Finally, the speculation and rumours are over, Xiaomi has officially released the launch date of the Xiaomi 13 Ultra! With the release of the official poster, it's all set to be unveiled on April 18, 2023, at 13:00 Hungarian time.
The Xiaomi 13 Ultra is the pinnacle of new imaging created in collaboration with Leica. As the launch day approaches, more and more info and media material will emerge, and today the first batch of images has arrived. All will be revealed on 18 April, until then I'm relaying the words of Xiaomi and Leica.
The most perfect Leica Summicron moving image lens ever
Last July, we officially launched our strategic imaging partnership with Leica, ushering in a new era of mobile imaging. The original Leica-tinted Xiaomi Mi 12S series has not only won widespread acclaim from photographers and video enthusiasts, but this aesthetic comeback has also been recognised and followed by the industry.
This year we opened the "second chapter" of the Xiaomi imaging strategy update. This time the focus is on optics.
Light is the origin of all photography, the essence of image-making. The most faithful capture and reproduction of light is the origin of all optical systems. Leica has hundreds of years of experience in designing and manufacturing lenses, and the Leica M series lenses, for example, are renowned for their small size and excellent image quality, thanks to a wealth of experience in lens design and excellent machining. In the words of Peter Karbe, Leica's Director of Optical Design, "It is not difficult to design the perfect lens if you are willing to make it big and heavy. But trying to achieve the same performance in a compact size requires a lot of effort".
Such concepts and ideas are even more valuable in the field of moving images, where our size constraints are even more significant and there is no compromise in achieving high image quality. Xiaomi 13 Ultra set out from the beginning to create a "compact high performance lens" kit.
Specifically, we take full advantage of the aspherical mirror structure to unleash the flexibility of the optical path design, resulting in a surprisingly small volume of four lenses. At the design stage, the shape of each aspherical mirror surface is calculated using an "ultra-high-order even degree polynomial", and the fitting accuracy of the lens reaches the nanometer level.
Such precision design posed huge challenges in manufacturing and processing: the precision of the tool head of the machining tool reached a staggering 20 nanometres and every detail of the lens was meticulously crafted. To ensure strict control of manufacturing accuracy, the lens yield is even below 10%.
The new high stability coating remains stable and offers excellent optical performance in extremely hot or cold environments.
With the blessing of these technologies, the Xiaomi 13 Ultra's original optical quality is extremely good, and excellent resolution is achieved across the entire field of view, so you don't have to rely on heavy sharpening algorithms.
Together with Leica, we believe that optical problems should be solved by optical methods. If computer photography is overused because of poor optical quality, it causes irreversible damage to the image, which is tantamount to "drinking poison to quench your thirst".
It is hoped that such a concept can continue to foster the transformation of moving images and bring "moving images coming of age".
See you next week, Tuesday 18th, at the On our YouTube channel, where we can watch the show live together, with Hungarian commentary!
