Light is working on a smartphone with a 9 camera lens system

When it comes to the world of smartphones, dual-rear cameras have become quite popular, be it in premium or the budget category. From Apple to Xiaomi, most smartphone makers are incorporating this feature in their phones. But it looks like the number of lenses or sensors on a smartphone could go up to nine, thanks to a camera company called Light, which is working on such a device.
According to a report in The Washington Post, Light showed them concept and working prototypes of smartphones with five to nine lens systems on the back. According to the report, the company wants to announce this smartphone with multiple lens system later this year. The company also claims the phone will be able to capture 64MP shots, give high-quality depth effects, and a better low-light performance than any regular smartphone with its dual or triple camera sensor.
So far, we have only see Huawei introduce a triple camera system on its P20 Pro smartphone. Rumours have claimed that Apple could introduce a similar triple lens system on its iPhone series in 2019. In the case of the P20 Pro, the smartphone has a 40MP+ 20MP+8MP camera system. The smartphone’s 40MP sensor is an RGB one, the 20MP one is a monochrome sensor, while the 8MP is the telephoto lens. The smartphone also has what the company called 5X hybrid zoom feature.
However, the Light smartphone claims to take it further. It remains to be seen how these nine or five lens systems will be implemented and whether the smartphone’s camera will deliver on the result, given it will require the kind of processor which can support such high quality image processing.
Light already has a camera called L16 with a 16 lens system, placed at various angles. The camera is capable of taking 52MP photos, which are formed stitching together more than 10 perspectives. With a smartphone, which has around nine camera sensors, the software will have to stitch all these images together to form that one high-resolution image.
Currently, the L16 costs $1,950, according to the report. So even if Light does launch its smartphone with the fancy camera features, you might not be able to afford it. Of course, given this is all still in the prototype stage, and we might not actually see this kind of smartphone launch this year.