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S20+ Which camera use and how to set it up?

(Topic created on: 14-05-2020 01:10 PM)
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Libb
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I haven't written anything about photography for a while, so I feel it's the time to fix it. After all, when, if not when the new generation of Galaxy S has arrived?

Zoom

The Samsung Galaxy S20+ has 3 cameras: main, wide angle and zoom.

So first we look at the zoom camera.

I took 3 photos for you, each with a different zoom. So my S20 + should always use a different camera module.

zoom 0.5xzoom 0.5x zoom 1xzoom 1x zoom 3xzoom 3x

As you can see, there is half the street on the widest focus, 3 houses on the basic module and 3 windows on the zoom.

Let's see what it looks like if we put the 3 photos on top of each other:

zoom.jpg

Here it is even better to see the difference between modules. So don't be afraid to use all three modules. Switch between them easily by clicking the tree icon. The fewer trees, the more detailed you take a photo.

But beware! This applies if there is enough light! Under low light conditions, the wide-angle (f / 2.2) and telephoto (f / 2.0) lenses will appear less bright. It doesn't seem like that, because the basic lens has an f / 1.8, but even this few difference indicate almost half the light transmission of a wide-angle lens.

Of course, if you need a wide shot, the widescreen module is irreplaceable, but if you want to zoom, consider if you prefer to use cropping or just have less detail.

Aspect Ratio

And now let's look at another setting, namely the aspect ratio. You may have noticed that the camera settings only have the option to set the resolution for video, but no longer for photos. All that is available is the aspect ratio setting. We can choose from ratios of 4: 3, 16: 9, 1: 1 and Full.

 

Screenshot_20200422-064046_Camera.png

What is what and when to use? Again we will first show the pictures:

1:11:1 4:34:3 16:916:9 FullFull

Well, what's going on? The table with the resolution of each picture will tell us more:

AspectRationAndResolution.png

As we can see, the 4:3 aspect ratio has the highest resolution. 1:1 is the same in height but smaller in width, then 16:9 and Full are preserved in width, but the height is reduced.

Here is again one picture with all images:

ratios.jpg

The whole photo is 4:3, others are highlighted by colored rectangles. Here I would like to point out that, as in the first case with zoom, I did not just paint lines into one photo, but I really stacked the individual photos on top of each other. After all, it's a bit visible, because I don't have a proper tripod at home right now, so the cell phone moved a bit during the photo shoot.

The 4:3 aspect ratio uses the entire area of ​​the chip, other ratios crop the photo.

So the idea is to always take photos in a 4: 3 ratio and if necessary crop the photos at home. I recommend it and I do it, but there are exceptions.

We can use the 1:1 aspect ratio if we know we want to share the photo only on Instagram.

The 16:9 aspect ratio makes sense if we present photos on TV (they usually have this aspect ratio).

Full uses exactly the entire area of ​​the mobile phone display, if we show photos on it, it makes sense.

 

But it is important to realize that anything other than 4:3 means irreversibly discarding some information.



Xiaomi 14 Ultra White | Samsung Galaxy Tab S9 256GB
Samsung Galaxy Watch 5 Pro | Samsung Galaxy Buds / Buds2 / Buds2 Pro


36 REPLIES 36
SjorsK
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@Libb

Your articles are always impressing me - every time I read one of your articles I sometimes wonder if I am worth the great camera on my phone's as the photography novice that I am :winking-face:

Keep up the great work!
Libb
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Thanks, a feedback is very important for me. If you have some questions or idear for article, don't hesitate to send me a message!



Xiaomi 14 Ultra White | Samsung Galaxy Tab S9 256GB
Samsung Galaxy Watch 5 Pro | Samsung Galaxy Buds / Buds2 / Buds2 Pro


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DragonWolf5589
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@Libb wrote:

4:3 uses the main sensor (12Mpx for S20 and S20+, 108 Mpx for Ultra but processed to 12Mpx), 64 uses zoom sensor for S20/S20+ and main sensor for Ultra.

I recomend using 4:3 if possible and switch to higher resolution only when you really need that.


is there any advantage to using just 4:3 and switch to the 64p "when you really need that" vs keeping it 64p all the time (other then file sizes etc) and what is the best "scenario" to switch/choose?

 

also, im trying to work out should i save files with heif/heic over jpg but enable "convert before sharing" - as some say its better quality and less space, but i want to know if its worth it as i dont want to convert it to jpg and find quality has been lost during conversion compared to jpg directly.

 

(similar with video, when do we film in hdr10+ locked to 30fps vs "standard hdr" at 60fps, and hevc?)

thanks for the tips, i'll make sure i'll use 4:3 ratio and i can just crop it if i need other ratio.. its easier to crop in then shoot already cropped and loose detail

_________________________________________________________________
Main device: Galaxy 1TB S22 ultra
Other Devices: Galaxy watch 4
Old devices I miss: s20+
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Libb
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64Mpx camera has better resolution but a little worst aperture. Next, the pictures are too big (MB) and everything is slower. You also cannot switch easy to wide camera as it doesn't have 64MPx. So I beliewe that my suggestion is correct. 64Mpx has sense for landscape etc.

Next, the sensor has 64Mpx but the lenses are too small to feed it. My mirrorless camera (fullframe) has significantly bigger lenses and it's resolution is only 47Mpx... I believe that 12Mpx is enough :smiling-face:

 

About HEIF. The support of this format is not perfect. E.g. some applications don't respect orientation. Instead of using a format saving space rather push to Samsung to increase storage size. I think that 256GB shoul be minimum in 2020. Next, I don't trust miraculous formats and applications.



Xiaomi 14 Ultra White | Samsung Galaxy Tab S9 256GB
Samsung Galaxy Watch 5 Pro | Samsung Galaxy Buds / Buds2 / Buds2 Pro


DragonWolf5589
Pathfinder
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thanks. Makes sense!

 

I have 128gb on phone but I'm waiting for amazon to turn up with a 256gb microsd. Couldn't afford the 512gb one as it was 4 times cost and 256gb was on offer lol.

 

I'll keep it as jpg if its better then saving bit of space. At least until it comes mainstream

_________________________________________________________________
Main device: Galaxy 1TB S22 ultra
Other Devices: Galaxy watch 4
Old devices I miss: s20+
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Anonymous User
Not applicable
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Hello

 

The ratio of an image must be thought of according to the destination of the photo.
If the 4/3 ratio uses all the possibilities of the photo sensor, the 16/9 ratio is much more suitable for most smartphone and TV screens, it is also suitable for printing.

If the 16/9 has a slight loss of definition compared to the 4/3 the visual comfort is much better.

SjorsK
Maestro
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In my experience the 108mp tends to be overal worse. The 4:3 mode tends to focus better on what you wish (Even when zooming :smiling-face:

I tried to make a photo of a car to see it's number plate with the 108mp camera (somewhere far, far away) but the quality seemed to be lost when it came to details after zooming in. While I put it on 4:3 the number plate was surprisingly readable with ease :smiling-face: (Due to focus, and smart processing on the background :smiling-face: ).
DragonWolf5589
Pathfinder
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Strange I'm the same since the May security update on the 20+. If I use 64mp mode it's blurry but the standard 12mp is crystal clear... But before 1st may update installed it looked almost like a dslr camera. I hope they fix the blur in a near future update.
_________________________________________________________________
Main device: Galaxy 1TB S22 ultra
Other Devices: Galaxy watch 4
Old devices I miss: s20+
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DOCTARED
First Poster
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Why is there no 4:3 aspect ratio option for video?

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Steve1956
Explorer
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S20 Ultra.
I want to use 16:9 (panorama) with 108 mp.
I always take photos in 16:9 to display full screen on my TV, & was looking forward to getting a high number of pixels, so I could, if I wanted to, crop them later without loss of quality.
This is currently not an option.
Is it possible that the option will be made available by a future software update?
Very misleading advertising😥.
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