Camera vs S7. S8 and S9

[inffy]

The thing here is that as good as the AI seems to be on the P20 Pro camera there are the Greenery and Blue Sky modes that I personally HATE.

Both bump up the greens and the blues so much that every shot with a nice skyview becomes this sea of bright blue. What I tend to do is always dismiss these two automatic modes when I do photography.

In the other hand the Food mode actually does nice photos (for a scenario that you like to post food photos to social media).

 

[orangecroc]

The thing here is that as good as the AI seems to be on the P20 Pro camera there are the Greenery and Blue Sky modes that I personally HATE.

Both bump up the greens and the blues so much that every shot with a nice skyview becomes this sea of bright blue. What I tend to do is always dismiss these two automatic modes when I do photography.

In the other hand the Food mode actually does nice photos (for a scenario that you like to post food photos to social media).

Totally agree, the AI seems to be good with the greenery and blue sky ones being the exception.

 

[LossOfCite]

The Vivid and Smooth filters are there to give you the 'Leica Look'. It's their signature style kinda thing and are supposed to make the photos look more dramatic. I don't use them because of the shadow you mention. There's definitely a Vignette style going on there but I'd prefer it if they just did what they said and give more punchy colours when required.

I could be mistaken, but I believe the classic Leica style has a slightly under-saturated look. I thought Huawei added "smooth" and "vivid" for those that want punchier social media shots.

 

[dov1978]

I could be mistaken, but I believe the classic Leica style has a slightly under-saturated look. I thought Huawei added "smooth" and "vivid" for those that want punchier social media shots.

Yeah you're probably right.

 

[nick3young]

I'm excited to experiment with some of the other AI modes... so far I've only seen 'greenery', 'text', 'food', 'cat' (not sure what this one does to the image!) and 'document scan'.

I took another photo of a house plant and 'greenery' mode kicked in. Unlike the garden shot... I actually quite like this image overall (colours etc - I know the actual photo is awful!).

I'm going to try and get out this weekend and get a few decent shots. I suspect (hope) Huawei will continue to tweak and refine their AI filters as we move through the coming months...

 

[nick3young]

In the first two photos (with the Coke can), which is the better representation of the color of the table? The P20 has it cyanish or pinkish. Also what kind of bulb (tungsten, CFL, led etc) is in the lamp?

I would say the S7 photo is a better representation.

The bulb is a Philips Hue LED set to it's standard 'warmth' rating.

 

[Itsa_Me_Mario]

Perhaps a bit too accurate?!

Not sure I can agree that this is a thing. A perfect photo is 100% true to life, so the more accurate a camera is, the closer to perfection it is. Same thing with color calibration on displays.

 

[nick3young]

A perfect photo is 100% true to life...

... well I'm not sure I can agree with that haha! Photography is a form of art isn't it. And having the most realistic results doesn't necessarily result in a good photo... let alone a perfect one.

How many professional photographers take their photos away and 'tweak' them to improve the result?

And I'm not a pro (I think my examples show that, haha!). I just want to take a photo of my beer and upload it to Facebook to show everyone how cool I am (or not!!). And I could take a cold, empty pub and turn it in to to a warm and exciting place to be... through the magic of photography.

This is all subjective though and as I say, I felt, for the purpose of taking photos and uploading to social media, the S7 produced better results (for me).

But I am starting to get used to my P20 Pro now...

 

[Itsa_Me_Mario]

... well I'm not sure I can agree with that haha! Photography is a form of art isn't it. And having the most realistic results doesn't necessarily result in a good photo... let alone a perfect one.

How many professional photographers take their photos away and 'tweak' them to improve the result?

And I'm not a pro (I think my examples show that, haha!). I just want to take a photo of my beer and upload it to Facebook to show everyone how cool I am (or not!!). And I could take a cold, empty pub and turn it in to to a warm and exciting place to be... through the magic of photography.

This is all subjective though and as I say, I felt, for the purpose of taking photos and uploading to social media, the S7 produced better results (for me).

But I am starting to get used to my P20 Pro now...

The art of photography is in picture composition. The lightroom side of it is a separate issue, and even then, professional photographers want to have an as close to realistically perfect file to start with, and edit from there. As opposed to starting from a heavily automatically processed image. The better camera hardware will always produce a more accurate photo than the lesser hardware, under the conditions for which it is superior. Whether or not people prefer that image to another image that they feel is more artistic, or better edited, etc. is a totally separate issue from the actual objective performance of the equipment.

 

[nick3young]

Yeah I agree. I feel we have gone off on a bit of a tangent here!

I don't doubt that the hardware in the P20 is superior to the S7.

But as I say in my original post, I personally was just trying to decide if I preferred the 'look' of my S7 photos. I like the warmer notes and punchier colours as a quick 'point, shoot and then upload to social media'... which, I suspect, is what most people use the cameras on their phones for.

I'd like to assume that professional photographers and those who are serious about photography still use the likes of DSLRs? I'm getting married this year and as great as the camera is, I'd still be a little concerned if the photographer rocks up to the wedding armed with a "P20 Pro"!

As a previous poster has said... Leica are known for their slightly under-saturated 'look'. Perhaps it's this that I just need to get used to. But don't get me wrong, I'm loving the camera. Loving the phone. I was just curious to hear other views on comparisons against the Samsung phones.

 

[doohsun]

I have to agree P2 Pro photos for me actually looks better for all those comparison. You can actually tell by the details. Where the S7 seems a bit washed.

 

[Pol Hallen]

Hi, I agree with you. S7 camera is more tested than p20 pro. S7 is older 2 years. I think (I hope) huawei will release new upgrade to camera software and IA algorithms... I saw many utube video and followed many forums: the reply is always one: camera of p20 pro (for now) is not ready to challenges with best terminal of moment (s9 and s9+, iPhone X, etc)

Pol

 

[andrew_ackley]

Hi all.

I've just recently upgraded to the P20 Pro from my Galaxy S7 Edge.

Overall I'm loving the phone. The camera truly is top quality.

However I'm undecided whether I prefer the 'look' of the photos when compared with my S7 photos.

With both phones on standard settings, the photos on the S7 seem warmer, more vibrant and slightly brighter. The P20 Pro photos feel a little... dare I say... dull. Perhaps a bit too accurate?!

My fiancee also says the same. She described the photos as a little 'dark'.

Does anyone feel the same? I can muck with the settings a little (e.g. enable the 'pro' mode and add more warmth) but I'd rather not be having to do this all the time.

There is an option on standard to change the colour to 'smooth' or 'vivid' but I feel this results in quite a weird, dark look.

I'd be interested to hear other people's opinions...

Where are you viewing the pictures?

 

[darkehawke]

looking at them on a pc monitor the P20 wins by far

I think what you use to view them on is important

If you're only using your phone to look at pictures then fair enough.

I like to print pictures and the pictures that comes from my other half's S8 never look as good as they do on her screen.

 

[Maknora]

Oh man, you are going to love the s9+ pictures. I have one and they are exactly for folks like you. Awesome pictures without configuring anything. I guarantee you'll like it.

 

[Maknora]

Here is a simple point and shoot that took 1 second with my s9

 

[GibMcFragger]

looking at them on a pc monitor the P20 wins by far

I think what you use to view them on is important

If you're only using your phone to look at pictures then fair enough.

I like to print pictures and the pictures that comes from my other half's S8 never look as good as they do on her screen.

I have had an S9+ since launch, and I just received my pre order P20 Pro two days ago. I have been playing with the camera and the phone since I got it.

I just finished wiping it and stuffing it back in the box. The camera(s) on the P20 Pro are garbage compared to my S9+. Now, that being said, I am sure the HARDWARE is good, but the software on the P20 Pro does a brutal job of over-processing and over-sharpening the pics. They either look like a watercolour painting, or so sharp they look fake.
The software on the P20 Pro is also buggy. Notifications are screwy, etc. The only thing I DID like over the S9+ was battery life. That's only because it has a bigger battery driving a lower resolution display. I really wanted to like it, but I am not impressed. It's going back before my 15 day window is up.

I am sure it will all be fixed with updates, but I am not taking that risk. It's a decent phone, but I feel it's a step down from what I currently have.

 

[dsneedmd]

People who think you can get good photos w/o fixing on PC are fools. Shot raw and fix on PC then you will know this Pro 20 camera is the best.

 

[Fred98TJ]

People who think you can get good photos w/o fixing on PC are fools. Shot raw and fix on PC then you will know this Pro 20 camera is the best.

Most top tier phones can take good photos when taken raw and pp.
The default camera app on most phones craps them all up, over sharpened, oversaturated, smeared details, etc.
There are ways to even improve the raws on most phones that provide superior results over raws taken just as standard raws and pp.
Saying the P20 is the best just because someone knows how to take and pp standard raws is really just a hope or guess.

 

[Fred98TJ]

Also, remember, that the vast majority of people using phone cameras are not photographers and have no clue nor interest in learning even the basics of photography, much less learning how to pp raw images.
The vast majority are simply digi-snappers and there is nothing wrong with that.
This is way the review sites review the camera apps and the spit out jpgs from them.