Are Retractable Cameras the Future?

Oppo teased a new phone with a retractable camera which got Marques and Andrew thinking about what this is going to be. Will it be a useful feature? Or a gimmick that disappears with time?

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[prathameshdatar]

I use One Plus 7 pro and it's pop up selfie camera works perfectly fine. I have used it for 2.5+ years. I can't understand why companies suddenly stopped making it. Privacy was at it's core while maximizing screen to body ratio.

[Pweenzor]

I actually really like pop-up selfie cameras, haven't had any durability problem with mine, and the best part is that I know my front camera can't be used when I'm not aware.

[SpookySkeletonGang]

Theoretically a retractable lens would let them actually use bigger sensors, which I'm totally down for.

[scruvydom]

Periscope zooms have tiny sensors and really narrow apertures. In the land of smart phones, anything less than f2 is kind of dark. Those periscope lenses are often around f3.5 which lets in almost 4x less light in.
Having a retracting lens like this allows for bigger sensors, more glass, and wider apertures.
Honestly I’d love a phone which just goes balls to the walls on its camera system, big sensors, wide apertures on every lens, an electronic variable ND over the entire lens array, so that you’ve got the ultimate vlogging/b cam set up which actually competes in raw, unprocessed image quality with dedicated cameras like the ZV-1 -before- you use some software trickery to increase dynamic range and all that jazz.

[BriefNerdOriginal]

The motorized pop-up selfie camera still is the best. Not only the screen has no holes nor other interruptions, not only they improve privacy, not only they can mount good sensors, not only there have no be serious reports about their durability, but ...

[TimLucasdesign]

I wish people would understand the difference between 'Zoom' and 'Telephoto' lenses. A zoom lens is any les with adjustable focal lengths (even if it's wide angle). A Telephoto lens (often incorrectly referred to as zoom) is any lens that magnifies the subject.

[pimisi]

A retractable camera entails the phone will always be flat on the table even if it’s just a single focal length . The protrusion only happens when it’s needed. This was you can have a flat-back phone when using it for other things besides camera functions.

Sure it would be cool to make it multi-focal, but having it retractable this way is really not pointless.

[DiogoExMarques]

Marques’ first guess is definitely right. This is nothing more than the same mechanism that point and shoot cameras use to be able to store the lens in a compact form when not in use.

[hugokiff]

Surly the issue with periscope lenses is that the thickness of the phone limits the size of the sensor? Can’t imagine many people wanting 1inch thick phones!

[平和-vz]

Pop-Up selfie cameras need a comeback, now that Oppo managed to make them waterproof, there's no excuse not to implement them into future smartphones.
Privacy is becoming more important every day, Pop-Up cameras are perfect because they physically block the camera, unlike unreliable software toggles. (Android 12)

[evindrews]

I don't think the first idea mentioned would be pointless. The single best benefit would be a bigger sensor. So I hope we see this more in the future.

[keco]

Periscope lenses should be anamorphic so they can be narrow when going sideways in a slim phone but still get tons of light

[ROVideos]

The only reason the mirror was there on DSLR is so that you could view the live image through the view finder. Before it hit the sensor. But with mirrorless cameras you watch a live “video” feed of the final image an not an actual reflection.

[SimEast]

6:14 Pixel 6 probably has the perfect camera bump design to do something like this

[riccardopezzani]

The downside of the periscope is that you’re limiting the size of the sensor by the thickness of the device, so it’s good if you need more lenses to achieve higher zoom, but for a main shooter instead imho you could end up better with a bigger sensor and lenses that protrude in parallel to the phone like the concept

[timg]

I see this as being a way to reduce the camera bump rather than anything fancy. If you have a mechanism to increase the sensor size without running up against the problems that come with having deeper optics, that seems like a win to me.

[olivierberes]

Pop up camera are actually great. I have a xiaomi phone with a popup camera for over a year dropped the phone multiple time and never had an issue.

[rudymoralesjr]

I hope not. A bump with another retractable bump = more things to break and super uneven back surface. Unless it dramatically changes picture quality, I wouldn't want it.

[michaelcorcoran]

Everyone I know that has a retractable selfie camera loves it. If Samsung or Apple would just stick with it instead of these horrific notches, we would have the solution. Not only do they seem to be holding up for people that are using them on the OnePlus or the LG wing, but they're really cool and a pretty cool party trick to boot. Most people don't even know pop-up selfie cameras were ever a thing, at least in the United States

[raulgalets]

2:50 i think he was refering to an older phone. it was a nokia but before windows phone. the one with a retractable keyboard too