“
If you’re looking for the best zoom,
the ability to shoot in near darkness and the
widest range of baked-in creative options...
the P20 Pro is tough to beat
“
LG G7 THINQ NOKIA 8 SIROCCO SONY XPERIA XZ2
Like its rivals, LG has been offering double
rear cameras in its flagship devices for
three iterations now. But unlike its rivals,
the Korean electronics giant has opted to
use its secondary shooter to go wide rather
than long.
Instead of a telephoto (or zoom) lens,
LG’s latest device includes an ultra-wide lens
and sensor next to its standard rear camera.
That makes the G7 an excellent choice for
people who like to photograph interiors, or
generally cram more into the frame. As with
any wide-angle lens, though, shooting with
the G7 also means you need to get closer to
your subject and pay more attention to the
edges of your frame.
The first version of this camera setup
appeared in the LG G5, but poor resolution
and high levels of noise from the secondary
camera made it tough to recommend. The
G7, however, boasts dual 16MP sensors, the
regular one with a relatively speedy f1.6
aperture and the ultra-wide with a slower f1.9.
Like Huawei and Samsung’s latest
phone cameras, the G7 also includes an
artificial intelligence mode. Point it at a
sunset, landscape, pet or meal and it will
recognise what’s in the shot and adjust
settings accordingly. The Nokia of today isn’t the Nokia that
dominated the handset market in the
late 1990s and early 2000s. After failing to
successfully make the transition from feature
to smartphones, the company was divvied up
and sold off. HMD Global acquired the mobile
division and now makes Android-powered
smartphones with high-end specifications and
designs, alongside nostalgia-inducing remakes
of retro classics like the 3310.
Despite the turmoil, Nokia’s relationship
with optics company Zeiss has survived,
with Zeiss continuing to provide elements
of the cameras for Nokia’s top tier devices.
Its current flagship, the Nokia 8 Sirocco,
offers a dual camera setup in the same vein
as Apple’s and Sam sung’s: a regular camera
alongside a 2 x optical zoom telephoto.
The Sirocco’s primary camera offers
12MP resolution and a relatively speedy
f1.8 aperture, while the secondary camera
is a 13MP f2.6 affair. That’s slower than
Samsung’s or Huawei’s finest, but on par
with Apple’s. And while overall image quality
isn’t quite up there with that of its big-name
rivals – particularly when conditions become
dim – the Nokia Sirocco is substantially
cheaper than any of them, which makes it a
compelling alternative. Like the Nokia 8 Sirocco, Sony’s Xperia XZ2
is positioned as a cost-effective alternative
to the big-name flagships that start around
R15 000. Sony has a long history of equipping
its handsets with impressive camera kit, and
the XZ2 is no exception.
While there’s no secondary rear camera,
the primary camera offers a pack-leading
19MP resolution from a 1/2.3 in sensor and
an aperture of f2. Not that resolution is
everything, mind you, but these are solid
specs for a mid-range device. Add to that
electronic image stabilisation and laser
autofocus, and you’ve got a capable shooter
in a compact package. Like Nokia and LG,
Sony has had to forgo 4K video capture with
the Xperia XZ2, but you can still record at
2160p and 30fps (as you can with the Sirocco
and G7), which is twice the resolution of full
HD and perfectly sufficient for most buyers.
As with the Nokia, the XZ2 isn’t able to
produce quite the same level of detail or
perform as impressively in low light as its
peers, but then it’s also far more affordable.
That difference could mean an extra night or
two at your destination, which in turn could
mean more interesting things to photograph
– a trade-off we suspect most travelling
photographers would happily accept.
MAKE MEMORIES FOR LIFE // 17