Zeiss CEO says that there are limits to the evolution of smartphone cameras

The thin profile of the modern smartphone limits the potential of smartphone cameras. That isn't a statement thrown out by a Wall Street analyst far removed from the industry. These are actually the thoughts of Dr. Michael Kaschke, President and CEO of Zeiss Group. Kaschke says that while there is a limit with the hardware, digital processing is one area that could make a difference. According to Indian Express, Kaschke was in India to help open Zeiss' camera lenses experience zone at India's Museo Camera photography museum.

Google is a good example of a company that has embraced computational photography. The combination of the camera hardware on the Pixel handsets and Google's digital image processing prowess has put the Pixels near the top of the list-if not at the top-of handsets that produce the best photographs. One thing that won't necessarily improve the images snapped by a smartphone are the number of lenses on the back. And that comes right back to the limits placed on a smartphone's photography system because of the form factor. Kaschke says that the depth on these devices forces them to sport small sensors. As a result, he says that there are two shortcomings that smartphone cameras will always face. One is the problem of taking great pictures under low-light conditions. The second is the lack of outstanding telescopic capabilities.

Even though smartphone cameras are popular, Kaschke says that there will always be a place for professional photography equipment. He says that "...instead of going to the common variety of photography, which I think the smartphone will eventually prevail over, we (Zeiss) focus on the professionals, semi-professional and artistic photographers." That doesn't mean that Zeiss won't continue to sell some of its optics to manufacturers like HMD Global. Weighing in on the penta-camera setup on the Nokia 9 PureView that uses Zeiss' lenses, he says that the optical quality on the phone is among the best available. But he hinted that the use of multiple lenses and digital image processing on smartphones is still in its early stages. He also states that the only way smartphone manufacturers can differentiate themselves is through the performance of the cameras on each model. Having said that, the executive says that the 64MP sensor announced by Samsung is overkill. 40MP is "already more than enough," he says, pointing out that the full-frame sensors in use today divide a large number of pixels into smaller and smaller pixels creating too much noise.