OPPO shows smartphone with camera that slides out at the back

OPPO shows a teaser of a smartphone with a camera on the back with the lens extending. Details from the video indicate that it is not a zoom lens. OPPO seems to want to use the technology to combine a telephoto lens with a larger sensor.

OPPO talks about a ‘home-developed retractable camera’. The device says the inscription 1/1.56″ and 50mm f/2.4. That refers to the sensor size and the properties of the camera lens respectively. It is probably a telephoto lens with a 50mm equivalent, which is usually referred to in smartphones as a lens with 2x zoom.

The sensor size of 1/1.56″ has a surface of about 50 square millimeters and that is not remarkably large for smartphones, but for use in combination with a telephoto lens. The largest sensors in current smartphones have a surface of almost 100 mm² , but used with primary cameras that have a lens with a focal length equivalent of about 25mm.

For telephoto lenses with a longer focal length, manufacturers should use a smaller sensor, otherwise phones would become too thick. One solution is the use of a periscopic construction, in which the sensor is placed vertically in the device. That too is only possible with a relatively small sensor.

OPPO’s retractable camera could therefore be used to make a telephoto camera with a relatively large sensor, which can provide better image quality. It is not yet known whether the manufacturer actually plans to release a device with the technology. OPPO is showing the teaser ahead of its Innoday on December 14. At that event, the manufacturer shows new techniques.

OPPO regularly shows concepts of smartphone techniques without announcing concrete products. Earlier this year, the Chinese manufacturer showed another periscopic optical zoom lens with 85-200mm equivalent for smartphones.