Oppo is explaining the technology behind their best camera yet, and confirming how they managed to make the first 50MP camera with 10x optical zoom for the X9 Ultra. They say this new design gets around the usual difficulties of having a lens that doesn’t let in much light and a sensor with too few pixels when you zoom in a long way.
Why Oppo pursued a 50MP 10x camera
Previously, 10x zoom phone cameras used lenses of 230mm but didn’t get much light and had low pixel numbers. Oppo’s solution is a 50MP 10x module that prioritizes brightness, steadiness, and genuinely being able to zoom in ten times.
At the heart of this is a ‘quintuple prism periscope’ which bends the light five times. Oppo says this keeps the whole thing to just 29mm long, whereas a system with a single prism would be 41mm. Then, at the factory, a very precise system called Factory Active Optical Alignment uses high-accuracy cameras to line up the lens, the sensor, and the prism.
Because of this, the lens (f/3.5) can collect three times more light than previous 10x cameras. A special Samsung JNL sensor also has ‘sensor shift’ stabilization, which Oppo thinks is essential at 10x and 20x zoom. And, with 50MP, the module can zoom within the sensor itself up to 20x.
Solving the stability and light problem
When you zoom in a lot, any shaking of your hands gets bigger in the picture. Oppo says the ‘sensor shift’ stabilization makes the image stay still and keeps the detail clear. The wider opening of the lens lets in more light (photons), which reduces image noise and blurring from movement in low light, and lets you use faster shutter speeds when you’re far away.
A camera-first flagship, front to back
The main camera on the Find X9 Ultra has a 200MP Sony Lytia 901, with a 1/1.12-inch sensor and f/1.5 lens. Oppo says it collects as much light as a 1-inch type camera and has 2x zoom within the sensor which gives you a 50MP image with a field of view of around 50mm.
Another 200MP OmniVision OV52A ‘periscope’ camera provides 3x optical zoom. This zoom also has 2x zoom within the sensor at 50MP and can focus on things as close as 15cm, for close-up telephoto (tele-macro) photos. The 50MP ultra-wide camera uses a Sony LYT-600 with autofocus and a 14mm lens.
Oppo says the ultra-wide camera now gets 56% more light than before. A new ‘True Color Camera’ is used to help with getting the colours right in all the images. It has a 95-degree field of view and 5.5x more dynamic range.
Here are the main cameras on the back:
– 50MP 10x periscope with a quintuple prism and sensor shift stabilization
– 200MP main Sony LYT-901, f/1.5, 1/1.12-inch sensor
– 200MP 3x periscope OmniVision OV52A, tele-macro at 15cm
– 50MP ultra-wide Sony LYT-600 with autofocus
– 3.2MP multispectral True Color Camera
Pro modes and video pipeline
Oppo has introduced a new ‘Hasselblad Master Mode’ with an updated way of processing images that doesn’t use AI that creates things. Photographers can get 50MP JPEG MAX and 50MP RAW MAX photos with up to 16-bit colour depth, and also Hasselblad’s XPAN mode.
You can record video in 4K at 60fps, 4K at 120fps, and 8K at 30fps. It has an O-Log2 profile, you can see LUTs (Look Up Tables) in real time and save them to the video, and the stabilization, autofocus, and sound recording have been improved for more reliable video.
Hardware, availability, and pricing
Apart from the cameras, the Find X9 Ultra has a 6.82-inch LTPO AMOLED screen with a refresh rate of up to 144Hz, a resolution of 3168 x 1440, and can get up to 3,600 nits bright. It works with Dolby Vision and HDR Vivid, has Corning Gorilla Glass Victus 2, and has a 3D ultrasonic fingerprint scanner under the screen.
The phone is protected against water and dust with IP66, IP68, and IP69 ratings. It uses Android 16 with Oppo’s ColorOS 16, has a Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 processor, up to 16GB of LPDDR5X RAM and up to 1TB of UFS 4.1 storage. It has a 7,050mAh Si/C battery, with 100W fast wired charging and 50W wireless charging.
Oppo has released the Find X9 Ultra in China and will be making it available in some other countries around the world. In Europe, the 12GB/512GB version starts at EUR 1,699 and comes in Tundra Umber and Canyon Orange. In China, it starts at CNY 1,499 and there’s a ‘Hasselblad Master Edition’ that includes a 300mm teleconverter.
