Playing with Pro Mode S24U

[Star_girl]

I am still happy with S24U and it's camera, which is still a powerful beast in 2025. I believe it's more powerful and better now after it received UI7 and certainly the wide camera and the selfie camera arr much better and capturing more image in the frame than before, which is what I really wanted and S25U has from the box. 

Here is how I played around with the Pro Mode yesterday, more like experimented with the features.

This post is more to encourage users to play around with the camera, than to prove my ProMode camera using skills.😂

[Star_girl]

It's really been revamped lol

[Chappell101]

Just play around, I've mainly learnt through mistakes over the years. It's part of the fun.

Pro mode ensures you can select a sufficient shutter speed for fast-moving subjects eg 1/2000 for a running dog or 1/4000 for a flying bird with a lower quality higher iso for example and facilitates precise manual focusing using focus-peaking outlines which are particularly helpful in complex scenes with dense foliage to focus on your desired subject. The AI autofocus can struggle on higher-resolution images featuring animals for example to set a fast enough shutter speed as it prioritises the iso quality too highly at times making you miss the image.

ExpertRAW's Astro mode mitigates some star trail artefacts during auto-stacks of 20-second exposures compensating for Earth's rotation; optimal results are achieved with a 3 or 6-minute exposure of the sky alone I've found, extending to 12 minutes only when a foreground element is included as the sky loses detail slightly on the 12min capture.

ExpertRAW's virtual ND filter is really helpful if you are forgetful like me to bring a real one for creating smooth water effects using 4-second exposures from a tripod or balanced phone. You also don't need to buy a phone case that can use a 67mm camera ND filter if you use this tool which is more practical if you only take the occasional long exposure image where having a full-resolution one isn't important.

[Chappell101]

The gallery edit tools are so much easier to work with now, completely agree. I appreciate the new RAW editor as well.

[Bindex]

Love the photos!! I'm always too scared scared to mess around with export raw camera.

Even though I have a mirrorless camera and don't use auto on it 😁😁👀😅

[Star_girl]

Yes same here. But i like to try. I watched tutorials but there is alot of practice needed. I also have a mirrorless camera. 😊

[Bindex]

Oh nice!! Well the best thing to learn is something new! Is just playing around with the app or whatever it is. Keep at it! I'd love to see how your photos turn out in a few months time.

[Star_girl]

Hi Chappell101.
Thank you very much for your input, greatly appreciated. 😊
I have read some of this when I was learning how to use my Sony Digital camera. Haven't used it in a while though. On the camera you can adjust all of these settings easier as the menu is more dedicated. On the phone is not so easy to access, or i am not used to it. My challenge with camera phones is to see how much you can get from all camera features without buying too many filters.

[Star_girl]

Yes me too, usually when I do a point and shoot session, I open Expert RAW or ProMode or both at least once to play with the settings and learn the features.

[Bindex]

Oh nice, I will definitely have to have a play around with it one day and see how my photos turn out and post them on here also!

[Chappell101]

Your experience is all transferable minus the real aperture control, so the skills will come easily back, and you'll enjoy it. Using a hand grip helped me feel more at home without an actual camera I won't lie though. Just take into consideration that phone sensor size so the max iso you have maybe become comfortable with for fast motion on your mirrorless will be much lower to be suitable. The stacked shots when you can do them are often great though, computational photography has helped a lot regardless of how many purists complain about its oversharpened looks and dynamic range. The autofocus isn't always the best for fast animals, vehicles like a camera's dedicated mode are from my experience, especially birds. These are things they can always improve with software though. Not that I expect areas like that to become target development, if you enjoy photography you would likely invest in something with a flexible zoom system anyway as seen here.