Skip to main content

Is a Hasselblad camera module coming to the Moto Z? Leak says it’s possible

When the Moto Z was first launched, a number of great Moto Mods were launched alongside it, including a projector, battery pack, and a JBL speaker. One thing, however, was missing — a more extensive camera.

Sure, smartphone cameras are getting better, but they’re not on the same level as purpose-built DSLR cameras — not by a long shot. It seems, however, as though we may be getting a Moto Mod camera module in the near future, at least if a new leak is anything to go by.

camera-module
Image used with permission by copyright holder

The camera module will reportedly be built by Hasselblad, and speculation was that the module would be announced alongside the Moto Z and Moto Z Force. According to the leak, which includes a photo, the camera module will include a True Zoom Camera, offering up to 10x optical zoom, a xenon flash, a physical shutter and zoom, and even support for RAW photos.

Recommended Videos

The leak comes from well-known Motorola leakster HelloMotoHK, which got the photo from Weibo user @ucanup. Additional photos emerged in late August.

For those needing a portable camera option, this mod will most certainly be a helpful one, and will seriously improve the capabilities of the phone’s camera.

Of course, there’s no official information about the mod just yet, so it’s important to take everything with a grain of salt. We don’t know anything about the price at this time, but it wouldn’t be surprising to see it come in at a few hundred dollars, especially given the fact that Sony has produced modular camera attachments for its phones in that price range.

The modular smartphone concept has started becoming a lot more popular of late, and could add a lot more functionality to our smartphones. The camera has always been a big part of the smartphone, and an improved camera could really boost the quality of photos being taken on the fly.

Updated on 08-25-2016 by Kyle Wiggers: Added leaked image of the reported Hasselblad mod. 

Article originally published in August 2016. Kyle Wiggers contributed to this report. 

Christian de Looper
Christian de Looper is a long-time freelance writer who has covered every facet of the consumer tech and electric vehicle…
Why I love the Kindle Scribe, and it’s not for reading or taking notes
A person using the Amazon Kindle Scribe and its stylus.

I really wanted to try an e-reader with a bigger screen, and leapt at the chance to spend time with the latest Amazon Kindle Scribe with its 10.2-inch e-paper screen. However, it wasn’t what I expected, and when I started to take notes using the stylus, it highlighted something I've known for a while: I'm terrible at physically writing anything anymore. It then prompted me to do something about it.
Lots of writing

Almost every word I share these days is typed, and has been that way for years and years. Every message, every form, every article, and every note is created digitally. If I write a word with a pen against paper, its in a greeting card, or something mundane like writing my name or address. Even then, it’s an effort not to write only in block capitals, because my cursive text is reduced to a barely legible scribble as my speed increases.

Read more
Instagram is ramping up AI-powered age detection on teen users
The Foto and Instagram app on an Android phone.

The days of teenagers lying about their age on Instagram are over. Meta has announced that they're using AI-powered age detection technology to enroll teens suspected of misrepresenting their age to a restricted Teen Account.

Instagram's parent company announced the AI-driven crackdown on teen Instagram users in a blog post on Monday, saying that it's leveraging its AI, which it has been using to detect the age ranges of many of its users for some time, to detect accounts it suspects belong to teenagers who lied about their age to bypass safeguards, even if they have an adult birthday listed. Instagram said it is taking steps to ensure the AI is accurate and will correctly place teen users into Teen Accounts, but will give users an option to change their settings if their account has been placed into a Teen Account by mistake.

Read more
This luxury Tag Heuer smartwatch has a $900 discount right now
The Tag Heuer Connected Calibre E4 in black with a Jomashop watermark.

There's been a longstanding thought process that says you can either have luxury or smarts. And we're not talking about life, but rather in watches. Smart watches are seen as a luxury but not luxurious. Old school watches are seen as smartly designed, but not "smart." The rising hybrid watch trend, however, shows that there is a lot of demand for luxurious smart watches.

Tag Heuer's Connected Calibre E4 isn't quite a hybrid, but it is most certainly of the luxury variety. Today, however, it has been marked down in price. By a lot. Tap the button below to see the Tag Heuer Connected Calibre E4 at a price of $1,450. That's $900 less than its retail of $2,350 and a discount of 38%.

Read more