Light developing 9-lens smartphone camera for DSLR-like quality

The Light 9-lens camera protoype. (Source: Light)

Photography startup Light has revealed a 9-lens smartphone camera prototype that is currently in development. Like its L16 camera, the device captures light from multiple lenses to create hybridised images stitched from images with multiple focal lengths.

by Sanjiv Sathiah, 2018/07/02

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Smartphones with two or three lenses are all the rage at the moment. While there is even talk that LG could deliver a smartphone with as many as five lenses, photography start up Light has just revealed a working smartphone camera prototype with a whopping nine lenses. When combined, the light from each lens is stiched together to deliver a 64-megapixel shot with detail normally only seen on a DSLR.

Light debuted its protoype design in an article from the Washington Post, which examines the cutting-edge technologies coming to smartphones. It is working on designs with five lenses, ranging through to the nine lens beast pictured. The technology works by positioning each lens at a slightly different angle to capture a slightly different focal lenght. Using its prioprietary software, Light is then able to stitch the multiple images together to create a highly detailed image comparable to a professional camera.

The Light solution is unlikely to be cheap; its L16 standalone camera retails for US$1950. However, given the apparent consumer appetite for ultra-premium smartphones like the Huawei Mate RS Porsche Design and the Oppo Find X Lamborghini Edition costing around as much as the L16, Light could well find a niche for smartphone makers looking to deliver the ultimate smartphone camera experience. Unless it decides to go it alone, and produce its own high-end smartphone rather than sell modules to third-parties.