Please find quick links to:
Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
[Shooting for night photography - indoor]
I am impressed by the result, considering the lighting situation at night at Rain Vortex. Details and colors are retained for most areas. Noise is detected in darker areas but not clearly visible.
In wide-angle, the quality around the edges are reduced (chromatic aberration), but overall, it’s still great result.
Camera mode: Night
Location : Jewel, Changi Airport
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normal zoomwide - angle
[Shooting for night photography - outdoor]
I think these photos speak for themselves. I am impressed. Detailed, good exposure and color reproduction.
Camera mode: Night
Location : Esplanade & Merlion Park, Singapore
normal zoom2x zoom
normal zoom
[Shooting in Pro mode]
I use Pro mode when I take photo in a very low light setting or for a specific type of photography, e.g., light painting. For info, Reno8 does not have RAW format option and it provides histogram.
Pro mode allows me to adjust several aspects to achieve particular result.
Histogram at top left Light painting : ISO 100, Exposure 3s
ISO 100, Exposure 0.5s[Shooting in Portrait mode]
What I love the most in this mode is the camera ability to blur the background nicely. It will bring more focus to the subject. The bokeh effect from the lights on the background is beautiful. Reno8 is truly ‘The Portrait Expert’.
[Video mode in 4K at 30fps - night]
I haven’t had a chance to take video during daytime as it was raining almost every day in Singapore. But I took this video from a light show in Jewel Changi Airport to show night video quality taken by the phone in 4K.
https://youtu.be/kuBV7NUim3A
CONCLUSION
OPPO is very caring to put features on what users might need. It shows in how detailed and personal the personalization in Reno8 5G. Depends on what’s important to you, for me, OPPO has gone beyond to provide the needs of security and privacy of user, and it’s something to think about. In terms of productivity, the phone has included features to help users working faster and efficiently.
For the price, you get a camera that allows you to create a professional-looking photographs. It’s great for beginner and hobbyists. Not to mention the stylish look and a smooth, no lags performance phone.
However, there is still room for improvement, such as Air Gesture feature, and the most important thing is the slot for SD Card. As a phone photographer working with photos and videos, who do most of the work using the phone, I am sure I need extra storage. I hope OPPO will include the SD Card slot for future model.
All in all, with Reno8 5G, you get more for the price you pay. Thank you OPPO!!
[end]
Related
Black and white photos have a degree of detail and contrast that confers them a unique, moody intensity. However, a carefully-composed, artistic photo is easily ruined by background objects, which can distract the viewer. Good photographers sometimes manage to use creative camera angles to keep some of this "background noise" out of shot, but such techniques only get you so far.
For example, I originally intended for the photo below to center on the removal men at work, but they were drowned out by other objects in the foreground and background.
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I took the following photo at a low angle to try to give the teddy bear a "larger-than-life" look, but once again background objects stole the show and detracted from the desired effect.
When I place my photos side by side with some of the slick, glossy photos my friends share with me, I'm too ashamed to even contemplate posting them on social media services such as Instagram and Facebook.
However, more recently, I discovered a clever trick on the HUAWEI P10/P10 Plus that can be used to blur out background objects and make the subject more prominent. This technique produces absorbing, arty shots that are guaranteed to garner you more "likes" on social media. Moreover, no fancy camera angles are necessary; simply take your phone, find an interesting subject, and point and shoot.
When you take ordinary black and white photos, usually both the foreground and background are in focus, so there is no obvious subject or theme. However, by combining the black and white and wide aperture shooting modes on the HUAWEI P10/P10 Plus, you can blur out the background and place emphasis on a particular object or person.
If you look closely at the images below, you will observe that the photo on the left is overexposed and has a cluttered background. The photo on the right, on the other hand, was taken with the HUAWEI P10/P10 Plus and effectively combines the black and white and wide aperture shooting modes to reduce background interference and create a more dramatic contrast. This is particularly noticeable in the "Cloud Park" lettering, which has a much clearer outline.
After learning and applying this technique, and with a bit of practice, my black and white photos now look infinitely better, to the point that I can proudly post them on social media for my friends to see. To achieve similar results yourself, simply follow the four steps that are set out in the animated graphic below.
By combining these two shooting modes on the HUAWEI P10/P10 Plus, you can produce photos with that timeless black and white look, while enjoying all of the speed and convenience that modern technology can offer.
Hey there geeks! Today I wanna share with you the results of my long so-called research in the field of camera applications for the galaxy. I have tested SO MUCH options besides the built-in app and after several months of comparisons, I can say with confidence that I found the best of them. Of course, this is not a GCam port that is not supported on our device. However, this is so far the only application with the correct HDR, which I use on an every day basis. So, let's start the comparison.
There is always a standard camera on the left, and SnapCamera on the right. In both cases, HDR is turned on. There is no post processing.
Photo 1. Backlight sunlight.
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It seems that the standard camera wins here, however, pay attention to the leaves of the tree. A standard camera tries to snatch parts from an underexposed area and gives a touch of artificial and a plane picture. SnapCamera maintains balance and space for further processing.
Photo 2. Crops, focus point on the carpet.
Pay attention to the light behind the tulle. Comments aren't needed I guess.
Photo 3. Exposition of reflections, focus point on the phone keys.
A good example when a standard application could not save the dynamic range and overexposed the sources of reflected light. However, SnapCamera did just fine with this.
Photo 4. Random object.
In general, there are almost no differences, but SnapCamera produces more balanced colors with larger dynamic range (look at the illuminated area of the carpet).
Photo 5. Shot on the front camera.
Here is totally up to your taste. The standard application uses built-in algorithms for selfies — it gives photos warm tones, smoothes the skin and tries to compensate for the lack of details by highlighting some areas. If you need a quick photo for instagram - use the standard application. But personally, I like the result with SnapCamera — the photo is clearer, has much more information and is closer to life.
My HDR settings:
And guys (!) I didn't try to take these pictures as pieces of art, it's just a matter of demonstration.
Verdict
Until Samsung improves algorithms for budget cameras, SnapCamera is the best alternative on a dayly basis.
(But we do not give up hope that someone will still port gcam)
Sorry I'm new here so I can't insert side links to download
Unfortunately in my experience snapcamera is not so good in lower light conditions, the shots are grainy. Be nice to get 64bit ROMs so we can use gcam, which wins hands down on my past devices.
I find the Google camera app on the Pixel to be absolutely atrocious. The amount of sharpening and post processing that is being done is out of control, particularly on human faces... even in portrait mode. From what I can tell the only way around that are third party camera apps. What is a good one that provides manual controls and DNG shooting without the AI crap?
Update: ended up buying ProCam. As a long time slr user I find it completely intuitive but can understand how it can be intimidating for a first time user.
Open camera and Hedge Cam - These two are top quality open source camera apps. But only if you are willing to spend bit of time on understanding and experimenting with all the customization. They are completely manual. You need to turn on Camera API 2 to enable all the features.
Use the stock camera app for the usual point & shoots and use those serious apps for some serious captures and videos where you are willing to spend time in editing them in the computer or even in the phone.
If I'm taking a photo with people's faces in it, I do it by shooting in video mode, then selecting the best shot in Adobe Premiere. Thus, the resulting image has less contrast and color saturation than an image taken in photo mode.
Well, if I record a video that I want to archive like a video, so I make some adjustments there too. This is because even video taken with the stock camera app has too high contrast and color saturation. So they I apply the following effects to all the videos, the first effect is an effect called luma corrector, in which in the tab tonal range - highlights, I set the level contrast to -8 and then in the tab tonal range - Shadows I also set the level contrast to -8. This will increase the dynamic range, because I will extract some more image information from the dark shadows and from too much bright highlights.
And then they I apply a second effect to soften the intensity of the colors, which I do in an effect called lumetri color
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Saturation, where I also set the level saturation value to 95.
Continuing from Part 2 (Best ColorOS Features). Also, here's a link to Part 1 (Built Quality & Design, Performance, Battery).
4. Camera
The main highlight of OPPO Reno8 5G is the camera. As a phone photographer, I am excited to find out its performance. Let’s check about the specs and what shooting mode it supports.
Rear camera consists of main camera (50MP Sony IMX766 sensor), wide-angle (8MP IMX355) and macro camera (2MP). Front camera has 32MP Sony IMX709 sensor. For video, the default for rear camera video is [email protected], maximum is at [email protected] While for front camera video is [email protected] (max).
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Triple camera setup
Shooting mode available: Photo (default), Night, Video, Portrait, Pro, Extra HD, Pano, Macro, Slo-Mo, Time-Lapse, Dual-View Video, Sticker, Text Scanner, Soloop Templates (this won’t appear if camera is launched from lock screen)
Shooting mode available in Camera app
While it has so many modes, I have not used them all yet. I took some samples under different lighting condition, indoor and outdoor, daytime and nighttime.
Let’s explore and check the result! Camera app is easy to use and pretty straightforward.
This is my default setting for Photo mode, I enable HDR AUTO and AI function, it gives me the finest photo result with sharper detail and better color reproduction.
The lens will detect the type of object inside (mine says Green Plants). The 3-dots on the top left provides more options. The google lens icon is on the bottom right for easy access. The magic wand provides various filters.
As my photos are intended for social media, I seldom use 50MP because of the storage limitation.
[Shooting with Main Camera - Photo mode]
I am doing food photography for my business in social media. And I need a good phone camera to achieve the result I want.
Under sufficient/bright lighting condition, main camera can deliver ultra-clear shots. The image quality is impressive, with sharp details and vibrant colors. AI and HDR Auto are very helpful in achieving this high-quality result even without using 50MP mode.
I notice that there is a slight improvement if 50MP mode is used. However, the file size is something to think about.
AI on VS AI off
50MP on VS 50MP off[Shooting with Extra HD Mode]
This mode can cater up to 5x zoom. And there are filters available to use to further enhance the image result. I feel satisfied with the result without using any filter, but having the filter that matches with the final result I want will save time in editing.
[Shooting with backlight]
Normally, at this shooting condition, the object would be dark so the background could be seen OR the object could be seen, and the background would be in extremely bright condition. But now…
I am impressed on how the result turns out. The object and the background have the same exposure. Also, the portrait mode blurs out the background nicely.
Well done!
[Shooting in dim-light condition]
Don’t be fooled by the lightings, since the actual condition is pretty dim. And I notice the result is good for all zoom. Any slight movement during photo taking will affect the result in this kind of light condition. In my photos, some details on the edges are not too sharp for normal and wide-angle, I think I did move slightly.
Camera mode: Photo
Location: Changi Airport Terminal 3
[Shooting for night photography - indoor]
To be continued in Part 4.
What is the best way to take an action shot with the S23 Ultra? I am not an avid photographer but do want to take decent not-blurry pics from kids sports activities. Is it possible without going into RAW mode and changing exposure settings? Back in the day, my Note 8 had a "sports" mode that was easy to use though haven't seen it in a while. But I do see a "food" mode that I'll never use...
The "motion photo" setting is useful; it can only be viewed and edited with Samsung Gallery app though. The phone allows you to make gifs too.
This is on my N10+/Pie, presumably the S23U still has these options.
There's also burst mode.
Live tracking as well which may or may not be useful. Set up is rather convoluted as certain options are only available at certain resolutions, fps or with other options. Guides for other older models may be helpful if the S23U guides aren't providing enough information. Many of the features date back years.
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A combination of burst mode and live tracking is definitely your best option.
I would still recommend looking into gcam using this gcam and config :
Post in thread 'Working GCAM for S23 Ultra' https://forum.xda-developers.com/t/working-gcam-for-s23-ultra.4550019/post-88277895
That version will offer face focus tracking by default which is great for kids action shots. You can also enabling focus tracking if you often need to take pictures of your kids without seeing their faces but otherwise, you want to leave focus tracking disabled so it better tracks faces. Picture quality for the time being will be better than stock cam.
In the end though, even under good light conditions, smartphones won't do miracles for action shots as their focus system isn't that fast. But I'm sure with stock or gcam you can manage some decent shots