Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra Camera User Experience
4 min read
One of the main selling points of the brand-new Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra is the upgraded camera system. I don’t think you would be surprised at this point considering most smartphone users are avid social photographers who want to share their best shots on social media.
After owning the Galaxy S23 Ultra for a few weeks, I can safely say this is one of my favourite smartphone camera systems I have used so far. It is so good that I immediately switched from the compact Samsung Galaxy Z Flip4. Well, it’s not like I don’t like the Flip anymore, it was a tough choice and the final decision was made just because my job requires a better camera instead of a compact smartphone.
In this article, I will go through some of the technical and non-technical details of the Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra. Sit back, relax and enjoy some good photos that includes lots of shots taken during our trip to Singapore.
Primary Camera
The primary camera now features a 200MP sensor in a 1/1.3-inch optical sensor size. This allows Samsung to use 16-in-1 binning instead of the usual 4-in-1 binning found in many other smartphones. As such, the final image is about the size of 12MP while still packing all the fine detail captured by the impressively dense 200MP sensor.
Of course, you can also toggle the settings in the camera app to shoot in 200MP natively or 50MP (4-in-1 binned). Keep in mind that shooting at 200MP natively means you will be sacrificing most of the built-in post-processing features. While the colour saturation is lower than the standard shooting mode, however, it is not really a problem since users can always edit the photo afterwards.
The higher-resolution image will have more cropping room.
Don’t forget that the file size is above 40MB each if you shoot 200MP natively.
The primary camera is such a joy to use as the focus is accurate and snappy. I can live with this camera even if it is the only camera that is available. Besides, if you’re not into the photography terminologies, the standard camera has just the right view to capture all sorts of subjects. It can be landscape, food, portrait and much more.
Samsung’s neutral colour science is the primary reason why I kept coming back to Samsung’s device.
Ultra-Wide Camera
The ultra-wide camera is excellent for landscape shots where it takes in all the elements available in front of it. The 12MP sensor with a 13mm (full frame equivalent) lens provides up to 120 degrees viewing angle.
While the sensor is not as high-performance as the primary camera, we are still getting top-tier images out of it, including night shots. People often disregard the importance of an ultra-wide camera simply because of the distortion. The warped view at the corners is perfectly normal because the ultra-wide camera needs to squeeze whatever it sees onto the sensor.
3x Telephoto Camera
The 3x telephoto camera has a 10MP sensor with f/2.4 lens. Frankly speaking, the lens is not as fast as the primary nor the ultra-wide camera. Despite so, you should never underestimate its capabilities. Some of these shots are even taken in low light situations and the result is absolutely stunning.
10x Periscope Telephoto Camera
Gone are the days where we have to rely on low resolution digital zoom to take extreme telephoto shots. While periscope camera is not an entirely new concept but it is extremely difficult to implement. The number one enemy of periscope camera is the aperture.
At f/4.9 aperture, while it may not sound that far off from the usual f/1.8 or f/2.4 lenses, due to the smaller camera sensor, the effect of smaller aperture is more apparent such as higher ISO noise and potentially blurry photo due to slow shutter speed.
Good news is, the periscope zoom camera works remarkably well thanks to the clever blend of primary camera in the mix. When it detects user attempting to take periscope zoom shot in low light situation, the camera will intelligently switch between the primary camera and the periscope camera to pick the best option available.
Otherwise, in well lit or day time situations, the 10x will work just fine.
Conclusion
All in all, the Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra provides an excellent combination of camera hardware and software for all your creative needs. This allows us creators to focus on our productivity without having to worry about bulky gears.
