Now that the Vivo X300 Ultra is here and on sale, you will also be able to buy the photography kit that comes with it.
Vivo is going about things differently than some of its competitors. Instead of having to find space for a second telephoto camera on the back, the X300 Ultra can extend the reach of its 85mm f/2.7 lens via a teleconverter lens. That’s plural, because this year, in addition to the 200mm lens, there is also a 400mm lens.
Now, these are not your typical camera lenses, where you get focusing parts and an aperture inside the lens. These are teleconverters, meaning they essentially magnify the dedicated lens above (or below, as is the case with proper mirrorless and DSLR lenses in some cases).
This makes teleconverters simpler and smaller than normal lenses. They also don’t interfere with the quality of the built-in lens, which is neat!
Two new teleconverters – 200 mm and 400 mm
There are a lot of accessories in the Vivo X300 Ultra photography kit. It starts with the case, which (naturally) attaches to the camera. There’s a bayonet around the X300 Ultra’s camera island, which allows you to fit various filters. There’s a regular protective filter (in two colors), one for attaching UV, ND, or circular polarizer filters on the X300 Ultra’s cameras, and one for attaching two teleconverter lenses. Unlike the Xiaomi 17 Ultra’s photography kit, there is no lens cap.
Both lenses come with a two-piece tripod collar. The first attaches to the barrel on the front of the lens and you screw it down tightly to lock it in place. The second is the Arca-Swiss tripod mounting plate, which screws onto the collar.
We’re not sure the barrel of the lens is the ideal balancing spot to mount it on a tripod, as the phone with case and grip is still heavy. Still, when everything is screwed into place everything feels tight and sturdy.
complete kit assembled
The new camera grip on the photography kit has more controls than its predecessor. With the X300 Ultra, you have a video record button, a scroll wheel, a zoom lever, and a shutter button. The new grip has an additional function button and a flash button.
Speaking of old vs new, the new 2.35x G2 200mm lens is significantly more compact than its predecessor. This may be due to the reduction in lens aperture on the X300 Ultra’s 85mm zoom camera – it is back to an f/2.7 lens, while the X200 Ultra uses an 85mm f/2.3 lens.
The new 200mm lens is much smaller than the old lens
You can definitely feel the difference when using a photography kit with a 200mm lens. It’s compact and lightweight, and there’s no feeling of the 200mm lens dragging the phone down.
It’s a completely different story when you’ve got a 400mm lens. It’s suffocating and you feel it. We don’t think many people will walk around casually with this setup. This is a more dedicated setup that you would adopt when going out to take photos.
Using the teleconverter lens on the Vivo X300 Ultra is very simple. Now there is no need to go through the menu and select a mode. Now, you simply tap the small teleconverter icon in the camera viewfinder.
From there, the phone asks you to identify which lens you have – the old 200mm, the new 200mm, or the 400mm. Just tap what you need and everything will work – no inverted viewfinder and whatnot.
There are different zoom levels with different lenses. The 200mm also shows toggles for 400mm, 800mm, and 1,600mm. Along with the 400mm, you also get the 800mm, 1,600mm, and 3,200mm.
Shooting with two converter lenses
We are currently testing the Vivo X300 Ultra for review, so you will get some samples with the teleconverter soon. Stay tuned!
