S24 Ultra automatic AI-editing of photos

[Charplin]

I bought the S24 Ultra specifically for the camera, expecting control and flexibility - especially at this price range. So why can't I completely turn off Samsung's automatic color processing?

Even with Intelligent Optimization set to Minimum, images are still heavily processed with visible saturation, sharpening, and contrast enhancements - and there's no way to fully disable it.
This has honestly ruined several important moments in the past year.
For example, during my dad's funeral, I had to send photos to myself through Facebook Messenger (one by one) just to get unedited versions.
And many other moments have been affected as well.

Photographing nature is one of my main hobbies, but the camera often completely misrepresents the colors and tones - making it unusable for realistic documentation or artistic use.
Taking pictures of my cats makes them weirdly blurred and shiny.

It's honestly tragic that my old Samsung S21 did a much better job in this regard.

This makes it impossible to take color-accurate photos of anything (like items for sale or artwork), unless I switch to RAW - which really shouldn't be necessary for everyday use.
On a pro-level flagship phone, this kind of limitation is incredibly frustrating.

Sure, it's probably great for beginners who want easy built-in edits - but I assume most people buying this kind of phone are not beginners and want actual control. Or just being able to sell true to color stuff on marketplace.

Please give us a truly neutral shooting mode - with full manual control, and without any forced processing.

[Chappell101]

I'd hoped for more granular control through the camera assistant module but I only discovered after purchase you couldn't fully disable the refining process for pro mode as well (RAW has less but isn't perfect) I've learnt to work around it and benefit from it when needed. Raw images have become perceptually lossless JPGXL inside the DNG to my knowledge in the Samsung camera apps now vs a true RAW as they will have minimal artefacting.

You can shoot unmossaiced RAW at 12MP in the free Open Camera app if this helps for no colour mapping. Paid options like MotionCam or ProShot also can do it as well.

For clarity this is the same as Apple where you are capped at 12MP for a true RAW file but if you use their computational photography you can access the higher resolutions.

When Project Indigo comes out for Andriod hopefully later this year there will be another true 12MP RAW option with image stacking for noise reduction and pixelshift when zooming to certain levels restoring resolution where possible as well as computational photography. It doesn't heavyly auto sharpen as it expects you to personally make that choice in Mobile Lightroom later. The colours in the app aren't completely accurate but Adobes colourspace has really impressed me playing on family members iPhones. I would 100% use it on Andriod right now if it was out for night images and when on a tripod zoomed a lot. It's the most pleasing image colours I've seen in a app.

Hope this helps.

[GoanGeek]

Hi and Welcome.

Samsung has the Expert Raw App which is quite good. Not perfect but better for post .

Also not sure if its on the S24 ultra but on my S25 ultra there is a 24MP option on One UI 8 which is a lovely sweet spot.

[Charplin]

Thank you for your reply - really appreciate it.
It just seems a bit odd to have a 200MP camera, but only be able to use 12MP for proper RAW. And honestly, it shouldn't be necessary to install a bunch of third-party apps just to gain proper control over image processing.
I generally like the stock camera app - I just wish I had more control over the output, especially since I don't want or need RAW for casual everyday shots.

I'll definitely look into the apps you mentioned though - thanks for the suggestions.
Still, I'd really prefer to have that kind of control built-in, without needing to rely on workarounds.

And yeah, the new UI… not a fan. Sometimes I really wish tech teams would allow for more UI customization instead of taking useful elements away or changing it around a lot.

[Charplin]

Thanks - I've tried Expert RAW a few times, but honestly, it felt more confusing than helpful.
I don't always want to deep-edit my photos - I just want natural, clean images straight out of the main camera app, especially when capturing quick moments.
It's frustrating that something so basic requires so many workarounds.
I have 12, 50 and 200 MP options.

And ew to the selfpromotion, lol.

[Chappell101]

I find Samsung is still the most flexible OS available due to Samsung Goodlock/Good Guardians. A true on/off switch for certain features would be appreciated I agree though. As long as they warn users that certain things won't work as well that option could help those who need it.

Be warned the Open Camera app UI is very dated and complex but it is very functional under this in control options. It's currently the only option for focus bracketing on a tripod till Adobe add this to Project Indigo as it's on their roadmap as well, it has good exposure bracketing ect) it just expects you to post process the images yourself later. Proshot is much more enjoyable to use with some computational modes it's just not as powerful.

ExpertRaw is a happy medium to get 50MP photography. The 200MP ExpertRAW's images are restricted to the S25U presumably as the readout requirement for this larger file is higher but it could also be some software gatekeeping to push newer sales as you can still use 200MP HEIC on the S24U.