Xiaomi 12S Ultra concept fixes the cameraphone's biggest problem

Date:
Wed, 02 Nov 2022 11:05:47 +0000

Description:
Xiaomi has revealed a concept phone that supports detachable Leica M-series lenses.

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As impressive as smartphone cameras are these days, even the best camera phones face a couple of major limitations. One is the selection of lenses, since theres a limit to how many different ones you can reasonably equip a phone with, and the other is the quality of those lenses, which is limited based on their necessarily small size. But Xiaomi has just shown off a phone that solves both of those problems.

The company took to Weibo a Chinese social network to reveal a modified version of the Xiaomi 12S Ultra (which already includes a one-inch sensor) that you can mount a Leica M-series lens to. The post included a video thats been uploaded to YouTube by XDA Developers , so you can watch it below.

One inch is impressively large for a smartphone camera sensor, but as is true of any smartphone that touts photography as a key selling point, the bottleneck then becomes the smartphone-sized lenses used. While the standard Xiaomi 12S Ultra's 50MP Sony IMX989 is styled like any other smartphone camera, this newly-unveiled Xiaomi 12S Ultra concept doesnt have a lens over the sensor at all or at least not until you attach one.

In order to keep the sensor as clean as possible when a lens isn't attached, the company has opted for a sapphire crystal cover, that should repel scratches well; dust between the lens elements and the sensor seems like it would still be a persistent challenge, however.

Since you can attach and swap Leica M-series lenses, youre not limited to
just the one lens there, so you can take advantage of that powerful one-inch sensor across a variety of lenses (assuming you invest in a variety).

And these Leica lenses are designed for proper mirrorless and rangefinder cameras, so theyre much bigger and more capable than the lenses youd
typically find on a smartphone. If one was permanently attached to this
Xiaomi phone, it would be impractical, but you can simply remove it when not in use, to keep the phone's conventional form factor intact.

For now, this is just a concept phone, so theres no guarantee it will ever go on sale, but its not impossible to imagine that well one day see this or something similar sold. Analysis: a niche but exciting idea

A phone like this Xiaomi 12S Ultra concept is never likely to be mainstream, since it will only appeal to people who already have or want a proper camera, and arent satisfied with quality or look of conventional smartphone photos, but for those few, it could be a revelation.

Theres a saying that the best camera is the one you have with you, and since we all carry our phones around with us everywhere, that makes them the best or at least the most useful even if they're not the highest quality.

Carrying around a DSLR or mirrorless system is, for most of us, something wed only do when we actively plan to be taking photos while out, and even then, its an extra thing to carry, which can be an annoyance.

So, Xiaomi's 12S Ultra concept could offer the quality of a proper camera without the need to carry a separate snapper. You will, of course, still need to bring at least one lens out with you, but theres less weight and size
there than in a whole dedicated camera system.

Plus, there are a wide variety of Leica M-series lenses out there, so there are already loads of compatible options, and for people who already own some, this Xiaomi concept could be even more tempting. So theres no doubt this
would be one of the best camera phones and best Xiaomi phones around, if it ever did launch.



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Link to news story: https://www.techradar.com/news/xiaomi-12s-ultra-concept-fixes-the-cameraphones -biggest-problem/


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