Xiaomi today teased a new telemacro camera lens for smartphones with a retractable lens that will allow one to take better portrait and low-light photos. The new sensor features a 120mm-equivalent retractable wide-aperture lens along with improved stabilization. Similar to many point-and-shoot cameras, the new 120mm lens retracts when not in use and extends while taking a picture.
As per Xiaomi, the telemacro lens can capture up to 300% more light than traditional sensors and take sharper photos as well. The retractable design allows the company to fit in a bigger sensor and cover a range of focal lengths which is not possible with existing telephoto camera sensors. And by adding a macro lens to it, Xiaomi is basically removing the need for a dedicated macro camera as seen on many budget and mid-range phones launched this year.
Inspired by traditional camera designs, we now introduce you the 120mm-equivalent retractable wide-aperture lens! Optimized with bigger aperture and upgraded stabilizer, you can now capture better portraits and low light images. 📸#InnovationForEveryone pic.twitter.com/VxzdlH24hI
— Xiaomi (@Xiaomi) November 10, 2020
The teaser from Xiaomi shows how the sensor juts out from the device to focus on the subject properly. Xiaomi"s teaser does not contain any other details and there"s no word on when, if at all, the company will debut this retractable telemacro camera lens on its smartphones.
Xiaomi"s decision to go with a retractable telephoto camera sensor for higher zoom levels on smartphones is different from the likes of Huawei and Samsung which are using a periscope-based solution to offer 5x-10x optical zoom on their devices. It will be interesting to see how Xiaomi"s retractable lens solution works in real life.