killers for a reason. Premium lenses will never be replaced, it's a physics problem, not a technology problem.

For example, how will you get a photo that is the equivalent of a 600mm f4 or even a cheap 500mm f5.6? You not only need the physical size of the lens to give you the range you need the sensor's size to give you the depth of field.

 

[Tsepz]

OK so let's remove the 'DSLR Killer' part and 'no camera bump'. And let's use a slightly smaller sensor .

Still that would pit Apple as the smartphone camera king ?

Now does this concept look feasible?

I don’t think there will ever be a “smartphone camera king” unless 1 company literally owns and keeps the IP to themselves and the only company that could possibly do that is Sony, but they sell their best stuff and may do some custom jobs for companies like Apple, Samsung and Huawei.

With that being said, all these smartphone manufacturers have slightly different approaches which lead to each being strong in some area and weaker in another. I think Apple have struck the best balance of quality of image and video, where a company like Huawei leans heavily on Camera image quality in both light and dark scenes and zoom, but are not that strong in video especially video stabilization. Samsung seem to try lean heavily on image quality to but also get pretty good video but not quite up there with Apple. That’s my opinion.

This industry also moves way too fast to declare a “King”, Apple drops a phone tomorrow and 2 weeks later there are 10 more new android phones out for its blood lol. I literally cannot keep up with where camera performance is, I just know I get great results with my 11 Pro Max and Mate 40 Pro, both do a banging job for what I need.

 

[aRByJr]

…This industry also moves way too fast to declare a “King”…

I kind of disagree with this statement, it wasn’t until this generation iPhone that Apple actually advanced this same 12 megapixel camera that they have been playing with since around the iPhone 6,
When Microsoft was running Nokia cameras were moving forward, but after that partnership dissolved the advancement of smartphone cameras went back to moving at their snails pace…

 

[The Game 161]

Micro mode needs to be improved

Here’s the 12 pro max

And here is the s21 ultra

 

[aRByJr]

Micro mode needs to be improved

Here’s the 12 pro max

And here is the s21 ultra

Totally agree!!!
The iPhone cameras need a macro mode…