Hybrid camera system gives your smartphone “super-telephoto” zoom [Video]

Tech company Beaverlab has launched a Kickstarter to raise funds for a smart super-telephoto camera called the Excope DT1 that can be had with a 400-mm zoom lens, and works with a smartphone to capture distant imagery.

The idea of a hybrid camera system that brings interchangeable lenses to smartphone brains isn’t new, we’ve previously seen established companies like Sony, Kodak and Olympus take a swing, along with startups like Alice Camera.

Now the folks at Beaverlab are having a bash with what’s billed as the world’s lightest super-telephoto camera, the Excope DT1. With successful Kickstarters for a digital microscope and laser engraver already under its collective belt, it’s no surprise that the company has again selected the crowdfunding platform to bring its latest device to production.

At the heart of the main body are a 48-megapixel 1/1.8-inch-type CMOS sensor and Novatek AI processing chip, plus 64 GB of built-in storage, …