I grew up loving cameras. I used to be a semi-pro photographer, and I say semi- because even though I’ve been paid to take photos on numerous occasions, this was never my main bread and butter.
Photography has also taken a back seat in my life, and I’ve swapped my mirrorless camera and gear for a smartphone. So it was exhilarating when I first heard about the collaboration between vivo and the German optics manufacturer, ZEISS, in 2020.
Mobile photography, though now a widely accepted category of photography, has had its share of doubt on its legitimacy in the past. But if you think about it, photography has never been as popular and accessible as it is now, and that’s thanks to smartphones. As photographer Chase Jarvis says, “The best camera is the one you have with you.”
This collaboration isn’t ZEISS’ first foray into mobile photography. ZEISS had a jumpstart even before smartphones were invented. Today, however, ZEISS sees a great opportunity to push the boundaries of mobile photography as technologies behind smartphones have drastically improved – both in hardware and software.
vivo and ZEISS flew us to Germany to show how their partnership works in closer detail. We visited the ZEISS headquarters in Oberkochen, and then walked around an idyllic town called Aalen as well as the city of Munich to put the vivo V40’s ZEISS co-engineered camera to the test.
A legacy of lenses
ZEISS has 178 years of optics history behind it. The research-oriented enterprise started as a business that developed microscopes founded by Carl Zeiss in 1846. From studying tiny things up close, the company would also design binoculars to see things from a distance and telescopes to observe the vastness of the cosmos.
Today, ZEISS has a hand in different industries and applications – photography and cinematography among them. ZEISS, in the camera world, is known to create high-quality and high-performing glass. In fact, the camera lens used during the first moon landing was built by ZEISS. Award-winning films like “Barry Lyndon,” the “Lord of the Rings” trilogy, the James Bond movie “Skyfall,” and “Everything Everywhere All at Once” were also shot with ZEISS lenses.
These lenses cost a premium, so to put three in a smartphone, well, that’s quite astonishing, to say the least.
The ZEISS stamp of approval
vivo and ZEISS’ collaboration began in 2020. Their goal was to expand what smartphone cameras can do and improve how people take photos with their phones. They have released a series of phones with ZEISS co-engineered cameras including the recent V-series and the X-series devices.
While designing and manufacturing the hardware is taken on by vivo, ZEISS is in charge of checking performance in terms of speed, accuracy, color, stabilization, replicability of results, and more. Simply put, ZEISS makes sure that the cameras pass ZEISS optics standards. If at any point they find an area to be improved on, they will send back their findings to vivo so they can develop the cameras further.
Part of this too is figuring out how software and artificial intelligence enhancements can fill in the gaps for what the hardware can’t accomplish. After all, we have to remember that conventional camera lenses are massive while phone cameras are smaller than your fingernails (or teeth, for that matter).
“The first thing we have to take care of is bringing as much image information to the sensor – meaning the best possible hardware in optics and also in electronics so that you can get the best possible database. And based on the data that we generate [through] the hardware, then we can add on image processing and AI. And the better the database, the better the [image signal processor works],” said Oliver Schindelbeck, senior smartphone technology manager at ZEISS Consumer Products who has been working on ZEISS cameras for mobile phones since the early 2000s.
And after using the phone extensively, there are two things I can say. First, the images produced by the vivo V40 ZEISS co-engineered camera systems look great. Two, it’s made photography fun for me again.
A camera you’ll never leave behind
A big part of my enjoyment in this whole process of getting to know the vivo V40 was really how light the phone is. In the past, I would persist in bringing around a DSLR or a mirrorless camera with lens alternatives, filters, and other gear. While this was fun for a while, I would eventually swap this for a smartphone simply because things got too heavy.
The ZEISS collaboration has changed the way I experience mobile photography. There’s really a quality to ZEISS imagery that’s hard to put a pin on. Dr. Ramona Ettig, head of R&D Mobile Imaging at ZEISS Group, articulated this by saying that ZEISS prioritizes three key areas: true colors, sharpness, and 3D pop (or depth). She says that the way they approach these three is what creates that “ZEISS look.”
And I can tell just by looking at the photos from the vivo V40 that indeed, images are processed differently. Other phones would compensate by oversharpening images which makes photos look unnatural. This also means that facial features and flaws are heavily exaggerated.
With the vivo V40 series, however, we see the value in keeping some areas soft and keeping others sharp. I also like how colors look natural once an image is captured. Some photos will need a bit of touch-up if you’re into color grading, but leaving the camera in automatic mode yields great results most of the time.
The vivo V40-series is being marketed for its portrait photography features. You can switch between conventional portrait photography focal lengths from 24 mm, 35 mm, to 50 mm. There’s also an option to apply filters that recreate bokeh styles based on iconic ZEISS lenses. This may seem novel at first but they’re hard not to use once you get to try them.
More than portrait photography though, I also find this phone to be great for street photography. The focal lengths available are also quite popular among street photographers so there’s a lot you can do with the vivo V40. And because the phone isn’t as intimidating as a full-sized camera, it’s easy to snap and move on without attracting too much attention.
Will mobile phones replace bigger cameras?
If you’re a professional photographer, not really. A camera with an interchangeable lens and ports for attachments will still provide you the flexibility you need for your job.
If you’re a hobbyist, a content creator, or someone who wants to get into professional photography in the future, then learning photography with a vivo V40 is a good place to start. The vivo V40 is so easy to use that you’ll be able to practice photography fundamentals without having to shell out a huge chunk of cash with its starting price of P26,999.
With a phone like this, one of the first things you’ll learn is the importance of good composition, because no matter how beautifully a camera captures light and color, a badly composed image is still a bad one. You’ll learn how timing plays an important role when capturing moments. You’ll develop that photographer instinct or intuition that lets you maximize an opportune moment to capture an image.
For me, a phone like this has helped me enjoy taking photos on a deeper level. I’ve never stopped taking photos, especially with my phone. This device, however, reminded me of just how much I love photography.
It has helped me relearn how photography, while an amazing expression of art and identity, can also be fun and not so serious. I can capture the grandeur of the Marienplatz or the beautiful blend of nature and modern architecture in the Olympiapark in Munich, I can immortalize a quiet moment on a lazy afternoon in Aalen, or just have a good time taking photos with some good friends. – Rappler.com
Photos uploaded in this article have been slightly compressed and optimized for web.