We’ve already heard amazing things about the OnePlus 5 camera, but OnePlus management is cranking up the heat even further with another one of their trademark clues about the highly-anticipated handset. Sometimes the best marketing effort is a hint that gets people talking rather than just flat out telling them something. In this case, it’s a photo which suggests that one of the two lenses on the OnePlus 5’s camera could be a monochrome sensor.
Black and white photo teases the OnePlus 5’s camera
In a post on Twitter, OnePlus Founder and Chief Executive Pete Lau shared an incredible black and white photo that was taken using the OnePlus 5’s camera. The photo comes on the heels of another hint confirming that the OnePlus 5 camera will indeed have dual lenses, as has been believed for quite some time.
Powerful photos tell powerful stories. #OnePlus5 pic.twitter.com/XE7ouCEnRV
— Pete Lau (@PeteLau) June 10, 2017
OnePlus 5 camera targets black, white and everything in between
We live during a time when black and white photos stand out more than color because the default setting on most cameras is color. Camera makers and now smartphone makers too are trying to outdo each other in terms of pixel count and color clarity, but it takes an amazing talent to get crystal clear black and white photos with all of the nuances of every shade in between. Of course, it’s all the better if you have a camera that makes it easy to do this without actually needing to have the talent to do it.
Anyone who is attracted to black and white photography as an art form will undoubtedly be interested in the OnePlus 5 simply for the quality of its camera. And they will be even more interested if the OnePlus 5’s camera is able to turn out black and white photos like the one above without requiring a thorough understanding of how to take such photos with a regular camera.
Why this hints at a monochrome sensor for the OnePlus 5’s camera
The photo shared by Lau offers more than just a teaser that the OnePlus 5 camera will be incredible. For those who know a great deal about cameras and photography in general, the photo suggests that the dual-lens camera will feature a monochrome sensor. As dual-lens cameras become more common on high-end smartphones, this sort of knowledge may filter down into the general population. But for now, it takes a discerning eye and full understanding of how cameras work to take full insight from what Lau is probably hinting at with the OnePlus 5’s camera.
Phandroid and Phone Arena explain that there are two types of dual-lens cameras. One offers what photographers would consider to be true optical zoom by featuring one wide-angle sensor and one telephoto sensor. The other variety offers a monochrome sensor and is aimed at taking better photos in low-light conditions, such as the Huawei P9, which has also been praised for the quality of its camera. In fact, rumors suggested last summer that Apple and Samsung wanted to copy the P9’s camera for their flagship handsets.
Lau’s photo seems to back up the rumors that the dual-lens OnePlus 5 camera will have a monochrome sensor rather than wide-angle and telephoto lenses. A monochrome sensor is better at capturing finer details as it tends to be more sensitive to light, thus enabling someone to take ultra-fine black and white photos like the one Lau posted on Twitter. It certainly seems the OnePlus 5 camera will appeal to both photography nuts and also to those who just want people to think that they have a natural talent for snapping photos in amazing detail. OnePlus appears to have spared no expense when it comes to the camera for its next flagship, given its partnership with DxO, the makers of the popular camera benchmarking software.
