Digital Optics has announced that OPPO will be the exclusive launch partner for their ground breaking MEMS Cam . This will be the first smart phone with a MEMS unit (Micro Electrical Mechanical System). Current phones have a VCM unit (Voice Coil Motor). The advantage of MEMS vs VCM is that MEMS uses a fraction of the power of VCM’s, and focus at least twice as fast, sometimes 7 times faster depending on what VCM you are comparing the MEMS unit with.
OPPO hasn’t stated which future phone the MEMS Cam will be released in, but it could very well be the successor to the N1, which has an out of the ordinary camera of its own – a 13MP rotating camera that functions as both the rear and front camera.
What can a MEMS camera really do? Well, apart from the advantages of being faster, slimmer and sips power, it can also post-capture refocus. That is, when you take one shot, the camera actually takes a series of shots and stores all of these images in the one file. When you review the shot on your phone you can zoom in and out just by touching the screen, choosing which focus point that you prefer.
That means that you will rarely take a blurry photo, as you can adjust the focus after you have taken the shot, with no loss of resolution. Now that will be a step forward for mobile photography.
Here is Dr Petronel Bigioi from Digital Optics demonstrating MEMS Cam:
What do you think of the MEMS Cam? Is it the future of mobile photography? Let us know in the comments!
