Paid $1,600 for LESS-THAN-PERFECT hardware! (S20 Ultra)

[Gray Area]

Well after putting off buying one, I was going to wait for the note 20 or just buy a mid-range due to dissatisfied with price and lack of features to justify the price. Well, I read how Tmobile is giving sprint customers with non s20 series 5g phones a free upgrade. I have a note 9, which is not a 5g phone, but I went on the site and low and behold, they offered it to me!

PEOPLE I JUST GOT A FREE S20 ULTRA!

Proof!

 

[Mooncatt]

That's what I really don't like about this camera on how all the reviewers mention this "narrow plane of focus" and show that you can't "get a whole mug in the shot (MKBHD I think it was)" where he takes a close photo of a mug and you can't even get a whole coffee mug in focus... how it blurs out at the back of the mug. That's just too narrow IMO.

Such is the trade-off when everyone wants super wide apertures because they feel they must take photos of their kids in unreasonably low light conditions. If that's what someone wants, they need to go with a dedicated camera with a larger sensor.

A wider aperture necessarily means a shallow depth of field. Being close to this subject also necessarily means a shallow depth of field. So it's no surprise that you can't get the entire mug in focus when doing an extreme close-up. Step back a few feet and you'll likely be able to get it all into focus, then crop as needed. This isn't a design flaw, it's how light interacts with lenses.

 

[MoreDef]

Such is the trade-off when everyone wants super wide apertures because they feel they must take photos of their kids in unreasonably low light conditions. If that's what someone wants, they need to go with a dedicated camera with a larger sensor.

and yet this phone is TERRIBLE at that

 

[L0n3N1nja]

Eh... but is it the best setup that Samsung could do?? I mean I agree with Mike Dee that you can't call it a QC issue... because that's the way they wanted to send it out.

But... Call it a Quality issue?? Call it sending out a product 2/3rds baked?? They knew they were releasing these phone with autofocus not sorted out with the thought that they could with a software update after launch. I just can't see how they didn't know. But is that how you want to launch a $1400 phone??

Who said it... Don't buy a phone with a promise of something to be fixed in an update??

Shallow depth and field and focus distance was never promised a fix, they said they were going to improve autofocus and from what I can tell they did. Personally I don't have the phone to test.

It's also not a 2/3 baked product. They took a different approach to their camera, they are facing back lash because it's different and amateur phone photographers don't know the different so everyone is falsely calling it broken.

Personally I look forward to this camera in the Note this fall.

 

[Mooncatt]

and yet this phone is TERRIBLE at that

To be honest, I've never seen a phone that was good at it. Low light + fast action + tiny sensor = a bad photo almost every time.

 

[Peter Scooze]

Shallow depth and field and focus distance was never promised a fix, they said they were going to improve autofocus and from what I can tell they did. Personally I don't have the phone to test.

It's also not a 2/3 baked product. They took a different approach to their camera, they are facing back lash because it's different and amateur phone photographers don't know the different so everyone is falsely calling it broken.

Personally I look forward to this camera in the Note this fall.

I def get what you're saying. They did improve the autofocus and from my use the last couple of months there was a definite learning curve to using this camera. Its not your typical point and shoot smartphone camera .

 

[MoreDef]

To be honest, I've never seen a phone that was good at it. Low light + fast action + tiny sensor = a bad photo almost every time.

Pixel series.

the difference in quality and amount of blur is honestly night and day. i know because i had that problem with my S20 Ultra, and was referred to the Pixel series by Mustang and BDiddy, and it's the truth. part of me is actually frustrated that i need a secondary phone just for this one specific type of photography....but the tech nerd in me rejoices that i found a reason to rationalize having a secondary phone.

 

[Mooncatt]

Pixel series.

the difference in quality and amount of blur is honestly night and day. i know because i had that problem with my S20 Ultra, and was referred to the Pixel series by Mustang and BDiddy, and it's the truth. part of me is actually frustrated that i need a secondary phone just for this one specific type of photography....but the tech nerd in me rejoices that i found a reason to rationalize having a secondary phone.

I'll take your word for it. I don't typically try low light action shots, so it never was a concern for me. It's just a complaint I see over and over again around the forums. Any low light work I do involves long exposures and full manual control, which the pixel line doesn't have out of the box.

 

[Mike Dee]

I'm so annoyed with all these phone photographers calling this thing broken because they have zero experience with how a larger image sensor combined with large aperture creates a shallow depth if field.

Exactly

 

[Mike Dee]

ah. i figured that QC control would catch that there is a design limitation. you know, like, "hey guys, this camera is having issues because we can't jam that much tech into that small a space."

and then some guy would answer, "tony stark did it in a cave. WITH SCRAPS!"

What you're describing is a QA design function which would identify limitation and at that point decide what to do about it.

QC is later down the line ensuring the product when assembled meets the engineering design specification.

 

[Mike Dee]

One thing I know i will pay half not full price.

Z flip....lol

 

[donm527]

Nice!! I'd buy an Ultra at that price!

Does this deal apply to only customers with older Samsung phones or any T-Mobile customer with a non-5G phone... like a iPhone 6S??

Have a link to that deal?? I have a buddy that's on T-Mobile and still hanging on to an iPhone 6S and this would be good for him.

Well after putting off buying one, I was going to wait for the note 20 or just buy a mid-range due to dissatisfied with price and lack of features to justify the price. Well, I read how Tmobile is giving sprint customers with non s20 series 5g phones a free upgrade. I have a note 9, which is not a 5g phone, but I went on the site and low and behold, they offered it to me!

PEOPLE I JUST GOT A FREE S20 ULTRA!

Proof! View attachment 319649View attachment 319650

 

[mustang7757]

Z flip....lol

Haha
Nope you know too much for your own good

 

[blackhawkhot]

What, what, what? Great deal!!!

 

[Gray Area]

Ikr, I was so shocked when I was slightly trembling like this isn't real it won't go through but it did lol.

What, what, what? Great deal!!!

 

[felloffthetruck]

Which specific issue is affecting you?

A: Autofocus hunting
B: Autofocus difficulty close up
C: Shallow depth of field
D: I need to upgrade again

D - all the way !

 

[cardboard60]

Just saw a video by GregglesTV where he states that Samsung has admitted that the focus issue on the S20 Ultra can not be fixed with a software update.

Sucks that I'm stuck with a $1,600. phone with broken hardware.

Could you of waited a couple month , to see if there was any bugs in a new phone.

 

[chanchan05]

Could you of waited a couple month , to see if there was any bugs in a new phone.

But you won't get the preorder deals /s

 

[cardboard60]

What kind of deal do you have now.

Problem with your phone.

 

[chanchan05]

Hmm. Since the issue seems to be large aperture + laege sensor creating shallow depth of field, would this mean that if Samsung retained the variable aperture, this would not have been an issue?