Samsung has reportedly made an important change to the camera system in the Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra. The company has replaced the periscope-style 5x zoom camera that was used in the Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra. This new design brings some improvements but also a small drawback.

According to a report from GSMArena, the Galaxy S26 Ultra uses a different lens design for its 5x optical zoom camera. Instead of the usual periscope setup, Samsung may have switched to a more traditional camera arrangement.

In older Ultra models, Samsung used a periscope camera system. This system uses a prism to bend light at a 90-degree angle so the lens can fit sideways inside the phone. This helps phones offer strong optical zoom without making the device thicker.

Image via GSMArena

The new camera setup in the S26 Ultra appears to place the lens elements and the sensor parallel to the phone. Because of this change, the camera behaves slightly differently compared to the previous model.

The most noticeable change is the minimum focus distance. The 5x camera on the Galaxy S26 Ultra can focus on subjects starting from about 52 cm away. On the Galaxy S25 Ultra, the camera could focus from 26 cm, which allowed better close-up shots.

For users who like taking close-up photos with the telephoto camera, this could feel like a small downgrade. However, most people mainly use the 5x zoom camera for taking photos of subjects that are far away.

Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra produces more natural circular or oval bokeh instead of rectangular. This can make portrait shots and night photos look smoother.

Reports suggest that Samsung might be using ALoP (All Lenses on Prism) technology. This design places the lenses on top of the prism and can allow a brighter aperture and a slimmer camera module.

Interestingly, Samsung has not used the word “periscope” in its official information about the Galaxy S26 Ultra. The company has also not confirmed the exact design of the new 5x zoom camera yet.

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