Vivo X200 Ultra smartphone gets a Zeiss telephoto

The Vivo/Zeiss add-on lens for the Vivo X200 Ultra expands the camera’s focal length, now limited to an 85mm periscope telephoto, to offer, Vivo claims, an “highly usable” 800mm focal length.

The upcoming Vivo X200 Ultra introduces some exciting new options for photographers and videomakers, with its two dedicated camera chips, for pre- and post-processing, and its triple camera island, a 14mm (ultra-wide) built around the 50MP Sony LYT-818 sensor, a 35mm (wide and main camera) built around the same Sony sensor, and finally the 85mm periscope telephoto that uses the 200MP Samsung ISOCELL HP9.

The company has been actively showing some of the Vivo X200 Ultra features in recent weeks, from the video stabilization, which Vivo claims is superior to the one used by Apple in its iPhone models, to the photos the camera array can capture at different focal lengths, both optically and exploring the digital features of the new model. The most recent video shared on Weibo compares long exposure video modes on the Vivo X200 Ultra and the iPhone 16Pro Max and if the results are real, then Vivo takes the crown!

The company also unveiled a kit that includes a grip with that will offer better ergonomics, a solution like the one offered by Xiaomi for its Xiaomi 14 Ultra smartphone. With, according to Vivo Product Manager Han Boxiao, “a retro camera appearance” an USB Type-C connection, a video dedicated button and a powerful feature that will only be revealed when it launches, the new grip also has space for a 2.300mAh battery for extended use.

Now, days before the Vivo X200 Ultra is officially announced, the company reveals that the new model will also get an add-on lens that expands the reach of the smartphone. Add-on telephoto lens have been around for a while and you’ll find many of them being sold in places like Amazon, but their quality makes them, in general terms, useless. We’ve seen, recently, during the Mobile World Congress, Xiaomi and Realme solutions in terms of interchangeable lenses for smartphones, but the solution from Vivo is closer to the Amazon models than the ”heavy” lenses proposed by both the Xiaomi Modular Optical System and the Realme Interchangeable Lens Concept.

Despite looking much like one of those “telephoto” pieces of glass you can get from Amazon, this new telephoto from Vivo/Zeiss promises to be different. The add-on telephoto is designed to be paired with the 200MP sensor camera array (that’s what the images available suggest). The lens is a 200mm equivalent telephoto with an aperture of f/2.3 that, according to Vivo, will expand the focal length all the way up to 1600mm although, the company says, “highly usable” photos will be available from captures made up to 800mm focal length.

Engineered with Zeiss, with whom Vivo has a technology partnership, the external add-on lens shows some promising results, as demonstrate the images shared online by Vivo Product Manager Han Boxiao (used to illustrate this news story). Even beyond 1000mm the results make you wonder if your next camera should be a smartphone.

On the path to reveal the Vivo X200 Ultra, the company has used real-world stories captured with the Vivo X200 Pro to suggest the direction it is taking. The short cinematic film The Colours of China, captured by passionate filmmaker and photographer Dennis Barbas using a Vivo X200 Pro is a good example. Different reviews of the Vivo X200 Pro also confirm that Vivo, which is now expanding to the Western markets, is a serious contender that both photographers and videomakers should check before buying their next smartphone.