Translated from Feixiang Network整理 | 小咖酱
How many cameras does your phone have? Phones have evolved from a single rear camera to now commonly having three or four rear cameras, and some manufacturers have even launched phones with five rear cameras. As phones continue to update, the number of rear cameras is also increasing.
With the trend towards thinner phones, the number of smartphone cameras cannot increase indefinitely. Hence, detachable lens modules have become a solution, directly influencing the later modular phones. So, will the modularization of smartphone cameras be the trend for future phones?
Detachable cameras seem appealing but are actually quite awkward.
Nowadays, people are using their phones to take pictures more frequently, and the scenarios for mobile photography are becoming more diverse. For example, when taking landscape photos, a wider focal length is needed to capture the scenery. Conversely, when taking portraits, the focal length may not be long enough. To address user pain points, some third-party manufacturers have cleverly launched magnetic and clip-on external lenses for mainstream models, covering different focal lengths, from fisheye to macro, to meet users’ photography needs in various situations.
Additionally, camera manufacturers have also launched external cameras to meet the demand for mobile photography. For example, in 2013, Sony launched the QX10 and QX100. Both of these external lenses far exceeded the built-in lenses of phones at that time. The QX100 features a 20-megapixel, 1-inch sensor, supports a large aperture of F/1.8, and has 3.6x optical zoom. The QX10 uses an 18.2-megapixel, 1/2.3-inch sensor and supports 10x optical zoom.
Although detachable cameras have attracted some attention, they have not become mainstream for two reasons: first, they are less portable. If a phone is equipped with a large lens like Sony’s QX100, what is the difference from carrying a mirrorless camera? Moreover, it requires pairing with the phone, making it cumbersome to use. As the capabilities of phone cameras have improved, those small magnetic and clip-on external lenses have gradually fallen out of favor, as users need convenience for quick shots, and changing lenses is also too cumbersome.
If the path of external lenses is not viable, then modularizing the lenses and achieving high customization becomes another solution. In 2013, Google’s modular phone project, Project Ara, aimed to allow users to customize and assemble their phones, enabling them to customize battery capacity, camera modules, processors, and memory/storage sizes. The ideal was beautiful, but the reality was harsh, and this project ultimately did not produce any products.
Motorola attempted to rescue modular phones by launching the Moto Z, which was equipped with Hasselblad lenses and projectors as Moto Mods expansion modules. However, due to the rapid iteration of phones and the cost of expansion modules, the Moto Z ended up poorly. Since then, modular phones have rarely been mentioned.
Multi-camera combinations release personalized needs.
Smartphone cameras have gone through two phases. The first phase was high pixel counts, from the initial 300,000 pixels to 3 million, 10 million, 64 million pixels… smartphone photography has become increasingly clearer. The second phase is the addition of cameras. In 2016, Huawei launched the P9, which added a 2-megapixel monochrome lens to the main camera to enhance photo quality (especially in low light).
Apple also launched the dual-camera iPhone 7 Plus that same year, which featured a telephoto lens in addition to the main camera, supporting 2x optical zoom. Based on this telephoto lens, iPhone introduced the popular portrait mode, enhancing both the shooting experience and photo quality.
Since then, smartphone manufacturers have begun to invest in a multi-camera competition, with three-camera and four-camera setups becoming mainstream. The purpose of multiple lenses is not just to increase pixel counts, but to meet different shooting needs or to assist in improving photo quality, compensating for the main camera’s shortcomings and functional deficiencies, each with its own role. For example, ultra-wide-angle lenses allow for a broader field of view; telephoto lenses can capture distant subjects; macro lenses can photograph subjects at very close range.
