Vivo ZEISS Imaging Lab, and what’s up with Nokia Mobile?

| 19/12/2020 | HOME, Phones | No Comments

When Nokia Mobile rekindled its relationship with Germany’s ZEISS back in 2017, there are high hopes for a next generation imaging technology for future Nokia smartphones. Four years later, we have yet to see what came out of that partnership other than the ZEISS logo on Nokia smartphones, and some software smarts that didn’t quite reached the expectations of many — especially with the brand such as Nokia.

Yes, the Nokia 9 PureView has some tricks up its sleeves. At the same time, it was bugged with many problems from the start, making it quite impossible for many to prefer it over the ocean of Android flagship smartphones. Not to mention, the penta-lens system was actually developed by third-party partner, Light, which has since moved on from its smartphone imaging endeavor.

As with ZEISS, the recent Nokia 8.3’s camera definitely sounds great on paper. But judging from couple of videos uploaded by Marin, the quality is still sub-far – no one should use 8-bit (?) Log, ever. Anyway, you can read our review of Nokia 8.3 5G here.

While the main camera is performing rather well on all light conditions, wide-angle camera is also quite decent, and the 2MP depth camera for bokeh effect (something you can also achieve using a wide-angle), but the 2MP macro is useless and just filling up of the quad-camera system.

Anyway, many got used seeing ZEISS exclusively on Nokia devices so no wonder people were surprized when ZEISS announced partnership with Sony Mobile with the launch of the Xperia 1 II. Sony is ZEISS’s long-time partner for its range of cameras and lenses, so it’s expected that Sony will have the same treatment for its smartphones. Nokia Mobile’s, Juho Sarvikas, later acknowledged the partnership on Twitter. Good for him.

This week is quite a shock for Nokia fans, as ZEISS added Vivo for its list of partners. Adding insult to the injury, Vivo managed to do something Nokia Mobile haven’t done four years after it’s rekindled partnership with ZEISS, a vivo ZEISS Imaging Lab – a joint R&D program focused on developing innovative solutions for mobile imaging technology. The program will oversee the joint development and co-engineering of optical components for future vivo flagships.

Vivo even managed to drop a vivo ZEISS Master Photography campaign to start with. This is far from Nokia Mobile’s #ShotOnNokia online campaign which engadged the Nokia community once again and has gathered some great images from the community. This has never happened with Nokia before, a brand which make sure they keep everything exclusive for the sake of unique mobile experience for its users. But, the difference between Nokia Mobile and the old Nokia company is huge and it is maybe not fair to expect the same standard Nokia used to keep from a small Finnish startup company. On the other hand, Nokia Mobile could have invested a bit more in photography and maybe elevate the partnership with ZEISS to another level over the years.

So what’s up Nokia Mobile? Are we going to see some ZEISS Vario Tessar imaging technology in future Nokia phones?

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