How many cameras are enough? How many are too many? The Samsung Galaxy A9 (2018) came out around three and a half years ago and it was the first ever quad camera phone. It promised a lot of versatility, allowing you to switch between three focal lengths to get the best possible framing for your shot, as rendering a shallow depth of field normally possible only with the large sensors of DSLRs.
- 24 MP primary camera, f/1.7 aperture, 4K video recording at 30 fps
- 8 MP ultra wide-angle (120° FoV, 12 mm)
- 10 MP telephoto (2x optical magnification, 52 mm)
- 5 MP depth sensor
Why are so many cameras even necessary? Well, there had been some attempts at using variable focal length cameras, but those never really fit in a sub-10 mm phone. And the A9 was thinner than 8 mm, with a camera that was almost flush with the rear panel.
With the technology available at the time, the easiest way to offer several long focus is to use several modules. The LG G5 proves the use of having an ultrawide lens in 2016, as soon as the telephoto camera starts to decorate the back of the smartphone.
Only in 2018 the first cellphone that offers both began to appear. The LG V40 ThinQ was announced on October 3 (a few weeks in front of A9) and displayed an Ultra Telephoto lens 107 °, width 78 ° and 45 ° on its back. With two cameras on the front, 90 ° and 80 °, it was the first cellphone with five cameras on the ship. Samsung also has a total of five, but in the 4+1 configuration.
You might want to talk about whether the depth sensor is truly useful or just increase the amount for marketing purposes. Unfortunately, we have a bigger problem to handle first -Galaxy A9 camera (2018) is not too good.
Below is a camera sample from the main camera and the first thing that surprises us even now is “Why are they so purple?”. The phone occasionally gets the White Balance correctly, but that is rare. And even when that happened, the photo was still noisy and soft.
The telephoto camera handles better colors, but for some strange reasons the output of the 10MP sensor is increased to 24MP. You can turn it off, but it’s strange that it is even a choice.
The ultrawide-old camera has a different misery, the image it produces is very distorted. Image quality is also not perfect. In some cases we like excessive perspectives, but there is a reason why most Ultra extends has a default activated distortion correction.
Overall, we expect more, even from Mid-Ranger from 2018. Especially where the main attraction is a camera, although it is not the only thing that Galaxy A9 (2018) does for that. More about that later, now is the time to focus on the depth sensor.
Strangely, the portrait shot taken by the main camera and the depth sensor that works together is pretty good because the cellphone managed to separate the subject from the background quite accurately.