Xiaomi 17 Ultra will get a 200MP continuous optical zoom periscope camera
By ForGeeks
This week, Xiaomi confirmed that the Xiaomi 17 Ultra flagship smartphone will be unveiled in China on Christmas Day, while also lifting the veil on some of the camera specs. Now, the company has announced another important detail: the device will feature an advanced periscopic camera.
Xiaomi announced on Weibo that the Xiaomi 17 Ultra will get a 200-megapixel camera with continuous optical zoom. This means that the lenses and other elements inside the module physically move around to provide optical zoom and consistent image quality at different zoom levels. A similar principle has long been used in classic cameras.
This approach differs markedly from most telephoto lenses in smartphones. Typically, mobile cameras have one fixed level of optical zoom, such as 2x, 3x, 4x, or 5x, and further zoom is achieved through software processing, including cropping and super-resolution algorithms. As a result, image quality is most often degraded when zooming in this way.
With that said, don’t expect the Xiaomi 17 Ultra to have too wide of an optical zoom range. The 200MP periscopic camera offers continuous magnification between 75mm and 100mm, which corresponds to about 3.1x-4.1x. For zoom beyond 100mm, Xiaomi will still use software-based methods. In comparison, the Sony Xperia 1 VII offers continuous zoom from 3.5x to 7.1x, but uses a 12-megapixel sensor.
Sony Xperia 1 VII offers a continuous zoom from 3.5x to 7.1x, but uses a 12-megapixel sensor.
This solution is nonetheless a serious advantage for the Xiaomi 17 Ultra. It gives users more flexibility when shooting portraits and choosing the composition. The high resolution of the sensor also allows for about 8.2x zoom without any loss of quality.
The Xiaomi 17 Ultra’s high resolution also gives users more flexibility when shooting portraits and compositions.
The company notes that the continuous zoom camera uses a 200-megapixel, 1/1.4-inch sensor. It’s comparable to the Xiaomi 15 Ultra’s periscopic camera. This is positive, as some manufacturers use a smaller 200MP Samsung Isocell HP5 sensor, which, due to its smaller size, performs worse in low-light conditions.
In addition, the Xiaomi 17 Ultra will get a new one-inch Light Hunter 1050L main sensor with LOFIC technology for extended dynamic range. Combined with an innovative zoom camera, this makes the Xiaomi 17 Ultra one of the top contenders for being the best camera phone on the market.
