OnePlus Partnering with Hasselblad For Upcoming Phone Release

[ThePointblank]

OnePlus has signed a 3 year partnership agreement with Hasselblad, a camera manufacturer to ‘co-develop the next generation of smartphone camera systems’ inside OnePlus’ phones, starting with the upcoming launch of the OnePlus 9:

 

Via DPReview:

 

https://www.dpreview.com/news/3940514580/oneplus-3-year-partnership-hasselblad-reveals-9-series-smartphone-launch-details

 

Quote

Smartphone manufacturer OnePlus has announced it’s partnering with Swedish camera manufacturer Hasselblad to ‘co-develop the next generation of smartphone camera systems’ inside OnePlus’ mobile devices, including the new OnePlus 9 Series, which will launch on March 23.

 

 

The partnership will see Hasselblad work alongside OnePlus to improve OnePlus' camera technology, starting first with the software side, such as colour tuning and sensor calibration, and will progress to other areas of development.

 

Already announced for the upcoming launch of the OnePlus 9 is the new colour calibration science, which is being claimed to "deliver more perceptually-accurate and natural-looking colors to images taken with flagship OnePlus devices," and a replacement of the OnePlus camera app with a Hasselblad branded app called ‘Hasselblad Camera for Mobile,’ which per a OnePlus press release will ‘allows for an unprecedented amount of control for professional photographers to fine-tune their photos, with the ability to adjust ISO, focus, exposure times, white balance, and more.’

 

The new 'Hasselblad Camera for Mobile' app will also have a Hasselblad Pro Mode, which is effectively a 12-bit Raw capture mode; it is unknown if this is will be a standard Raw capture or a more AI-powered approach akin to Apple's ProRAW approach.

 

The only hardware thing to note about the upcoming OnePlus 9 launch from a camera perspective is that OnePlus has noted that the OnePlus 9 will contain a customized variant of Sony’s IMX789 sensor, which OnePlus calls ‘the largest and most advanced main camera sensor ever on a OnePlus device.’

 

The OnePlus 9 will launch on March 23rd at 10am ET via the OnePlus website.

[seban]

9 minutes ago, ThePointblank said:

OnePlus has signed a 3 year partnership agreement with Hasselblad, a camera manufacturer to ‘co-develop the next generation of smartphone camera systems’ inside OnePlus’ phones, starting with the upcoming launch of the OnePlus 9:

 

Via DPReview:

 

https://www.dpreview.com/news/3940514580/oneplus-3-year-partnership-hasselblad-reveals-9-series-smartphone-launch-details

 

 

The partnership will see Hasselblad work alongside OnePlus to improve OnePlus' camera technology, starting first with the software side, such as colour tuning and sensor calibration, and will progress to other areas of development.

 

Already announced for the upcoming launch of the OnePlus 9 is the new colour calibration science, which is being claimed to "deliver more perceptually-accurate and natural-looking colors to images taken with flagship OnePlus devices," and a replacement of the OnePlus camera app with a Hasselblad branded app called ‘Hasselblad Camera for Mobile,’ which per a OnePlus press release will ‘allows for an unprecedented amount of control for professional photographers to fine-tune their photos, with the ability to adjust ISO, focus, exposure times, white balance, and more.’

 

The new 'Hasselblad Camera for Mobile' app will also have a Hasselblad Pro Mode, which is effectively a 12-bit Raw capture mode; it is unknown if this is will be a standard Raw capture or a more AI-powered approach akin to Apple's ProRAW approach.

 

The only hardware thing to note about the upcoming OnePlus 9 launch from a camera perspective is that OnePlus has noted that the OnePlus 9 will contain a customized variant of Sony’s IMX789 sensor, which OnePlus calls ‘the largest and most advanced main camera sensor ever on a OnePlus device.’

 

The OnePlus 9 will launch on March 23rd at 10am ET via the OnePlus website.

great

[Spindel]

Isn't optics what makes a Hasselblad a Hasselblad? 

 

I predict this is a PR stunt as useless as "Zeiss" on Sony phone cameras. 

[That Franc]

Honestly, even on DJI drones a "Hasselblad" camera didn't do much of anything. Yes, it had a greater bit depth, and a better ISO performance compared to something like a Mavic Air 2 camera - but only on account of the fact that it used a 4x larger sensor, and probably a better processor, too, which could very well be achieved without putting a word "Hasselblad" on the lens.

 

With that said, if this sort of shoddy marketing will at least make them cut fewer corners this time around, this might not be too much of a bad thing.

[Sauron]

2 hours ago, Spindel said:

Isn't optics what makes a Hasselblad a Hasselblad? 

 

I predict this is a PR stunt as useless as "Zeiss" on Sony phone cameras. 

You do know phones still have lenses...?

[RejZoR]

1000+ € OnePlus phones incoming...

[kelvinhall05]

2 hours ago, Spindel said:

Isn't optics what makes a Hasselblad a Hasselblad? 

 

I predict this is a PR stunt as useless as "Zeiss" on Sony phone cameras. 

Agreed, we've seen time and time again that phone cameras are 90% software. Just look at how flashing gcam on literally any phones makes it immediately take significantly better pictures.

38 minutes ago, Sauron said:

You do know phones still have lenses...?

Yeah but they don't have enough space to put any interesting lenses that we haven't seen before.

[Sauron]

19 minutes ago, kelvinhall05 said:

Yeah but they don't have enough space to put any interesting lenses that we haven't seen before.

They don't need to be that, they just need to be good lenses.

[kelvinhall05]

3 minutes ago, Sauron said:

They don't need to be that, they just need to be good lenses.

This sounds like you're implying that current phones don't have good lenses. I really don't think that's the case. Granted, I'm not a photographer, but either way I don't think a "higher quality" lens would improve camera quality on a tiny sensor that very heavily relies on software.

[Sauron]

10 minutes ago, kelvinhall05 said:

This sounds like you're implying that current phones don't have good lenses. I really don't think that's the case. Granted, I'm not a photographer, but either way I don't think a "higher quality" lens would improve camera quality on a tiny sensor that very heavily relies on software.

You'd be surprised how much of a difference optics can make, many photographers recommend getting a better lens over a better camera if you're on a budget. I'm not implying anything about other phones, it's not like hasselblad is the only good lens manufacturer or anything, I'm just saying that there can be good reasons to partner with a well known lens manufacturer for this.

 

Whether improving smartphone camera quality and having the phone cost upwards of 1k as a result is a worthwile pursuit is another matter entirely (my answer is no but clearly many disagree).

[Doobeedoo]

I guess they won't use motorized cam this time too though.

[suicidalfranco]

And then there's me. Still not caring about camera on phone.

Can probably count in one hand the amount of times I've opened the camera app on my now 6 year old phone.

But Hey, gotta find ways to justify the incoming price hike.

[Morgan MLGman]

2 minutes ago, suicidalfranco said:

And then there's me. Still not caring about camera on phone.

Well, that changes a little when you actually have a good camera on a phone. It's actually usable and useful when it's good.
 

22 minutes ago, Doobeedoo said:

I guess they won't use motorized cam this time too though.

I had a OnePlus 7 Pro for 1.5 year, the motorized cam was great for me because I don't use the front camera. It was definitely a downgrade going to an S21 Ultra in that regard and I think it was quite a good idea to go for the pop-up camera in the first place for OnePlus, sad they ditched it for the IP68 rating.

[Spindel]

2 hours ago, Sauron said:

You do know phones still have lenses...?

 

1 hour ago, Sauron said:

They don't need to be that, they just need to be good lenses.

Looks at my lenses in the micro 4/3 system (that isn't even THE best system)... 

 

...yeah, phones are a joke because there isn't enough room.

 

 

[Sauron]

18 minutes ago, Spindel said:

 

Looks at my lenses in the micro 4/3 system (that isn't even THE best system)... 

 

...yeah, phones are a joke because there isn't enough room.

 

 

*looks at F1 Ferrari (that didn't even win)*

 

...yeah, that Golf is a joke cause the engine doesn't have enough horsepower

[LAwLz]

I'm skeptical.

It will remain to be seen if this is just a marketing ploy or if their cameras really do improve. The OnePlus 8 Pro actually had a really good camera.

It doesn't really matter if it has Hasselblad or Zeiss or Leica written on it somewhere or if it was "developed through partnerships" with some famous camera company. What matters is how good the pictures are. If it can deliver on that then I am satisficed.

[EJMB]

25 minutes ago, LAwLz said:

I'm skeptical.

It will remain to be seen if this is just a marketing ploy or if their cameras really do improve. The OnePlus 8 Pro actually had a really good camera.

It doesn't really matter if it has Hasselblad or Zeiss or Leica written on it somewhere or if it was "developed through partnerships" with some famous camera company. What matters is how good the pictures are. If it can deliver on that then I am satisficed.

definitely agree there...if it's all a marketing ploy (although highly unlikely...but could be what majority of the 'working with' budget is placed in) where the licensing fee will be passed on to consumers, it's not worth much

[suicidalfranco]

2 hours ago, Morgan MLGman said:

Well, that changes a little when you actually have a good camera on a phone. It's actually usable and useful when it's good.

the V10 has a good camera, still don' care about it, nor do i intend to use it.

[Morgan MLGman]

Just now, suicidalfranco said:

the V10 has a good camera, still don' care about it, nor do i intend to use it.

Honestly, no LG phone right now has a good camera The best would be LG Wing, and it's still far behind other companies. Let alone a V10.

[suicidalfranco]

6 minutes ago, Morgan MLGman said:

Honestly, no LG phone right now has a good camera The best would be LG Wing, and it's still far behind other companies. Let alone a V10.

Irc LG was praised for it's camera on the V10

 

 

So yeah... still didn't use in 6 years and never will till the day it dies

(and if that happens i'll probably just buy a new mainboard for it, cause frankly all phone released since i purchased this one are just compromises compared to what the V10 has)

[Morgan MLGman]

16 minutes ago, suicidalfranco said:

So yeah... still didn't use in 6 years and never will till the day it dies

I see, well it may have had a good camera back in the day, but it's not even comparable to what modern smartphones are capable of, and honestly - you'd be surprised

I started using phone cameras more and more the better they got, to the point where I use them daily - from quick scanning documents, to taking pictures of things I need to remember quickly, hell I even use the selfie one as a mirror sometimes. Capturing awesome moments became definitely more rare since the whole pandemic thing started, but it was definitely up there too. From macro shots to pictures with huge levels of magnifications to be able to see things that even the human eye is not capable of seeing, it's just a much better experience than it used to be a few years ago.
I get that some people may not care about this, but a good camera is a good selling point to many. And you know what they say - the best camera is the one that you always have with you.

[D13H4RD]

1 hour ago, EJMB said:

definitely agree there...if it's all a marketing ploy (although highly unlikely...but could be what majority of the 'working with' budget is placed in) where the licensing fee will be passed on to consumers, it's not worth much

It is still very much a marketing ploy. Whether or not it actually leads to results remains to be seen.

[suicidalfranco]

13 minutes ago, Morgan MLGman said:

I see, well it may have had a good camera back in the day, but it's not even comparable to what modern smartphones are capable of, and honestly - you'd be surprised

I started using phone cameras more and more the better they got, to the point where I use them daily - from quick scanning documents, to taking pictures of things I need to remember quickly, hell I even use the selfie one as a mirror sometimes. Capturing awesome moments became definitely more rare since the whole pandemic thing started, but it was definitely up there too. From macro shots to pictures with huge levels of magnifications to be able to see things that even the human eye is not capable of seeing, it's just a much better experience than it used to be a few years ago.
I get that some people may not care about this, but a good camera is a good selling point to many. And you know what they say - the best camera is the one that you always have with you.

sure, but:

- the few times i need to scan something i'm most definitely in the office, and i'd rather use the photocopier's feeder o scan stuff than take a picture one page per time

- i don't do selfie

- nor do i feel the need to "capture moments", and everything associated with it: video capture, macros, zoom, low light, etc. i simply: do not care.

So to me One Plus increasing the price of their phone (like they have been since the 1, and every year the jusification has been worst than the previous one) with the excuse, among many others definitely, that they needed to do it because of this new partnership, falls on deaf ears.

[dizmo]

I'm very interested to see how this partnership plays out. At first I just blew it off as another failed attempt to use the Hasselblad branding (Motorola, anyone?), but it seems like they've actually put a decent amount of work in this time. The phone has a custom sensor, which should net some interesting results. Of course only time will tell, so next week we should see if their work has paid off. Though, realistically it'll take months, as most cameras improve drastically once they've been in the wild for a bit.

 

The camera was the one area I feel truly held OnePlus back from being a true flagship, and if they've finally sorted that, I think they're going to be a real contender going forward.

 

On 3/9/2021 at 2:44 AM, Spindel said:

Isn't optics what makes a Hasselblad a Hasselblad? 

 

I predict this is a PR stunt as useless as "Zeiss" on Sony phone cameras. 

Zeiss actually allowed Sony to use some of their proprietary lens coatings that greatly reduce glare. So it's not exactly useless.

On 3/9/2021 at 5:15 AM, RejZoR said:

1000+ € OnePlus phones incoming...

Shouldn't be surprising at all..

On 3/9/2021 at 5:30 AM, kelvinhall05 said:

Agreed, we've seen time and time again that phone cameras are 90% software. Just look at how flashing gcam on literally any phones makes it immediately take significantly better pictures.

Yeah but they don't have enough space to put any interesting lenses that we haven't seen before.

Ehhhh. To a point. Look at Google. They've kept the same sensor, and now that they've moved down to a lower tier SoC, their cameras are falling behind the competition, and falling behind fast. Software, while important, is a lot less than 90% of the total score.

On 3/9/2021 at 5:54 AM, kelvinhall05 said:

This sounds like you're implying that current phones don't have good lenses. I really don't think that's the case. Granted, I'm not a photographer, but either way I don't think a "higher quality" lens would improve camera quality on a tiny sensor that very heavily relies on software.

A higher quality lens will definitely improve the image. The sensors are also growing in size, with Sony (or Samsung) releasing a 1" phone camera sensor this year.

On 3/9/2021 at 6:29 AM, suicidalfranco said:

And then there's me. Still not caring about camera on phone.

Can probably count in one hand the amount of times I've opened the camera app on my now 6 year old phone.

But Hey, gotta find ways to justify the incoming price hike.

You're in a very, very small minority though If they improve the camera enough I think the price is justified, especially since it'll likely still be cheaper than the competition, even if it's just by 100.

On 3/9/2021 at 8:22 AM, LAwLz said:

I'm skeptical.

It will remain to be seen if this is just a marketing ploy or if their cameras really do improve. The OnePlus 8 Pro actually had a really good camera.

It doesn't really matter if it has Hasselblad or Zeiss or Leica written on it somewhere or if it was "developed through partnerships" with some famous camera company. What matters is how good the pictures are. If it can deliver on that then I am satisficed.

Agreed. In the past we've just seen the names plastered on there with what seems like next to no actual input by the camera company.

This seems a bit different this time, though, hopefully. As phones chip away at camera sales, it only makes sense that these companies try and get their name out there in these alternative spaces. Hopefully this is the first step we see of that.

On 3/9/2021 at 9:44 AM, Morgan MLGman said:

I see, well it may have had a good camera back in the day, but it's not even comparable to what modern smartphones are capable of, and honestly - you'd be surprised

I started using phone cameras more and more the better they got, to the point where I use them daily - from quick scanning documents, to taking pictures of things I need to remember quickly, hell I even use the selfie one as a mirror sometimes. Capturing awesome moments became definitely more rare since the whole pandemic thing started, but it was definitely up there too. From macro shots to pictures with huge levels of magnifications to be able to see things that even the human eye is not capable of seeing, it's just a much better experience than it used to be a few years ago.
I get that some people may not care about this, but a good camera is a good selling point to many. And you know what they say - the best camera is the one that you always have with you.

Mmmm some people just don't use cameras. I'll admit that even when I had flagship phones I wasn't going around using the camera a lot more.

 

Though I am stoked to see 1" sensors making their way to phones again. I'd love to see Sony or someone pop out a camera-centric phone.
Actually maybe not Sony. They'd charge $2,500 and find some way to have a proprietary cable in there.

On 3/9/2021 at 10:07 AM, suicidalfranco said:

sure, but:

- the few times i need to scan something i'm most definitely in the office, and i'd rather use the photocopier's feeder o scan stuff than take a picture one page per time

- i don't do selfie

- nor do i feel the need to "capture moments", and everything associated with it: video capture, macros, zoom, low light, etc. i simply: do not care.

So to me One Plus increasing the price of their phone (like they have been since the 1, and every year the jusification has been worst than the previous one) with the excuse, among many others definitely, that they needed to do it because of this new partnership, falls on deaf ears.

They were always going to raise their prices. Having a phone at the price they launched at was never going to be sustainable. So, even without them "improving" parts year over year, there was always plans for price increases as popularity grew.