Zeiss-Branded Vivo X100 Pro Has a Big Sensor and a New Telephoto Lens
Vivo announced the X100 and X100 Pro flagship smartphones last night. Co-engineered with Zeiss, the new handhelds are designed with photography in mind. The company is no stranger to smartphone photography, as Vivo organizes an annual photo contest alongside Zeiss to celebrate mobile photography.
Almost as if vivo is responding to PetaPixel‘s recap of its predictions for 2023, which detailed the surprising lack of Type 1.0-inch image sensors in smartphones this year, the X100 Pro includes a large Type 1.0-inch main camera.
50-megapixel super wide-angle and telephoto cameras join the 50-megapixel Zeiss-branded 1.0-type main camera in the upgraded imaging system. The telephoto camera incorporates a new Zeiss APO floating design with new Vario-Apo-Sonnar elements.
“It also adopts a Floating Elements Design, which sets a new benchmark with an unprecedented f/2.5 aperture to ensure high image quality in various scenarios, even from 6X to 10X,” says Vivo. The “floating element” design enables improved close-focusing performance using the telephoto lens.
The X100 Pro is the first mobile imaging system to achieve APO certification, per Vivo, which means that the lens design significantly reduces chromatic aberration. The device’s main camera also includes what Vivo calls “Optical Precision Calibration,” which basically means that it promises improved sharpness and overall image quality.
The base X100 model may not include the latest imaging tech, but it still promises high-end optical performance thanks to Zeiss engineering and, like the X100 Pro, T* coating on its optics. The X100 has a 50-megapixel VCS True Color main camera, supported by a smaller Type 1/1.49-inch sensor, a 3x zoom 64-megapixel telephoto camera, and a 50-megapixel super wide-angle camera.
Vivo adds that the X100 series has been optimized with sunrise and sunset photography in mind. Using improved telephoto hardware and an upgraded Origin Imaging Engine, the devices promised better image quality, color tone, and computational photography. At golden hour specifically, the device has special software to identify red-sun scenarios and capture the scene more accurately.
Improved processing also carries to portrait and night photography, where Vivo says the more powerful V3 chip, built with a six-nanometer process, delivers better image quality across the board, especially for portrait and low-light work. The X100 Pro includes an all-new 4K Cinematic Portrait Video mode, and both phones have new signature Zeiss bokeh effects.
Another Vivo X series first is the Zeiss Multifocal Professional Photography mode, which allows users to take “professional portraits” with focal lengths up to 100mm. There is also a new Zeiss B-speed style bokeh, the latest addition to the Zeiss Style Portrait package. B-Speed bokeh is inspired by classic Zeiss high-speed cinema lenses from the mid-1970s.
Both smartphones are built on MediaTek’s Dimensity 9300 chipset, including the same 6.78-inch OLED screen. They’re also water resistant with IP68 ratings and each sports sleek, aluminum construction. The primary difference between the devices is the imaging system.
The X100 Series devices come in a star trail-inspired blue and “asteroid black” colorways. Pricing for international markets has not been detailed, although the X100 and X100 Pro cost HK$6,000 and $8,000 in Hong Kong, respectively, which is around $770 and $1,020.
Image credits: vivo
