Apple will hold a special launch event on September 7th, where the company is expected to announce its new iPhone 14 lineup. In typical Apple fashion, the tech giant didn’t say much in its iPhone 14 event invitation. The invitation describes the September 7th event as “Far” with an image of the Apple logo floating in space, hinting at improvements made to the iPhone’s camera. The teaser words “far” can mean anything, but they open up the possibility of using a periscope lens on at least one of the top iPhone models scheduled to launch in 2022. But what is a periscope lens and why has this time come? for Apple to increase zoom capabilities on iPhone?
Optical zoom vs digital zoom
Very often companies rely on digital zoom, a software method that crops and scales an image. This is an easy way to improve image quality without having to adjust the camera’s optics, but it often results in blur and pixelation despite the use of computational photography techniques. However, in the case of optical zoom, the camera’s optics are used to adjust the image to a higher optical resolution. The downside is that putting optical zoom into a smartphone can make the device bulky and heavy. Remember Samsung Galaxy K Zoom? It had a 10x optical zoom, but a true optical zoom lens made the device extremely heavy. Also, the implementation of the optical zoom lens was a little off.
iphone 7 plus was the first iPhone with 2x optical zoom. On the iPhone 13 Pro and iPhone 13 Pro Max, users get 3x optical zoom and 2x optical zoom when taking photos (a total of 6x optical zoom range). Keep in mind that fitting a high optical zoom lens into a device as thin as the iPhone is very difficult. For this reason, current generation iPhone models are limited to 2x optical zoom. A periscope zoom lens can change the zooming capabilities of a smartphone.
The periscope lens means more optical zoom for the iPhone. (Image credit: Anuj Bhatia/Indian Express)
What is a periscope lens?
To better understand this concept, consider how periscope – a word associated with submarines – works. The periscope is a rectangular viewing tube with viewing windows at the top and bottom. Both ends of the periscope structure are fixed at an angle of 45 degrees. The periscope camera works similarly to submarine periscopes. Instead of light entering the camera directly through the lens and then onto the camera, the periscope system takes incoming light and reflects it at a 90-degree angle through the lens array onto the sensor without making the phone fatter. In this way, more than 5x lossless magnification can be achieved that would otherwise not be possible with a conventional lens barrel.
Which phones have periscope cameras?
Definitely, periscope lens camera technology can greatly enhance the camera experience, and the best example is the Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra, which is equipped with a second 10x optical 10MP telephoto lens on f/4.9 with 1.12 µm pixels. In fact, the Galaxy S22 Ultra, like its predecessor, can reach 100x space zoom. High-end phones from Oppo, Vivo, and Huawei also feature high-zoom cameras. It’s no surprise that a periscope zoom lens is considered an important selling point for high-end smartphones. Even though not every user understands what periscope camera technology can achieve, there are advantages to far zoom cameras on phones. Enthusiasts and photographers are the main audience that would like to have a phone with a periscope zoom lens.