Smartphone cameras have come a long way, so much so that they almost epitomise the saying "The best camera is the one you have with you". Apart from periscope cameras and larger image sensors, this progress has been helped along by more traditional camera brands such as Leica, Hasselblad and Zeiss.
But who are these camera brands? Which phone brands are they working with and what makes them special? If these are the questions lingering in your mind, you have come to the right place, so take a read below to learn more about the Famous Camera Brands in Mobile Phones.
Leica - The one that started it all
To kick this off, we will start with Leica as it's the first traditional camera brand to work with a phone manufacturer. Leica Camera manufactures cameras, optical lenses, photographic lenses, binoculars, scopes and more all the way from Germany. This company was founded by Ernst Leitz in 1869! The company was called Leitz at first before changing its name to Leica in 1986, as it is derived from the first three letters of the founder's surname (Leitz) and the first two letters of the word camera. Hence, Leica.
As you can imagine, Leica is extremely popular in Europe. When asked why Leica cameras are better, 48% voted for "Build quality + Simplicity", followed by "Image quality (colours, black and white, Leica look) and "wanting a digital rangefinder" at 19% and 15%, respectively. These three factors synchronize with each other, as there was a time when people started to look for a good digital rangefinder camera instead of carrying around a bulky DSLR camera.
According to this website, Leica introduced the Leica M camera series for this reason. A rangefinder camera's lenses are small and offer better focus with a focus on black and white photography. So when a photographer tries a digital Leica camera for the first time, one of the first comments would almost always include:
- "Wow the photos look amazing straight out of the camera"
- "The colours are so good from this Leica camera"
- "Leica cameras make proper black and white photos"
- "This is so good"
- "OK I need a Leica camera"
We could go on talking about Leica and its history, but that's a story for another day. Jumping to 2016, Huawei and Leica announced their long-term partnership and the former was about to reinvent mobile photography forever. Huawei has been making phones since the 2000s and it can be argued that the Huawei P9 Series was the first one that made a breakthrough globally with its unique and specialized black and white lens, courtesy of Leica camera technology.
Huawei and Leica's partnership continued until 2020 with the Huawei P40 Series. Unfortunately, the US government at the time decided to ban Huawei from using Google Mobile Services, causing a lot of difficulties during the 5G race. Then, in 2022, Huawei confirmed the end of its collaboration with Leica, as the latter moved forward with Xiaomi within the same period.
All in all, Leica Camera is known for its reputation for craftsmanship, innovation and even luxury, with a focus on black and white photography. This contributed towards smartphone cameras with better gradations of black and white for more depth, as we can see in the latest Xiaomi 15 series.
Hasselblad - Another powerhouse
In the same year (2022), OPPO announced its new collaboration with Hasselblad. Like Leica, Hasselblad is no pushover and has a long history dating back to the 1800s. The company was first established in 1841 in Sweden by Fritz Wiktor Hasselblad as a trading company. However, it was Arvid Viktor Hasselblad, the founder's son who started the photographic division and the rest is history.
Hasselblad has quite a few milestones in its history. For starters, the HK-7 was not Hasselblad's first consumer camera. But it was the strong kickstart that Viktor needed to open up his first production space under the name Ross AB, which later became the Hasselblad that is known today. The company's first consumer camera only came around after World War 2 in 1948 with the Hasselblad 1600F. Then in 1962, Hasselblad partnered with NASA, when NASA astronaut and photography enthusiast Walter Schirra brought his own Hasselblad 500C with a Planar f/2.8, 80mm lens. If you saw a few iconic old photos in space (particularly the one with Apollo 11), they were most likely taken with a Hasselblad camera.
Hasselblad (alongside Leica) cameras are very expensive but photographers still buy them. But why is that? A quick Google search will tell you the typical answers - image quality, colour accuracy, great dynamic range and others. However, the one that stands out the most might be the shutters, as Hasselblad is the only camera manufacturer that still makes mirrorless cameras with interchangeable lenses and leaf shutters. These are placed in the lens instead of the camera body, unlike so many DSLRs.
OPPO is not the first phone brand to work with Hasselblad. Back in 2021, Hasselblad actually worked with OnePlus to develop a new camera technology for the OnePlus 9 Series. It was just a one-time thing, though, and it was only limited to colour calibration and camera interface design. Currently, OPPO and Hasselblad are in their second year of partnership and the latest OPPO Find X8 Series is equipped with Hasselblad camera technology.
Zeiss - The company that helped shape our modern world!
Last but not least, Zeiss is another giant optics company deeply rooted in Germany. It was founded in 1846 by Carl Zeiss as a mechanic and optical workshop, focusing more on microscope production. The history of Zeiss is based on apprenticeship, as Zeiss trained his first employees with his knowledge and skills, passing them down to future generations and helping the company grow.
Perhaps the most important figure was Ernst Abbe who joined Zeiss as a physicist to improve his microscopes. He later became a partner and helped shape it, merging science and industry, which were separated for a long time. Abbe also trained his students and achieved great scientific achievements with Zeiss.
Abbe's contributions are not to be taken lightly. Zeiss manufactures camera and cine lenses, various microscopes, planetariums, eyeglass lenses, lithography optics, electron microscopy, photomasks, medical technology and many more. In many ways, Zeiss has helped build our modern world more than you expect!
In cameras, Zeiss is most well-known for their bokeh or blurred background portrait shots and a few phone brands have worked with Zeiss before, including HMD and Nokia, as well as Sony with its Xperia 1 II. That said, it can be argued that vivo benefitted the most from Zeiss. The first partnership began in 2020 with the vivo X60 Series to moderate success and continued to build it from there.
As of the time of posting this, the vivo X200 Series has gained several recognitions for its great camera performance. Even popular tech YouTuber Mrwhosetheboss crowned the vivo X200 Pro as the Best Camera Phone and Best Overall Phone of 2024. MKBHD was also quite close to awarding the same phone for Best Camera and Phone of the Year 2024.
Leica, Hasselblad and Zeiss branding is not as gimmicky as you think
Leica, Hasselblad and Zeiss in smartphones
This website writes it best, "These legacy brands make some of the sharpest and most colour-accurate lenses ever". There is a reason why scientists prefer to use lenses from these brands for astrophotography and to capture the flora and fauna of our world. Simply put, they make some of the best lenses in the world. It's no wonder why some phone brands want to partner with them to push the boundaries of mobile photography.
But which of the co-branding partnerships is your favourite? Is it Xiaomi + Leica? OPPO + Hasselblad or vivo + Zeiss? Should other camera brands like Canon, Nikon and Sigma also join in? Let us know in the comments below and do stay tuned for more trendy tech articles like this only at TechNave.com.
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