Why do mobile phones now use four cameras? It's getting ugly. Can't we just use one camera?

I believe you have also found that in the last two or three years, mobile phone manufacturers have a common hobby, that is, the number of mobile phone cameras is desperately piled up, from one before and after the beginning to two, three, four or even five behind! What is the reason for the increasing number of cameras? So many cameras are really hard to see. They don't look as harmonious and beautiful as the previous single camera and dual camera. Why don't manufacturers stop and continue to increase the number of cameras? In fact, there are two main reasons behind it: the demand for taking pictures is getting higher and higher, and manufacturers need more gimmicks and selling points!

In recent years, people pay more and more attention to the quality of mobile phone photography, because mobile phone photography is more convenient and faster, and the imaging quality has also been greatly improved. The more progress, the more demands! From the beginning, I saw clearly what the photo was, and now I need to zoom and shoot farther, so I need telephoto lens, wide-angle lens or even ultra-wide-angle lens, macro lens if I want to shoot closer, black-and-white lens or focal plane if I want to send a black-and-white movie-style photo, portrait lens if I want to shoot people better, and TOF lens if I want to get a better VR/AR experience. Although these functions can also be realized by complex software algorithms, the required technology is much more difficult than directly stacking one or two shots. By directly increasing the number of lenses, it is simple and quick, and consumers can see the upgrade of taking pictures more intuitively. Why not? Not to mention domestic manufacturers such as Xiaomi and Huawei, even top technology companies such as Samsung and Apple are piling up cameras. Sometimes the algorithm is not as simple as adding a camera sensor directly, which is the general trend!

At the current mobile phone conference, most manufacturers are willing to spend a lot of time and energy talking about their imaging systems, that is, how powerful their cameras are, how powerful their algorithms are, and how powerful their running points are. Finally, they come to the conclusion that their mobile phones are very powerful and attract consumers to buy their mobile phones. The increase in the number of cameras is the most intuitive upgrade that mobile phone manufacturers can bring to consumers, because consumers can see the increase in the number of cameras. Seeing that the lens arrangement design has changed due to the increase of the number of cameras, from single shot in the upper left corner or center to double shot in horizontal or vertical rows, and now to exclamation point arrangement, matrix arrangement and razor arrangement, consumers can intuitively see the upgrade and improvement of mobile phones. Although the appearance of mobile phones is getting ugly, mobile phone manufacturers can take this opportunity to sell their mobile phones more and more expensive, and more and more selling points can be boasted, which is conducive to the promotion of manufacturers.

Indeed, there are more and more mobile phones with four cameras or even five cameras. The more cameras there are, the more difficult it is to design a beautiful one, whether it is vertical or rectangular, it is ugly. But now netizens are used to multi-camera phones, and it is unrealistic to use another camera.

Of course, SLR cameras can also use zoom lenses to cover the commonly used wide-angle and telephoto segments. If the shooting requirements are not high, "traveling around the world in one mirror" is no problem. However, smartphones can't change lenses, zoom lenses can't be used, and they can only shoot different focal lengths through multiple cameras.

Take Huawei P30 Pro as an example. This phone has four cameras, namely, a 40-megapixel super-sensitive lens, a 20-megapixel super-wide-angle lens, an 8-megapixel periscope telephoto lens and a TOF lens. Each of the four lenses has its own function. Super sensitive lens is used to shoot most daily scenes, super wide-angle lens is used to shoot landscapes, and periscope telephoto lens is used to shoot distant scenes. TOF lens mainly plays the role of ranging, which can achieve better background blur effect when shooting portraits.

Apple iPhone 1 1 Pro uses three cameras, all of which are12 million pixels, but they also correspond to three different focal lengths, namely, super wide angle, medium focus and telephoto, for taking photos of different scenes. More importantly, Apple almost seamlessly switched the focal lengths of the three cameras, just like a SLR camera using a zoom lens, which is unmatched by domestic mobile phones.

So generally speaking, if a smart phone wants to bring users an experience close to a professional camera, multiple cameras are necessary. If you only use one camera, you can only cover the most common focal length of 26mm, and you can't shoot a super wide-angle telephoto scene.

Of course, it is undeniable that the multi-lens of some domestic mobile phones is purely cosmetic. For example, a 2-megapixel macro lens, a 2-megapixel portrait lens and a 2-megapixel black-and-white lens. Although the existence of these cameras seems to increase the shooting scene of mobile phones, the improvement of shooting effect is very limited. The reason why these mobile phones use so many cameras is that they look bluffing and sell better in online and offline stores. For example, when a shopping guide introduces a mobile phone, it will say that Apple iPhone 1 1 Pro has only three cameras, and our mobile phone has four cameras, so it will naturally be better to take pictures. Some small white people who don't understand will hear it and maybe buy it. In contrast, most mobile phones now take three or four photos. If mobile phone manufacturers push dual-camera and single-camera phones again, they may not be able to sell them. Therefore, manufacturers would rather add more cameras to make up the number than reduce the number of cameras.

Generally speaking, it is understandable for a smartphone to use multiple cameras, but each camera must have a clear role and bring significant help to the photo effect. If it is a make-up camera, then the meaning of existence is very limited.

With the development of smartphone photography today, in addition to stacking pixels, manufacturers are gradually increasing the number of cameras, from dual cameras to three cameras, from three cameras to four cameras, and even the next five cameras …, but in fact, the increase of cameras is only to adapt to more photography scenes. Generally, the main camera is the one we use the most, and other cameras only play an auxiliary role.

Now mainstream mobile phones are all four cameras. Let's take Glory 20 Pro as an example. This phone uses a four-camera combination of 48 million main camera+16 million super wide angle+8 million telephoto+macro. In fact, the four cameras have a clear division of labor, as follows:

The four cameras are divided according to the focal length, which is suitable for various shooting scenes. However, due to the different quality of the camera itself, the quality of photos taken in different modes is also different. The most obvious thing is the poor quality of the photos taken in macro mode.

To sum up, the purpose of adding a camera to a mobile phone is to adapt to more shooting scenes. Of course, some cameras only assist the main camera in imaging and will not be used alone, such as depth of field and black and white cameras.

That's a good question With more and more cameras, can't we replace these scenes with cameras? Let's take a look at the evolution of mobile photography.

In the initial evolution of smartphones from 30W pixels to 1200W pixels, the number of lenses changed from 1 to two. At that time, the second lens only assisted focusing, in order to form a simulated large aperture.

Huawei P30 Pro has a 40-megapixel super-sensitive lens, a 20-megapixel super-wide-angle lens, an 8-megapixel periscope telephoto lens and a three-camera design.

In practical use, different focal lengths can meet the needs of all kinds of people. If you need a mobile phone with a 5-fold telephoto lens to help you switch telephoto lenses, the main camera mainly has 4,000 W high-definition pixels for daily shooting, and the auxiliary camera is used as an auxiliary large aperture focusing, and you can also take black-and-white artistic photos.

It has been extended to 4 beats today. For example, the classic glory 20 Pro is an example. In addition to the above, an ultra-wide-angle long-legged lens is added, and an ultra-macro lens is independently produced.

Anyone familiar with photography knows that SLR has a lens that travels all over the world, that is, 18-200mm. The nearest side can shoot a wide angle and the farthest side can shoot the moon. Then why can't a mobile phone be made of one lens? At present, the integration of mobile phones is very high, except for sensors, which is a very high integration motherboard. Then ask this area (the current mainstream mobile phone thickness is 8. 1mm-8.8mm). It is obviously unrealistic to put such a huge lens as a SLR in the trouser pocket in practical application. Therefore, in order to meet the above requirements for wide-angle shooting and long legs, the main camera should be used for ultra-clear shooting and the super macro lens should be used for macro shooting. There will be a portrait lens in the future, even five shots and six shots.

With the development of mobile phone photography, the demand for mobile phone photography is increasing, and people are always greedy. A mobile phone can shoot wide angle, portrait, macro and even the moon, which is incomparable to the lens. This is also the reason why our current mobile phone uses four cameras.

Before the emergence of new shooting technology, the development of mobile phone cameras to high pixels and high quantity has been unstoppable.

The demand of consumers is the main driving force to promote goods, and the improvement of mobile phone camera ability is also the embodiment of users' camera demand. How to shoot multiple scenes with high quality has become the standard of an excellent flagship mobile phone. It is not surprising that the flagship mobile phone is equipped with four cameras, and even a single camera will have hundreds of millions of pixels.

Then, why are there more and more mobile phone cameras and manufacturers don't feel ugly?

Let's talk about more and more cameras before. Really ugly!

The Nokia 9 mobile phone in the above picture makes me feel embarrassed, and the intensive phobia is almost forced out; "Yuba" design of Huawei Mate20 series, "Ring" design of Huawei Mate30 series and so on. The arrangement of the rear cameras of these mobile phones can't be said to be beautiful, but it can only be regarded as a compromise of functional requirements.

So, after all, why are there more and more mobile phone cameras, and you can't make one?

I don't know if you have heard the saying that photography is poor for three generations, and SLR destroys life. Here is a SLR camera to explain, everyone will have a clearer concept of using multiple cameras on mobile phones. SLR cameras really spend a lot of money not on the body but on the lens. Different shooting scenes need professional lenses in order to get better imaging effects. For example, the lens of SLR camera can be divided into standard lens, wide-angle lens, ultra-wide-angle lens, medium telephoto lens, standing lens, fisheye lens and so on according to the scene.

If the mobile phone wants to get a better photo effect and the imaging level is close to that of a SLR camera, it is bound to need multiple lenses to shoot different scenes.

Let's take Huawei Mate30 Pro, which represents the top level of mobile photography, as an example to see what uses the multi-lens on the mobile phone has! The slogan of this mobile phone on the lens is super-sensitive Leica film four beats, reconstructing the image. This means that this mobile phone camera has passed Leica certification, which can achieve the effect of shooting movies through mobile phones and redefine the image shooting of mobile phones.

This phone uses a 40-megapixel main camera with f/ 1.6 aperture and supports this; 40 megapixel super wide-angle camera with f/ 1.8 aperture; 8 megapixel telephoto camera with f/2.4 aperture; A 3D depth camera can achieve autofocus. Different scenes are shot with special cameras, which gives Huawei the confidence to talk about reconstructing image shooting.

How do you think that mobile phone cameras are doing more and more things? Is it necessary?

Consumer demand is the main driving force to promote commodity sales, and the improvement of mobile phone camera ability is also a reflection of users' camera demand. How to take high-quality and multi-scene photos has become the standard of excellent flagship mobile phones. It is not surprising that the flagship mobile phone will be equipped with four cameras, and even one camera will appear in the form of one billion pixels. Then, why are there more and more cameras on mobile phones, and don't manufacturers feel ugly? I don't know if you have heard such a sentence. Photography has been poor for three generations, and SLR has ruined my life. Let's explain it with a SLR camera. You will have a clear idea of using multiple cameras on your mobile phone. For SLR cameras, what is really expensive is not the body, but the lens. In order to get better imaging effect, different scenes need professional lenses. For example, the lens of a SLR camera can be divided into standard lens, wide-angle lens, ultra-wide-angle lens, medium telephoto lens, graded lens, fisheye lens and so on.

If the mobile phone wants to get better shooting effect and the imaging level is close to that of SLR camera, it needs to divide the work of multiple lenses and shoot different scenes.

The lens of SLR camera realizes continuous optical zoom through the combination of multiple groups of fixed-focus lenses, so the lens volume is relatively large. However, due to the limitation of thickness, mobile phones cannot be equipped with such lenses. Therefore, in the past, the so-called zoom function of most mobile phones was digital zoom, that is, the obtained image was enlarged and reduced, resulting in the reduced image quality after enlargement. It's like looking at a painting with a magnifying glass. There are no details drawn in the picture, no matter how big it is, it can't be seen clearly.

In order to solve this problem, the manufacturer developed a multi-camera scheme, which expanded the focus range of the camera by increasing the number of lenses and simulated the process of optical zoom. Optical zoom is like looking at the scenery with a telescope, and you can really see details that you couldn't see before.

At present, there are several forms of multi-camera combination:

Main camera+telephoto/wide-angle sub-camera: Different cameras are responsible for different focal segments to increase the focus range of cameras.

Main camera+black and white sub-camera: color camera captures color information, black and white camera records gray information, and then obtains photos with more details through software synthesis.

Main camera+depth sensor: the depth information is obtained by the depth sensor (ToF) and provided to the software to process the photos of different depths of the scene, thus obtaining the effect of blurring the background.

In addition, some manufacturers also use periscope cameras to obtain the effect of optical zoom. For example, Vivo recently released Apex 2020 and Huawei P30. Periscope camera uses the principle of periscope to change the direction of light, so that the lens module can realize optical zoom by using the space in the length and width direction of the fuselage.

The first point: because of market demand.

Nowadays, many people have switched from pursuing an expensive camera to taking photos with mobile phones, because the camera function of mobile phones can fully meet our daily needs. Usually, a mobile phone is equipped with a main lens and other lenses, and other lenses can satisfy wide-angle shooting or macro shooting, which is the significance of taking pictures. We can't just take pictures with the main camera, so how can we commemorate so many beautiful scenery and people?