Now it is official: Samsung confirms the already leaked plans for two smartphone manufacturers to soon implement 200-megapixel sensors behind the telephoto camera. Such plans were first revealed weeks ago for the upcoming Vivo X100 Pro+ and subsequently the Honor Magic 6 Ultimate which is also likely to use such a high-resolution sensor behind the zoom camera.
Samsung now also emphasizes the advantages of this combination of 200 MP sensor and approximately 3x telephoto optics via a detailed blog post in Samsung newsrooom. For example, the issue of optical distortions in portrait shots with the wide-angle camera is addressed here, which is why many manufacturers like to use dedicated but less potent telephoto cameras for this, such as Samsung with the Galaxy S23 Ultra.
Also Galaxy S24 Ultra with 200 megapixel telephoto?
The duo of 10 megapixel 3x and 10x telephoto cameras in the current Galaxy S23 Ultra could soon be history, if the latest Galaxy S24 Ultra leaks are to be believed. For weeks, various leakers have emphasized that the portrait camera will get an upgrade to a 50 megapixel sensor, quite recent is the hint of a leaker, that Samsung will potentially also drop the 10x zoom camera in 2024.
The plans published by Samsung today for the upcoming upgrade of some telephoto cameras with a 200 megapixel sensor could also be interpreted as a secret hint for the future of Samsung's telephoto cameras, which fits perfectly with the rumors about the missing 10x telephoto camera in the Galaxy S24 Ultra. Accordingly, it would not be inconceivable that Samsung also integrates a 200 MP sensor behind a singular 3x telephoto lens in the next camera flagship, and thus upgrades it with a significantly larger 1/1.3 inch (ISOCELL HP2) or 1/1.4 inch (ISOCELL HP3) sensor.
In-sensor crop zoom instead of optical zoom
Thus, the two tiny 1/3.52 inch sensors in the Galaxy S23 Ultra could be replaced by a much larger one, which would then deliver better pictures and videos even at night and in low light, thanks to pixel binning and in-sensor zoom even at 2x and 4x magnification. Combined with a 3x zoom lens, this would comfortably simulate 3x, 6x and 12x zoom - with almost the same optical quality and including more natural bokeh as well as HDR features, as Samsung emphasizes.
Update 15:00 New Galaxy S24 Ultra Information
According to newest information from Ice Universe, the 200 megapixel solution for telephotos will not come to the Galaxy S24 Ultra. See more about the newest specs here.