DEPARTURE LOUNGE // SPRING 2018
HIGH (tech)
Flyers
LOOKING TO TRAVEL LIGHT BUT STILL TAKE COMPELLING PHOTOGRAPHS? CRAIG WILSON , EDITOR OF STUFF, THE
WORLD’S BEST-SELLING GADGET AND TECH MAGAZINE, RECOMMENDS THE BEST SMARTPHONES FOR THE JOB.
SAMSUNG GALAXY S9+ APPLE iPHONE X HUAWEI P20 PRO
Like Apple’s iPhone 8, the regular Galaxy S9
only includes a single rear camera. Good as
it is, it’s the dual-camera setup of the S9+
that offers the most flexibility. Samsung has
also opted to give its secondary camera a
telephoto lens, letting you get closer to the
action. It has also managed to squeeze in
optical image stabilisation (OIS), which not
only gives you some leeway if your hands
aren’t completely steady, but makes for
crisper, more detailed low-light results.
While most phone cameras have a fixed
aperture, Samsung has installed a variable
aperture on the primary, wide-angle S9+
camera (the single S9 snapper gets it, too).
That makes it possible to shoot at the wider,
light-gobbling f1.5 in dark conditions (or
when you want to isolate a subject) or at
f2.4 when conditions are brighter.
Realistically, it’s the faster aperture in low
light that will really make a difference to your
photographs. And make a difference it does.
Samsung’s current crop of top-end handsets
perform noticeably better in low light than
Apple’s. The trade-off? Samsung tends
to saturate its images more aggressively,
while Apple opts for a more natural colour
reproduction. By many accounts it was Apple’s iPhone 4S
that first saw “serious” photographers begin
to forsake their bulky DSLRs in favour of
the camera built in to their handsets. It was
also around this time that Instagram began
to take off, which may have played a role
because of its low resolution demands.
Today the camera on the 4S looks
rudimentary compared to the dual camera
setup found on the iPhone X and its cheaper
but larger sibling, the iPhone 8 Plus. The
combination of a 12MP f1.8 wide-angle
camera and a 12MP f2.4 telephoto, both
with optical image stabilisation (OIS), offers
users the flexibility to shoot with a regular,
moderately wide field of view or to get
closer to the action. Features like automatic
HDR and a quad-LED flash make it possible
to get excellent shots even in high-contrast
or low-light conditions.
The latest iPhones also include a portrait
mode that keeps the subject in focus while
blurring the background – the sort of effect
that has traditionally required a fast-aperture
lens on a high-end camera. And if you’re after
fine-grained control, add an app like Camera+
or ProCamera and you can fiddle everything
from white balance to shutter speed, much
like you would on a conventional camera. The last few generations of Huawei flagships
have seen the Chinese company go from a
minor player in the top-end handset stakes
to a serious contender – not just for a
podium place, but for the top spot.
When the company first announced
its affiliation with legendary German
camera-maker Leica a few devices back,
many wrote it off as a marketing gimmick.
With the P20 Pro, though, Huawei has
created a phone that’s ruffling all the right
feathers and getting mobile photographers
in particular to pay close attention.
Huawei has packed three rear cameras
into the P20 Pro: a 40MP f/1.8, 20MP f/1.6
monochrome and 8MP f/2.4 telephoto.
That combination enables 3 x optical zoom
(compared to Apple and Samsung’s 2 x)
or 5 x “hybrid zoom”, a combination of
image stacking and software magic that’s
also used to create extremely impressive
night-time shots.
If you’re looking for the best zoom, the
ability to shoot in near darkness (assuming all
the important parts of your image are static)
and the widest range of baked-in creative
options – like the ability to capture light trails
– the P20 Pro is tough to beat … Until the
next iPhone and Galaxy arrive, of course.
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