Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra's camera detailed: 10x folded periscope joins 3x tele camera

07 December 2020
The 108 MP ISOCELL HM3 sensor can do lossless digital zoom up to 3x.

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  • AnonD-923722
  • Kx9
  • 08 Dec 2020

Aerni68, 08 Dec 2020Hopefully SAMSUNG is wise enough to offer the user an optio... moreMay i ask you?
Can an sensor that is already made shift those pixels to make it like an another type of sensor? That would be magical. It is sci fi. If it could be done, then 40 MP + quad bayer sensors should offer real 40 MP quality shots, not 10 MP upscaled to 40 MP.

    Copy cat and marketing while in real life Galaxy line camera processing it's 5 years old... Fooling all around!

      AnonD-923722, 08 Dec 2020No, that's real 409600. Even if you use ISO 12800 or s... more"stacking multiple frames will still yield a lot of noise"
      What the actual heck are you even saying? Stacking yields a lot of noise? Please don't tell me you actually believe that P30 Pro's sensor is capable of capturing an image at ISO 409600 and the final output you see is resulting from processing a SINGLE image without any sort of image stacking. That's now how stuffs work.

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        • Aerni68
        • Ec7
        • 08 Dec 2020

        Hopefully SAMSUNG is wise enough to offer the user an option to choose on a variable pixel binning mode (either QuadBeyer or nonacell). With such an option it would be possible to have benefits in terms of picture resolution. Since the nonacell binning did not at all result in crisp, sharp and brilliant photos, the reduced binning on QuadBeyer level should not destroy a lot. In such a case even a reasonable 16:9 output with regards to resolution and quality should be possible. I hope that SAMSUNG will get this!

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          • AnonD-923722
          • wrX
          • 08 Dec 2020

          KimbraMe, 08 Dec 2020"Google's night mode is borderline science fictio... moreBut, not now. The night mode has too many noise, maybe bcuz of the sensor. But even apple can do better with the same sensor size as the Pixel 5 on the Iphone 12.

            It really looks like Samsung is trying hard to beat Huawei in terms of camera performance. This would be an interesting battle.

              AnonD-923722, 08 Dec 2020I ask you, can it shoot : 1. In extreme dynamic range sc... more"Google's night mode is borderline science fiction" - Mrwhosetheboss

                Dutchie, 07 Dec 2020all this zoom, telephoto and periscope...then you read ... moreYea, was gonna ask that, too. There's no reason to upgrade even from an S10. These pieces of glass and metal are becoming more expensive but have nothing to show for the price, surely. Why should a phone cost as much as a laptop, or higher? It's so small and Android is still limited. Who still buys 12% marginally improved phones? Gary Explains stated that smartphone camera tech has plateau-d over the past four years. Gimmicky Samsung.

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                  • Moto
                  • 6Qj
                  • 08 Dec 2020

                  Who cares

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                    • Shui8
                    • KZK
                    • 08 Dec 2020

                    Anonymous, 08 Dec 2020P30 pro still uses 1/1.78" main camera. With 1/1.5&qu... moreUWA on P30 Pro actually a 1/2.7" sensor size.

                    About that Mono/RYYB, in real life, its the other way around. RYYB solution produce way way brighter images + plenty of DR + minimal artifacts than RGB+Mono did (only micro-contrast better). The slight inaccurate color reproduction are true, but can easily fixed using HSL management afterwards. At least on Mate 40 color accuracy has improve.

                    And i would take either P20/P30 Pro over XZ2 Premium anyday. Firstly, still keen about its camera image processing as point & shoot + variable FL. Secondly, as an overall device, XZ2 Premium are inferior in a lot of aspects compare to the other two, at least based on my needs.

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                      • AnonD-923722
                      • wrX
                      • 08 Dec 2020

                      Nick Tagataka, 08 Dec 2020I don't understand why you're considering a lack ... moreBut that's true, Huaweis Night mode, colour science, white balance, lens switching experience is the worse in the industry. Their night mode are worse than their auto mode, their colours are weird, WB can sometimes go purple, green, warm, cool and are very inconsistent. And when switching between lens, the colour shift and jump is very noticeable. And all of these are software issues, they can probably fix it, but it is also hard since they have the RYYB sensor, but no excuse at all. Their Ultrawide are RGGB, yet have strange colours. I think P20 Pro will be my last Huawei phone. Since the Night mode is better than the Auto mode. Huawei phones since the Mate 30 Pro have their auto mode outperformed their night mode and their night mode is the worst right now, worse than even samsung.

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                        • AnonD-923722
                        • wrX
                        • 08 Dec 2020

                        Nick Tagataka, 08 Dec 2020I don't understand why you're considering a lack ... moreNo, that's real 409600. Even if you use ISO 12800 or something, stacking multiple frames will still yield a lot of noise. That's why Pixels photos have noise even in daylight, they capture several underexposed frames for stacking to reduce motion blur and exposure bracketing. But, there is a hell lot amounts of noise at the darkest shadows and when you bring them up in edit.

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                          • AnonD-923722
                          • wrX
                          • 08 Dec 2020

                          Nick Tagataka, 08 Dec 2020Not necessarily true. While you're absolutely right ab... moreBut it will mean desaturated colours and you need to edit them in post or make the phone add the saturation artificially.

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                            • AnonD-923722
                            • wrX
                            • 08 Dec 2020

                            Nick Tagataka, 08 Dec 2020The rumour suggests that S21 Ultra will feature a relativel... moreAt lowlight, 10x optical zoom will be a complete mess, even in nightmode. The shake, small sensor, small aperture will be more visible than an 10x hybrid shot from an 5x optical zoom. 10x means twice the amount of shake than an 5x one. Most People will definitely prefer an still quite detailed, bright, colourful 10x hybrid shot rather than an 10x optical lens that captures nothing but blurry photos and darkness

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                              • AnonD-923722
                              • wrX
                              • 08 Dec 2020

                              [deleted post]Nope, i am an Xiaomi Fanboy and a fan of Galaxy Note series. I am just disappointed why with such an large sensor, it pulls in less light than an smaller sensor and still has the watercoloury issues. And the 10x optical zoom wil be pointless in lowlight. 5 x optical and 10x hybrid will produce usables shots with nightmode at nighttime zoom. But 10x optical zoom will be an blurry mess and dark unless you have an tripod and an still subject.

                              Why are you so angry, are u an Samsung Fanboy, kiddo?

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                                • AnonD-923722
                                • wrX
                                • 08 Dec 2020

                                Berserker, 08 Dec 2020Omg, switching between the lenses. Switching between the m... moreYeah, almost all periscopes are like that. Just get to 1000 ISO and the image quality is an mess. And it will be far worse with the 10x Optical zoom with small sensor, small aperture, and long focal length with so many shakes. In fact, 10x zoom at night mode is almost useless unless you have an tripod. Since there is too much shake and u need to wait at least 6 seconds. The image will be an total blur before ot gets bright enough. On the other hand, 5X zoom cameras can produce bright enough pictures with Night Mode, and bcuz of the shoter focal length, less shaky and blurry photos, and bcuz of the larger sensor and wider aperture, u get an usable photo. So 10X Hybrid may be less detailed, but still usable, but definitely better than the dark, blurry mess of an 10x optical zoom

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                                  • AnonD-923722
                                  • wrX
                                  • 08 Dec 2020

                                  Anonymous, 08 Dec 2020Even photographers with professional gear avoid complete d... moreNot all conditions are equal, and when sometimea in an travel, you came across an party and when the lights are off, you wanna capture the moment, but it is too dark, that is when it will come useful. And also, astrophotography without long exposure, just handheld wjth 400000 ISOs. Yes, it is not super sharp, and noise free. But at least is is usable at normal conditions. Not all people brings tripod to travel and want an 5s or more exposure time. So, that is for versatility, right now even few phones with significantly larger sensor can't even compete with the P30 Pro at pitch black. So the purpose is an usable shot to capture ur memory, not for an super sharp and detailed photos

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                                    • AnonD-923722
                                    • wrX
                                    • 08 Dec 2020

                                    AnonD-909757, 08 Dec 202010Mp 10x optical zoom ? Really ? Are you for real Samsung ... moreStupid idea, why ditch the 3x One? Moving periscope isn't a good idea, it means worse quality shots at 3x even if you have 3x optical. Because most periscopes have F higher than 3.0, which means less light capture than even the conventional F 2.4 and larger sensor of the normal 3x lens without periscope. Think again

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                                      • AnonD-923722
                                      • wrX
                                      • 08 Dec 2020

                                      Anonymous, 08 Dec 2020XZ2 Premium with dual smaller 1/2.3" mono + rgb could ... moreI sakd P30 Pro, not P20 Pro.

                                        Anonymous, 08 Dec 2020P30 pro still uses 1/1.78" main camera. With 1/1.5&qu... moreNot necessarily true. While you're absolutely right about the colour instability of RYYB sensor, RGGB+Monochrome image fusion from separate sensors still has some issues with parallax therefore needs to be turned off when capturing objects at close distance.
                                        I'd rather have Vivo's RGBW CFA for a phone image sensor - Each of white pixels and R+G+B pixels occupy exactly 50% of the sensor area. No fusion artifacts, significantly increased light sensitivity and less computationally demanding than merging data from two separate sensors.. it's a win-win solution.