This Oneplus 'Disappearing Camera' Phone Is Exciting News for Photographers

Phone maker OnePlus has collaborated with British motor racing team McLaren to create a concept phone which a lot of photographers and videographers will be very interested in owning. If you haven't heard about "Disappearing Cameras" then read on.

Marques Brownlee over on his YouTube channel is back once again to show us what we can expect to see from the leading tech manufactures in the coming years. This week, Brownlee gets access to a new OnePlus concept phone which has one very exciting feature that could change how the cameras in our phones work and look. This feature is being called "Disappearing Cameras" and essentially makes the camera lenses which are buried under the surface of the phone disappear and reappear at the click of a button. The tech behind this is thanks to the use of electrochromic glass which can make a layered piece of glass go from looking almost solid black to being clear as day depending on how much current is run through it. While this feature will be great news for all those who think phones are beginning to look rather unsightly on the back, it also has a very useful practical application too. Electrochromatic glass can be taken advantage of as a built-in ND filter. Brownlee shows this very feature in the video and illustrates how quick and easy it is to use.

It may be sometime before this particular tech comes out but I'd be pretty confident that all phone manufacturers will be trying to make our phones look more streamlined in the future. The nice byproduct of all this is that photographers may get a built-in ND filter thrown in as a result.

Anyone else excited by this tech announcement? Do you think the feature will make it to regular phones any time soon? We'd love to hear your thoughts in the comments below.

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Paul Parker is a commercial and fine art photographer. On the rare occasion he's not doing photography he loves being outdoors, people watching, and writing awkward "About Me" statements on websites...

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4 Comments

This is great news for the Houston Astros. :-P

These variable filter always remove some light even when at transparent state. So the low light capability may be affected...

eventually it will make it to all cell phones as it becomes lower in cost to make but, someone one will need to be first. I think the killer feature is not the hiding cams but, the built in ND which is something some photographers and videographers have been asking for, for a while. I can also possibly see going beyond the phone to like putting in the electrochromic glass tech into a compact like a Sony RX, heck if you can do it in a cell phone or compact why not just build it into lens design. Who knows but, out of the box thinking can be a good thing.