TL;DR Xiaomi has confirmed that the Xiaomi 17 Ultra has a 200MP continuous optical zoom camera.
The camera offers optical zoom from 75 to 100mm (~3.1 to ~4.1x).
This means you can expect a consistently high level of image quality at this zoom range.
Xiaomi confirmed earlier this week that the Xiaomi 17 Ultra will launch on Christmas Day in China, while also revealing a few tantalizing camera specs. Now, the manufacturer has announced that the device has a cutting-edge periscope camera.
Xiaomi announced on Weibo that the Xiaomi 17 Ultra offers a 200MP continuous optical zoom camera. This means that the lenses and other components inside the camera module shift to achieve optical zoom, and therefore consistent image quality, across a range of zoom levels. This is in line with many conventional standalone cameras.
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This approach differs from the vast majority of telephoto cameras seen on smartphones. Conventional telephoto cameras only offer native zoom at one fixed zoom level (e.g., 2x, 3x, 4x, or 5x), but phone makers utilize software processing techniques (e.g., cropping, super-resolution) when you pinch in to zoom further. This software-driven approach generally results in degraded image quality.
Don’t hold your breath for the Xiaomi 17 Ultra to offer a wide zoom range with this camera, though. The 200MP periscope camera offers continuous zoom from 75mm to 100mm (~3.1x to ~4.1x). So Xiaomi will still lean on software processing techniques to zoom beyond 100mm. By contrast, the Sony Xperia 1 VII has a continuous zoom camera that covers 3.5x to 7.1x, albeit with a 12MP camera sensor.
What's your ideal zoom level for a phone's telephoto camera? 5 votes 2x 0 % 3x 0 % 4x 0 % 5x 60 % 6x 0 % More than 6x 40 %
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