Nightography With The Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra 5G
April 4, 2022
Samsung has equipped the Galaxy S22 Ultra with some incredible camera hardware. On the rear, there’s a 108MP wide, 12MP ultra-wide, 10MP telephoto 1 and 10MP telephoto 2 sensors. At the front is a 40MP selfie camera, one of the largest for the company. The added advantage compared to last year’s S21 Ultra, is the use of AI along with said hardware.
Artificial intelligence works with the cameras, especially the main 108MP sensor and front 40MP selfie camera to capture the best results possible. They work hand and glove in the background to make tweaks where necessary to achieve the optimum results. To best experience this teamwork, Samsung invited us to a special event held in the hall that could best demonstrate said photo taking capabilities.
It’s called Nightography, which is marketing jargon for photo taking at night. Said event consisted of several booths that were built to simulate different night time scenes. This included a dimly lit garden, trendy neon-lit designs in a darkened corner, a setting that mimicked a candlelit dinner scene etc.
Admittedly, it’s in these types of environments that most cameras struggle to capture the moment. Many mid-range phones with 48MP or 64MP sensors are capable of taking impressive pictures in good lighting conditions given that you have steady hands. But it’s when the sun goes down or that you entire a shady area do things go awry.
Facing the ill lit garden, I I decided to take a selfie with the S22 Ultra’s 40MP front camera. The sensor immediately detected me and made the necessary setting changes to allow my face to stand out. Once I was satisfied with what I saw in the viewfinder, I clicked the camera button. The snap was almost instant and within a second of post-processing, the result was revealed.
The picture managed to retain my original skin tone while ensuring that there were adequate highlights and shadows around me. In addition to this, it boosted the effects of the ambient lighting to provide soft highlights to give my image precedence over everything else. In the age of artificial beautification and concealing of blemishes, the S22 Ultra’s realism is a breath of fresh air.
Instead of hiding defects or artificially overlaying beautification filters to a portrait shot, the S22 Ultra tweaks the shadows and highlights around the subject to help bring out the best in their facial features and skin tone. It’s you in that picture, which is a rather surreal experience.
The blemishes are still present, but less visible because of the boosting effects that have been done. That said, and if you so chose, beautification effects and instagram-like filters can still be applied over said images. You also have the ability to add or reduce bokeh effects where needed.
However, in my experience. The S22 Ultra does well enough that you won’t need to resort to such measures. The sense of realism that it portrays is both flattering and inspiring. Instead of turning you into someone else, it amplifies your best features and in turn makes you look your best.
This holds true for candid shots taken against bright neon lighting as it is for cozy, dimly-light cafes. The pictures pop with the right amount of contrast and saturation. The AI is so adept at capturing the essence of the moment that it’s difficult to pick fault with said results.
That said, people who prefer beautification effects would probably ignore it. However, to those of us who appreciate realism, the S22 Ultra’s portrait taking skills offer major bragging rights. The difference between the front’s 40MP sensor and the rear’s 108MP one is that the latter offers sharper and more precise recreation of what’s taking place.
The details and ambience that is captured, helps you seize the magic of said moment, which many years later, will still be able to hit you with the same intensity as the day it happened. That’s the allure of this phone’s cameras – even in the hands of a novice, they can capture great shots.
In close to pitch dark conditions, the cameras are still able to extract what little light is present, to help amplify the overall exposure levels. Now the overall results aren’t as great, because the hardware is working with appalling ambient lighting. But the pictures are relatively usable for social media posts.
This is a testament to how good the AI can be at compensating for poor lighting conditions. Though it isn’t ideal to take such pictures, this ability is meant to reassure users that lighting isn’t something to worry about. If they want to take pictures, all they have to do is point and shoot. It’s that simple.
When it comes to videography, the results are very similar. The subject is kept in focus with enough exposure and contrast. But in addition to this, the optical image stabilization makes panning or sudden movements a non-issue. The footage remains smooth and devoid of distortion.
Keep in mind, that as good as the AI and OIS may be, they aren’t idiot proof, so if you move the phone around too quickly or in an erratic manner, said smoothness and detail levels will be compromised. With a relatively steady hand, you can still capture good b-roll footage that was once only possible with the help of a gimbal or handheld stabilizer.
The same is true when taking photos. You need to be precise with the positioning so that the cameras can do their “thing”. Whatever the situation may be, in the end, you come to the realization that the S22 Ultra takes the tedium out of photography and instead allows you to channel your energy into the creative aspect of the media creation process.
