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I’ve had a love/hate relationship with past Sony phone cameras, but this year Sony’s marketing tone changed dramatically. This year Sony pulled a significant 180. This year Sony’s doing something just a bit different. It’s not perfect. It’s not seamless.
But it makes me REALLY happy.
Continue reading “Sony Xperia 1 Camera Conclusion! 3 Cameras, 2 Apps, and a REAL Pro Mode!”
FIGHT! Sure. Some companies spend a TON on advertising a “pro” camera, but then cut manual controls which pros might care about. I just got the V50 in house, and before I have to send the XPERIA back to Sony, I shoehorned in a little camera comparisons. Better than just advertising a “professional grade” camera, these two companies really offer up the goods. Which camera takes the top spot? Let’s battle!
Continue reading “LG V50 vs Sony XPERIA 1: The REAL Pro-Grade Camera Showdown!”
It’s a Pixel, but it’s cheaper! We’re a bit starved for good mid-range competition here in the United States, but at $400 (and OFTEN found for cheaper) the Pixel 3a offers a photography price / performance ratio which absolutely SHAMES more expensive premium smartphones. Let’s take a quick look at what a cheap phone can do! Continue reading “Google Pixel 3a Camera Review: Just the Conclusion”
What happens when you cut two cameras off a V40, and spruce the auto modes a little? You get the LG G8! Previous LG’s have been fantastic for pro modes and manual controls, but have often suffered at the friendlier auto modes. Has the G8 fallen into the same trap? Here’s the camera conclusion for LG’s newest phone! Continue reading “LG G8 ThinQ Camera Conclusion: Master of All (Rounders)”
Shot, edited, and rendered in 4K from the Nokia 9!
Smartphone bokeh modes are going to get a lot better! The Nokia 9 PureView is known for having five cameras, but the crazy evolution might come from a special sensor that measures distance. Here’s an impromptu comparison of portrait modes.
Software vs hardware! Let’s fight! Continue reading “Nokia 9 PureView Bokeh vs Pixel 3: Depth Mapping!”
This is the most exciting area of smartphone manufacturing right now. Phones pushing the boundaries of “mid-ranger” hardware, arriving at prices well below premium offerings. Heck the View 20 sells for less than the iPhone 5 did back in 2012.
Outside of “flavor of the month” fads like folding, Honor is actually driving the smartphone camera market, employing a unique sensor I’ve not gotten to play with til now. Big claims. Big specs. BIG MEGAPICKLES!
Let’s take a look at what a mid-ranger can do!
Upgrading from a OnePlus 6 to a 6T, the camera hardware didn’t change, but we did get a new software feature for both phones. Nightscape is another entry in a growing list of low light, multiple exposure, software processing options. Let’s take it for a spin!
Continue reading “OnePlus 6T Camera Update: Light up the Nightscape”
What were you doing last Friday night? I was hiking around Ventura Blvd collecting night shots for smartphone reviews, so it’s time for a showdown! I posted three sets of photos from three different phones, and requested YOUR comments on Instagram. Which phone would YOU take with you for a night out on the town?
I was going to post the results on IG , but I felt this round required a touch more explanation than I could easily deliver in an IG post. To start, here are the full res images, uncompressed. The only edits were cropping them all into squares.
I got a TON of great comments on that post. Lot’s of people sharing their thoughts on their favorite processing styles. More than a few people guessed the phones correctly, which makes me really happy. Even with TERRIBLE Instagram compression, I’m interacting with people who understand and appreciate the nuance of what different cameras bring to the table. I’ll always point to those conversations as data points. Maybe we shouldn’t ONLY consider the lowest common denominator “average user” while we review these pocket supercomputers. But I digress… Continue reading “Night Shots! 3-Way Smartphone Camera Comparison Results!”