Upcoming camera lenses in new phones could be thinner than human hair.  


Current lenses on DSLR cameras are cylinders consisting of several thick glass discs at proportional millimeters that produce the desired photograph by reflecting light onto the sensor.  

The problem with smartphone cameras is that the main priority is weight and size.  That’s why smartphone pics are generally lesser quality than DSLRs.  

That may be coming to an end. 

New rumors abound that smartphone engineers are producing lenses as thin as human hair.  

The newly released iPhone 7 is the first smart device to have two available lenses: 23mm and 56mm.  

This new technology, called metasurfaces, stacks tiny, flat discs of glass on top of the CMOS phone camera sensor.  Effectively giving you a wide range of lenses all at the swipe of your finger.  

These flat discs are a scientific achievement (at least in photography).  Their engineers have effectively downsized the mass of normal lens glass into discs no thicker than a follicle of hair.  

Upcoming smartphones could have a plethora of lens sizes to choose from: wide angle to telephoto, while still being as light and mobile as ever.