OnePlus makes big claims about the cameras of the OnePlus 9 Series. In a later development, he detailed what other features will feature on the new flagship, beyond the partnership with Hasselblad.
The OnePlus 9 series will be launch on March 23 across the world, including India. The big talking point this time around will be the cameras, which have always been the company’s Achilles heel. While Hasselblad has been built in to take care of processing and tuning, the phones will also bring some significant hardware innovations – at least on the OnePlus 9 Pro. The company hasn’t said whether these upgrades will apply to all phones, but we expect them to be present on the top-of-the-line family model.
The OnePlus 8 Pro also had a custom image sensor – the Sony IMX689
In a post on Weibo, OnePlus said the cost of developing the Sony IMX789 custom image sensor was CNY 100 million (~ Rs 112 crore), making it the largest investment in the company’s history. Although the size and resolution of the sensor weren’t mentioned, it did reveal that it would be a large one with a 16:11 aspect ratio, allowing for higher sensor coverage for photos. (4: 3) and videos (16: 9). The 12-bit RAW image capture will allow the sensor to identify 6.87 billion individual colors, 64 times the norm on most smartphones.
Borrow a feature from its high-end cameras, Sony’s new DOL-HDR (Digital Overlap-High Dynamic Range) will also perform the cut. Unlike conventional HDR shooting where multiple images are taken one after another, it captures the images simultaneously and then stacks them, reducing artifacts that can be caused by movement in the scene. The sensor will also be able to record 4K at 120 fps with 8K videos. Other features include native dual ISO and full-pixel omnidirectional focusing technology.
It’s not just the main camera that’s been upgraded, as the OnePlus 9 Pro will also bring an innovative free-form lens that allows for wider shots with the ultra-wide lens without distortion. The approach is to place two prisms side by side to bend the light 90 degrees before hitting the image sensors. The two images are then stitched together to create a panoramic shot with a 140-degree field of view (most ultra-wide lenses are at 120 degrees) with only about 1% distortion compared to the usual 20%. .
The selfie camera also learns new features, with a new stack of lenses allowing for faster autofocus that would only require 1ms. The minimum focus distance is also much lower at 6 inches.
There is no mention of the function of the fourth lens, but we would expect it to be a short telephoto lens with 3x optical zoom. OnePlus has already confirmed that Hasselblad’s iconic color science will be present on all phones, creating a more natural and cohesive look.
Looking ahead to the launch of OnePlus 9 India, we expect to hear a lot more about phones in the coming days through official channels. It will be one of the many smartphones coming to India that launches in March, taking on other flagships.
Via