vivo X300 Ultra 400mm and 200mm teleconverter lenses, video cage hands-on

Vivo is going all in on both photography and videography with the new X300 Ultra. The phone is finally coming to the global market, and to entice people away from other camera-centric Ultras lurking about, vivo has partnered with Zeiss and known camera accessory maker SmallRig, to make the X300 Ultra the best tool for both photos and videos.

Meet the Professional Photographer Kit, which includes two new teleconverter lenses, a case, a new grip, and an elaborate video cage with two smart handles.

The vivo X200 Ultra also has a photography kit with a 200mm equivalent lens that attaches over the native 85mm one on the phone. The X300 Pro got a new version of it, but since it uses the same mount the lenses are interchangeable.

But the X300 Ultra takes it further, quite literally, with a new 400mm equivalent telephoto extender, making it the zoomiest of all the photography kits! The lens is made in collaboration with Zeiss, and there's also a new 200mm lens that's shorter and more compact than the old one.

The new 400mm lens is, of course, bigger, but it's not twice the size of the old 200mm. In fact, looking at them side-by-side, the 400mm is only a tiny bit longer than the old 200mm, although significantly wider.

The new 400mm and 200mm lenses

The 200mm looks tiny compared to its predecessor and should balance better when attached to the phone. The 400mm, on the other hand, makes the setup quite front-heavy. There's a reason why telephoto lenses have tripod mounts on them - it's to alleviate the weight stress on the camera mount itself. We'll need to test and see how the photography kit case will handle the weight of the new 400mm lens.

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 the shutter button. The new grip has an additional function button and a flash button.

Tiny bazookas

But that was all about the photo side of things. Vivo wants you to take the X300 Ultra as a serious video camera, too. That's why it partnered with SmallRig to make the Pro Video Rig Kit - a cage that places the phone at the center, and equips it with a host of clever ways to control it.

There are two handles on each side to give you a stable grip. The handles are equipped with a Bluetooth controllable shutter button and zoom lever.

The rig itself is expandable through multiple cold shoe mounts and quick-release ports - meaning you can attach accessories to the cage. Case in point - there's an adjustable LED light on the top and an active cooling fan over the phone. You could also mount external SSDs, microphones, monitors, etc.

The Pro Video Rig Kit

Accessories aside, the vivo X300 Ultra itself brings a significant boost to the potential filmmaking magic. The phone has native 10-bit Log support across all three of its cameras. And vivo has optimized the video to have smooth tonal roll-off and film-like texture - read "it's not oversharpened and digital-looking". Vivo calls this 4K Master Color Video.

Sound has also been tweaked - the pro video app can focus on the sound coming from your subject. Whether it'll have the ability to connect external microphones remains to be seen.

What also remains to be seen is the price of the kit, both the photography kit and the video rig kit. Vivo also hasn't detailed when we'll see the X300 Ultra and at what price. What we know so far is that the 35mm main camera uses a larger 1/1.12-inch 200MP imager - it's a significant step up from the 1/1.28-inch 50MP shooter on the X200 Ultra.