When it comes to telephoto shooting with smartphone cameras, common knowledge suggested that usable image quality ranged from a few times to about 10x zoom.
However, in recent smartphones, image processing using generative AI has advanced significantly, making it possible to take perfectly viewable pictures even at 100x zoom.
Perhaps because that magnification is still not enough, converter lenses with several hundred times magnification from the manufacturer have appeared.
Telephoto shooting that was impossible with previous smartphones has now become a reality.
X300 Ultra, the Strongest Camera on the Market
vivo's X300 Ultra is a high-performance smartphone that uses the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 as its chipset.
The camera setup includes two billion-class cameras: a 200-megapixel wide-angle and a 200-megapixel 3x telephoto.
With a 50-megapixel ultra-wide-angle camera as well, it boasts camera performance that can be called the strongest on the market.
Additionally, it has partnered with Zeiss, resulting in high lens performance. It also reproduces various bokeh effects that simulate the company's famous lenses from the past.
It is ideal for portrait shooting and more.
Telephoto Lens to Attach to Your Smartphone
What makes this camera even stronger are the Hasselblad Photography Kit sold by vivo and the G2 Ultra Lens which enables 400mm telephoto shooting.
This is a kit that transforms the X300 Ultra into a camera capable of super-telephoto shooting.
With the lens attached, it no longer looks like a smartphone.
It looks like a high-magnification telephoto compact digital camera from a while back, but what makes the X300 Ultra amazing is that the AI-based image stabilization works effectively.
Not only for 100x shooting with the body alone, but even for telephoto shooting at several hundred times with the lens attached, no tripod is required.
So, what kind of pictures can you take using this telephoto lens (teleconverter)?
I actually tried shooting in Hong Kong, and it was possible to capture distant subjects clearly to a frightening degree.
It has reached a level that feels more like a threat than just a surprise.
By attaching the teleconverter lens, shooting from a minimum of 400mm (17x) to a maximum of 8100mm (350x) is possible.
The Power of 350x Telephoto Is Immense
Speaking of Hong Kong, it's Victoria Harbour; I'll shoot the Hong Kong Island side from the Kowloon Peninsula side.
It is an exhibition venue in Wan Chai.
When taken at the standard 35mm, you can capture the beautiful Victoria Harbour clearly.
First, I'll try shooting at 10x (230mm) with just the X300 Ultra body.
The characteristic exhibition venue building was captured without any blurring.
Although it has a built-in 3x optical telephoto lens, it has no trouble with 10x digital shooting.
Now I will shoot at 100x (2412mm).
This is also with just the body, handheld.
The image quality becomes slightly coarse, but it's perfectly fine for viewing on a smartphone screen.
On the other hand, people walking are slightly blurred.
In this area, while AI processing excels at things like buildings, it is likely difficult to process people or animals when the magnification is this high.
Now I will attach the G2 Ultra Lens.
Once attached, you can shoot at 400mm, 800mm, 1600mm, and 3200mm with one touch.
Let's try shooting at 140x (3200mm), which exceeds the 100x (2412mm) of the body alone.
Amazingly, the people on the opposite shore are captured more clearly than with the 100x shooting of the body.
With optical telephoto (400mm) + digital zoom, you can take sufficient pictures even at this magnification.
And then, shooting at the maximum 350x, 8100mm.
This is handheld without using a tripod.
Incredibly, the nameplate on a wall-like building is visible, albeit blurred.
While the overall details have undergone image processing that strengthens sharpness, it is quite viewable.
140x Shooting Can Be Used Regularly
Admittedly, 350x (8100mm) requires specific shooting locations.
For example, this photo was taken of a cloth curtain from one side of a room at 8100mm.
Incredibly, details like the stitching or rather the fibers are captured.
It might seem like overkill, but AI-based generative processing has advanced this far.
On the other hand, at 140x (3200mm), it's a very usable focal length for purposes such as wanting to capture somewhere quite far away clearly.
Shooting a distant apartment building through the trees at 3200mm.
Inside a Saizeriya in Hong Kong, shooting a tissue box visible on a table over there.
I found out that a logo is printed on it.
In this way, 3200mm shooting seems surprisingly useful even in the city.
Camera Performance of the Body Alone Is Also the Best
Of course, even without the lens, the camera performance is very high, and you won't have any complaints.
I tried shooting the lobby of a famous hotel.
Even in a somewhat dark environment, you can take photos with more than enough image quality at 10x and 100x.
Since you can use 100x handheld, you can easily shoot subjects that are a bit far away.
First Global Expansion Model
The X300 Ultra is the first Ultra model intended for global expansion by vivo.
The X300 Pro and X300 exist as lower-end models and are already on sale in China and globally.
On the other hand, Ultra models up until the previous version were only expanded within China.
Since vivo has not entered the American market, it is difficult to obtain from there, but please try the camera performance of the X300 Ultra at electronics retailers when you travel to Hong Kong.
▼Photo & Written by Yamane Yasuhiro
Blog: http://www.hkyamane.com/
X: https://x.com/hkyamane/
Note: https://note.com/hkyamane/
