Smartphone Photography
(Photo : Getty Images (John Moore)) Smartphone Photography

Just when you think Phone Photography can't get any better.

Oh how far we've come!

In the late 1990s, cell phones were equipped with cameras for the first time; the images captured were of low-quality and grainy. Nowadays it is scarce to find a phone that doesn't have a built-in camera to go with it.

In recent years, smartphone cameras have produced such high-quality photos that most of millennials and Generation Z detest the idea of bringing a separate stuffy camera to roam around.

Auckland-based professional photographer and author Tom Ang reveals how he admires this innovation, as he looked back to the days where he had to pay NZ$10,000 ($7,110; £5,165) for the same image quality young people enjoy for free today.

"Today's smartphone cameras can make a better image than cameras I paid NZ$10,000 ($7,110; £5,165) for only 20 years ago," says Tom Ang, an Auckland-based professional photographer and author of more than 30 books on digital photography in an interview with BBC.

It is not without its faults, however, as despite the significant advancements of smartphone photography, a lot can still be improved as most smartphones use a stacked system of lenses, a feature that adds both weight and bulk, ruining the sleek backside of the gadget.

Issues also arose from.zooming in while using smartphone cameras as it tends to crop the frame, lowering the quality of the photo.

Read Also: Time Magazine's iPhone-Captured Cover Features Marcus Rashford: Tips to Enhance Your Mobile Photography

Lens Technology Pushed

Scope Photonics in Ontario, Canada is currently looking for ways to augment the difficulties of zooming in. The organization is set on creating a  lossless zoom for all kinds of images, which means any photo taken using the lens can enjoy a close-up with a consistently sharp image.

Scope Photonics Chief executive Holden Beggs and his team are also working on dealing with the improvement of portable lenses.

The technology Beggs is developing is a type of technology harnessing liquid crystals, placed on the map by liquid-crystal display (LCD) screens found in living rooms and retail displays across the world.

A recent discovery of Scope Photonics, International Runner Up for the 2020 James Dyson Award, is being used as prototypes on medical devices first, as it further aims to bring these lenses to smartphone cameras in an estimated time of three years.

Breggs says that he is "comfortable in predicting" that their liquid crystal lenses can achieve ten times the zooming capacity of  a regular one, but he also pointed out that this innovation offers a lot of opportunity for growth in a few years' time.

"I'm comfortable in predicting we can achieve 10 times zoom with our liquid crystals, but this innovation offers a lot of opportunity for growth so you never know where we'll be at in a few years' time," Beggs says.

Meantime, Metalenz is also said to be working on fine-tuning the focus application on cameras, including for video imaging, as revealed by its chief executive Robert Devlin.

"We want to improve real-time auto-focus, so the camera is picking out the right object to put into focus," Devlin says.

Another sector Metalenz is eyeing is virtual reality and augmented reality, which require headsets and goggles made up of image sensors and lenses.

Related Article: iPhone Mobile Photography Tips and Tricks 2020

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Written by Gabbie Natividad 

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