If the Galaxy S11 rumors are anything to go by, it’s going to get some major improvements in the camera department. The Galaxy S11 is expected to be the first smartphone from Samsung to offer a 5x optical zoom capability.
Samsung’s existing conventional 2x telephoto optical zoom lens has optical image stabilization or OIS. Naturally, many are wondering if the 5x telephoto solution expected for the Galaxy S11 will have it too. That’s because it’s telephoto solution will be fundamentally different from what’s being used currently.
The company is expected to go with a periscope camera module for the Galaxy S11. To allow for 5x optical zoom on the device without the module protruding from the back, the sensor and lenses arranged sideways and the principle of reflecting light in a periscope is utilized. This method allows for a longer telephoto lens to sit flush with the body of a slim smartphone.
Samsung Electro-Mechanics has been making camera modules since 2003. It recently announced the mass production of a 5x optical zoom camera. What the company didn’t say at the time is whether it features OIS as well. Since this module hasn’t been used in a smartphone so far, that’s not something known to the public just yet. It may ostensibly be the module used for the Galaxy S11.
However, we have discovered a patent application that Samsung Electro-Mechanics filed this week with the Korean Intellectual Property Office. The patent is for a periscope camera module with optical image stabilization. It further emphasizes handshake correction which is what OIS makes possible. It offers some detail about how the OIS module within the periscope camera would work to reduce motion blur.
