The Samsung Galaxy S22’s cameras aren’t the best, but I love them
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For a long time, answering the question “Which smartphone takes the best photos?” was easy: the latest Google Pixel. Times have changed, and now there’s fierce competition in the mobile photography realm. While thePixel 6and6 Proare still some of the best cameras, the answer to the question comes down to personal preference rather than imperial metrics. Some prefer photos that are as accurate to real life as possible or the high-contrast look from a Pixel. As mobile photography week continues, I’d like to talk about why the flexibility afforded by theSamsung Galaxy S22 Ultra’scamera system makes it my favorite.
The expression “jack of all trades, master of none” comes to mind when I think about these cameras, as they have almost everything you could ask for. A high-resolution primary sensor with 8K video, dedicated 3X and 10X lenses, and an ultra-wide that can double as a macro camera. While the primary 108MP sensor is the only one that supports 8K, the rest are all capable of 4K and 60FPS, so when you record that resolution or lower, you can switch between them all without pausing the recording. These cameras offer flexibility seldom seen anywhere else, and I appreciate that for several reasons.
The primary sensor is always reliable
The primary camera on the S22 Ultra had the same issue at launch as the two Ultra phones that preceded it—shutter lag. Samsung has finally managed to fix it with the June 2022 security patch, which weighed in at several GB. The camera app finally works as it always should. Switching modes and lenses happens without a hitch, and the photo is taken as soon as you press the shutter button.
Photo three in the below gallery was on a windy day, and those tree branches were moving all over the place. You wouldn’t know it from the photo, as everything is in focus as it should be.
Looking at the photos overall, we can see how far Samsung’s photography has come. The overblown colors have been reigned in dramatically. While they are slightly more saturated than other phones, it’s all within the realms of personal preference as opposed to objectively bad. The dynamic range is especially impressive, and the phone coped with the rare English sun with ease, retaining detail in the bright spots and the shadows.
Hello darkness, my old friend
We all cringed when Samsung spoke about the S22 Ultra’s “Nightography” capabilities, but marketing nonsense aside, the low-light performance is far better than expected. The sunset is evenly exposed, again with realistic colors compared to previous phones. The indoor image is also impressive, given the circumstances.
The venue might look well lit in the photo, but it wasn’t. Spotlights in the ceiling had their brightness pulled down low, meaning the phone had to rely on night mode and a long exposure to capture this image. The moving people may be a bit blurry from the exposure length, and the spotlights might be a bit streaky, but the image still captures the atmosphere of waiting for Les Misérables to begin.
The two zoom lenses cope well in the darkness as well. These fire shots were taken with the 3X and 10X lenses with night mode switched off. Despite the fire flickering at speed, the focus is pretty good, and the contrast between the black background, bright fire, and warmly lit foreground looks great.
That zoom though
The zoom capabilities are where the S22 Ultra shines. Dedicated 3X and 10X lenses afford flexibility that few other phones share, and the photos you’re able to take with them are unbelievable sometimes. The 3X lens is especially good at portrait mode, as my furry nephew Elmo demonstrated. The portrait mode software perfectly enhances the natural bokeh, and the resulting image is close to perfect. The edge detection is excellent, the bright background outside the window isn’t overexposed, and Elmo’s dark fur has plenty of detail.
The remaining images are even more impressive, as they were taken using “Space Zoom,” digitally cropping into the 10X lens to about 30X in all of these cases. The penguins, which were on the other side of a waterfall, are in focus, and the detail is excellent, given that we’re using digital zoom. Likewise, the photos of the Capybara and Ducks are almost perfect, with few signs pointing to the fact it’s a crop job.
We couldn’t talk about zoom without mentioning the moon. I remember thinking, “that’s cool, but I’ll only use it once,” when moon mode debuted on the S21 Ultra. I was wrong. Zooming into an object so far away and seeing this much detail is an addicting experience, and you’ll find me snapping photos of the moon whenever it’s visible.
I was truly blown away in June when I saw Imagine Dragons. The last time I’d been to a concert was in 2019 with a Galaxy S10+, so this was my first opportunity to use the enhanced zoom capabilities at a live event. The results are incredible.
The lighting was challenging for the phone, so these images would never be pixel-perfect. But they don’t need to be. Each photo, taken between 10X and 30X, perfectly captures the event’s atmosphere. Whenever I look at them, I can hear the music, picture the crowd’s energy, and feel the smile on my face as I enjoyed seeing live music again for the first time in years.
Things are just as impressive when recording video. The sound quality is excellent, considering all my older phones would crackle at concerts as the volume overloaded the mics. Sadly I had to strip the sound out for YouTube, so you’ll have to take my word for it. While the video might be fuzzy in places because of the lighting and my distance from the stage, I still love the results for the same reason I’m happy with the photos, and few other phones would be anywhere near capable of doing what the S22 Ultra did here.
The only camera I need
Some of you may look at these photos and say that x device would have more color accuracy, or x device would have even better low-light performance. That might be true. But how many of them can be this competent in so many areas all at once? I go back to the phrase I used at the beginning of this article, “jack of all trades, master of none.”
That’s how I like my phone cameras to be, as it feels more akin to my Sony A6300 and the multiple lenses I use with it. I’d rather have a phone that can take photos in situations no other can, in ways that no other can. The S22 Ultra does just that, and it’s Android Police’s pick for thebest Android phone. With each passing year, Samsung has been closing the overall quality gap with the competition anyway, so perhaps soon, I won’t have to justify why I choose to use this over a Pixel, iPhone, or even my A6300.
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