Xiaomi has narrowed the gap between smartphones and premium digital cameras with the release of the Xiaomi 12S Ultra and its 1 ”sensor. But even that has lenses with fixed focal lengths like a typical smartphone. Now the company offers a rare look behind the scenes: there were actually two designs being developed at the same time, one of which became the 12S Ultra. The other is a hybrid between a smartphone and a mirrorless camera.
This concept device has a second 1 “sensor, one that is not covered by its own lens (but is covered by sapphire crystal for protection). This allows the user to connect Leica M mount lenses, opening the door for use ( semi) professional. The wide variety of lenses is combined with an advanced camera app that supports focus peaking, zebra lines, a histogram and other tools that photographers have come to expect. And of course support for RAW at 10 bit.
A hybrid smartphone / mirrorless camera concept based on the Xiaomi 12S Ultra
This requires an adapter, which makes the device bulky. However, note what we said according to 1 “sensor – this concept can take photos and videos like a normal phone because it has the same main camera as the 12S Ultra (1” sensor, 23mm lens) and an ultra wide angle camera (13mm), which can be used without any hardware extras.
There have been smartphone lens accessories before, but this is an imperfect design – light has to pass through both the external lens and the phone lens, which leads to light leaks and a softer image. This Xiaomi concept is different in that a connected Leica lens sends light directly to the sensor (except for the protective glass which keeps out dust and water).
Examples of cameras from the Xiaomi 12S Ultra (12MP) concept device
It functions more like a 1 “mirrorless camera when a lens is attached. Unlike a typical mirrorless camera, however, this device is also equipped with the advanced computational photography capabilities enabled by the powerful Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 chipset.
Examples of black and white cameras from the Xiaomi 12S Ultra concept (12MP) device
Again, this is different for the additional lenses that sit above the smartphone lens. It’s not even like the lens cameras that Sony was pushing back a decade. Those were competitive digital cameras, the phone was just the display. And it’s not like Android cameras that had phone functionality. Those didn’t have removable lenses. This is something very unique built by Xiaomi and Leica.
We don’t have full details for this concept device, but it is clearly from the same stable as the Xiaomi 12S Ultra. It also has the same snug faux leather back and enjoys full IP68 dust and water resistance. The company has added some reinforcement to the frame where the lens attaches to make it sturdier.
Xiaomi has not given any indication as to whether it will sell this 12S Ultra-based concept device. Maybe it won’t and maybe it shouldn’t – the upcoming Xiaomi 13 Pro is rumored to have a 1 ”sensor too, perhaps a special edition of that device would be more appropriate. Either way, Sony better take note when planning its next Xperia Pro phone.
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