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Announced in April, the new OnePlus 8 Pro smartphone is equipped with a multitude of high-end features, including interesting camera specs. But it also includes a unique 5MP Color Filter (infrared) camera. In the camera's operating system, the mode that uses this particular camera array is referred to as the Photochrom filter within the native camera app, and as numerous users have been discovering this week, the Color Filter camera allows you to see through some objects, including various plastics.
Twitter user Ben Geskin photographed Oculus Quest controllers, for example, realizing that the Photochrome filter allows you to actually see through the dark gray plastic on the device. Other users have photographed television remotes, Apple TV devices and more, resulting in images showing internal circuitry that you cannot see with the naked eye or traditional image sensors.
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| OnePlus marketing materials divulge very little information about the Color Filter camera. On the OnePlus 8 Pro product listing, there is only a single example image, shown here in an enlarged format. Image credit: OnePlus |
In marketing materials for the OnePlus 8 Pro, OnePlus states that the Photochrome filter allows the user to 'turn ordinary scenes into surreal landscapes,' but as OnePlus 8 Pro owners are finding out, it does a lot more than that. The 5MP Color Filter camera is essentially an IR camera, so if an object does not include a material which shields IR, the camera can see through it. In the video below from Unbox Therapy, you can view the effect on a pair of television remotes, Apple TV and a Nintendo Switch Pro controller. You can also see in the video below that the Color Filter camera can partially see through some fabrics.
There is a lot more to the OnePlus 8 Pro camera for photographers than the interesting Color Filter camera. The OnePlus 8 Pro also includes a 48MP Ultra Wide Angle Camera with a 120-degree field of view and 3cm Macro Mode, 8MP Hybrid Zoom camera with 30x digital zoom, and a 48MP Main Camera with optical image stabilization.
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| Image credit: OnePlus |
The wide camera uses a 0.5-inch type Sony IMX586 image sensor with an F2.2 lens. The primary 48MP camera uses a 1/1.4-inch type Sony IMX689 sensor with an F1.78 lens. The primary camera also includes on-sensor omni-directional phase-detect autofocus. Further, the main camera can record 'dynamic video,' which is a form of HDR video.
The OnePlus 8 Pro is available now from a starting price of $899 USD. For much more information on the OnePlus 8 Pro smartphone, read our coverage of the camera's announcement.