CAMERA

If there is one place Samsung really focused (no pun intended), it’s the camera. Samsung has improved its cameras a lot in the last few years, so it was interesting to see where it could possibly bring more innovation. As it turns out, there was plenty of room for improvement.

Let’s start with the fun stuff — AR Emoji. Samsung’s take on the Apple Animoji is a self-customized avatar that can either be a caricature of oneself or a completely different thing altogether.

AR Emoji are easy enough to make, no matter which camera is being used — let the camera detect the face and it will give you a starting template. The facial recognition is not perfect, but it probably was never meant to be. All AR Emoji face shapes are about the same so not everyone is going to get a picture-perfect version of themselves. Skin tone, hair style, and clothing can all be customized and the end result is saved in the camera app. Users can take pictures with their AR Emoji or even record video of the avatar’s face moving along with their own. Only the face is tracked, but it tries to move even the eyebrows correctly for more accurate expressions.

This mode, while fun, is far from a polished product — plus, they’re pretty creepy if you ask me. You can also make yourself the character, but the face tracking is a little buggy and can lead to some odd twitches here and there.

— AR Emoji Images Here —

We’re sure there will be more options for customization eventually — perhaps sponsored by clothing companies or beauty brands. For now, it’s an easy way to make 18 GIFs of various emotions that can be shared easily with friends on any platform.

Since we’re on the topic of personal expression, let’s talk about the front-facing camera. An 8 MP camera with autofocus is up front and it should be familiar to any recent Samsung user. The selfies from this camera are good, but may not be as good as results from the Google Pixel 2’s machine-learning shooter.

A type of portrait mode is now available in the form of Selfie Focus, which tries to find the cutout of the subject and pleasantly blur the background. The results are hit and miss, even ignoring how soft the photos are to begin with. Regardless, selfie lovers will have plenty to enjoy with the Galaxy S9 front-facing camera, even with its quirks.

— Selfie Sample (Portrait Mode) —

If there is one thing we really wish the front-facing camera had, it’s the multi-frame processing of the main camera module. Whereas the Google Pixel 2 applies its machine learning to either camera, it seems Samsung gave this new processing power to only the rear camera — and only the main lens, at that.

That said, Samsung is clearly putting its best foot forward with the rear 12 MP shooter, which sports a dual aperture mode (more on that in a second).

Multi-frame processing is a technical term for the camera’s ability to capture dozens of photos in a split instant and use all of the data to properly process a good final result.

All of this work happens on the camera module itself, where the built-in DRAM holds the data during processing. This has been seen in previous forms like HDR+ on the original Pixel. We will compare Samsung’s implementation a little more to the Pixel 2’s machine-learning algorithmic methods soon, but there is one distinct difference — Google has a massive photo database to draw its data processing from, which is a huge advantage.

— Pixel 2 vs S9 Comparison Photo —

The pictures coming from the main shooter all look pretty great, even in low light. This is due in part to the f/1.5 aperture which helps flood in an incredible amount of light for a smartphone. The S9 manages to pull a good photo out of a less-than-ideal situation better than any Galaxy device before it, using the large aperture in concert with multi-frame processing and optical image stabilization to minimize blur from the lowered shutter speed.

— Low Light Photos Sample Here —

F/1.5 is great, but it is not the only aperture you can use on the S9. Yes, dual aperture is possible now, with actual mechanical blades closing down over the sensor to bring a f/2.4 option on the same lens. Photographers will say this is not a huge change, but when exposing a photo in super bright daylight situations, every little bit helps. It certainly is true for the f/1.5 setting in the opposite direction with dark scenes.

— f 1.5 vs f 2.5 —

The depth of field effects of the f/2.4 setting are noticeably different, as background elements don’t have as much blur. If you want to have that super soft background, it is easy enough to go into the Pro mode and change the aperture setting accordingly.

Some optimization is still required, though. The camera still prioritizes lower shutter speed over higher ISO sensitivity and thus motion blur is somewhat common. Using different apertures means the rest of the settings have to change accordingly, and if the S9 is always trying to figure that out on the fly, it simply gets the math wrong sometimes. The Samsung camera isn’t perfect, but it has the most tools to get the job done.

— Camera Setting Screen Shots —

If you want every camera tool possible, the S9 Plus is definitely the one to look at — the question is just if you really need it. The telephoto lens does not seem to get the same multi-frame processing treatment as the main sensor, which makes sense because the main sensor is developed with the smaller S9 in mind. The telephoto lens is an extra on the bigger model. However, having a zoom lens affords the S9 Plus a proper portrait mode in Live Focus, instead of the software-driven Selective Focus of the S9. We got to test the differences between these two and the zoom lens combo clearly yielded better cutouts and overall better portraits. Selective Focus on the regular S9 is as hit or miss as the Selfie Focus on the front-facing camera. You’ll have to decide for yourself how important zoom and portrait mode are to you — and whether you’re willing to pay the extra to get them.

The rear camera is capable of 4K 60 fps video capture, which is nice for very fluid motion capture. Videos from the S9 Plus are detailed and helped along by optical image stabilization in the rear module. The camera is also capable of very high speed, 960 fps video capture at 720p. The lower resolution might not be ideal for smartphone filmmakers, but the result is still eye-catching. In those cases when the moment is tough to capture, the camera app also has an Auto mode that triggers the Super Slow Motion at, hopefully, the appropriate time.

— 4k Sample Video —

One thing is clear: Samsung knew photography buffs would get a kick out of the lens hardware upgrade — no one else will really notice the difference. Typical users will like the AR Emoji and the Super Slow Motion, but when shooting in auto mode, the apertures change accordingly without user input. The f/2.4 aperture was a necessary move to cover the pitfalls of such a wide open f/1.5 lens. Sure, it floods in superb amounts of light, but having super fine focus isn’t ideal in all situations. Samsung found a way to engineer the best of both worlds in a way most users won’t notice and experienced photographers can exploit. If anything, this camera is a great example of Samsung actually finding a way to please everybody.