Are you planning to buy a latest smartphone with best camera features and have you simply selected the highest MP (Mega pixels) labelled mobile? Then you might get a shock of the life when you will know that this was not the best camera phone which you had wanted?
So, you have to check twice before you make the final decision to buy the best camera features smartphone. Now, you must be thinking that what things you need to check other than resolution in MP?
Why you need best camera in mobile?
Camera is very much required to take photos, making videos, video calling, wifi calling with our friends, relatives. That’s why camera has become top criteria for selecting smartphone over other mobile features. Previously, people used to carry point-and-shoot camera for photos and ‘handy camcorder’ or DSLR camera for videos. But gradually, with the advancement of camera features in mobiles, now no one wants to carry a seperate dedicated point-and-shoot camera or bulky DSLR. While still purists or photography experts are not satisfied with the qualities of image taken from mobile in comparison to dedicated P & S camera or DSLR, but people do manage with mobile camera features. Usually, we don’t take printout of photos but share on social media sites like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Snapchat, Whatsapp etc., so it’s ok for us with smartphone’s camera features.
In 2020, till now several brands have bundled camera in mobile up to 48 MP, 64 MP and some mobiles are coming up with camera up to 108MP. Here, we have to understand that Pixel is nothing but image in detail. More pixels means more details in image. But, it is not the only deciding factor to make image clearer, sharper, naturally looking colourful etc., as the image quality depends on many factors of camera like type of lens and optics used. Lens, Aperture, Focus, Stabilization are the key components which gives the clearer and sharper images. Then, it has sensors like Depth Sensor, Telephoto lens, Monochrome sensor, Wide angle lens which gives the flexibility of zoom, macro-view, natural color effect etc. to user.
Now, from single camera only on rear side, we have come to Quad (4) cameras on the rear and pop-up Selfie camera in the front, all of this are contributing in producing HQ (high quality) images and natural looking images. Let’s check the camera and video features in details below.
Camera features in smartphone in detail:
- Resolution : Resolution means number of pixels. It is measured usually in mega-pixels called as MP. More pixel means sharper and more detailing about the image.
- Lens: It helps in haze-free, clearer and sharper image. There are 2 types of lens, Glass and Plastic, Glass is better than Plastic lens. Lens comes from brand like Sony, Zeiss, Leica etc.
- Aperture: Bigger Aperture helps for low-light or night images. It is expressed as f/1.4, f/2.0, f/2.8. Here, lower denominator indicates higher Aperture. So, f/1.4 is better than f/2.8.
- Focus: Helps in taking image in motion state, giving stable image by focusing on subject. It is expressed in DPAF (Dual Photo Auto Focus) and PDAF (Phase Detect Auto Focus). DPAF is better than PDAF.
- Stabilisation: It helps in taking blur-free image as it reduces the negative effects of ‘shaking hand’. It is expressed as OIS (Optical Image Stabilisation) is better than EIS (Electronic Image Stabilisation). OIS is better than EIS. So, select OIS or both.
- No. of cameras: Nowadays other than dual camera, triple and quad cameras are coming in the smartphones.
- There are many types of sensors in camera.
- Depth sensor: Helps in taking image focusing on subject and background is blurred in this. Also called Portrait mode / Bokeh mode.
- Telephoto lens: It lets you zoom in generally 2-2.3X without compromising on the quality.
- Optical zoom and Digital zoom: Nowadays, these two zoom are very much mentioned in all mobiles. While Optical zoom is like moving camera’s lens, but digital zoom is like enlarging the image after taking it. So, normally digital zoom can be achieved with the help of software up to 100x , but optical zoom is usually 2x in mobiles due to physical constraint. Optical zoom photos are better than the digital zoom. Some mobiles are coming with upto 5x or 10x optical zoom (Huawei P40 Pro), which is great for taking image of far-off objects.
- Monochrome sensor: It helps by capturing the image in black and white with main sensor’s image and give a combined mixed resulting in HQ image.
- Wide angle lens: Helps in capturing more area, useful for group or wider image.
- Artificial Intelligence camera: AI-enabled camera helps in auto-adjusting the modes like in night mode, in running mode etc. You don’t need to put pressure on yourself about taking image that what will suit in so much modes. So, it empowers users to take image in carefree way.
- Selfie Camera: To take the photo by self. It is also coming up to 32 MP or dual camera in front with flash and many modes like the modes in rear camera. It comes in top or pop-up style.
Video features of Camera in smartphone :
Like up-gradation in still photos, there has been tremendous improvement in video quality too. Nowadays, videos can be recorded in 4K resolution and beyond. We have come very far from 144 P to 720 P (HD-Ready) to 1080 P (FHD- Full High Definition) to 4K (UHD- Ultra High Definition), which is much more clearer and sharper. Also, we can make slow-mo video with higher frame rate like 960 fps .
- Resolution: Higher resolution means it can be played on larger screen without blur. It comes from 360 P to 1080 P to 4K P (P for progressive scan). But larger resolution video recording means more storage requirement. So, you should buy mobile based on resolution requirement and storage accordingly.
- Frame rate: Comes in 90 fps, 60 fps, 30 fps. Higher frame rate means smoother playback, but consumes more battery.
- Refresh rate: Comes in 120 Hz, 90 Hz, 60 Hz, 30 Hz. Higher refresh rate, smoother playback, but consumes more battery.
- Slow-mo videos: Slow motion videos are shot at very high frame rate like 120 fps, 240 fps, 960 fps. First video is shot at this high rate, then it is played at normal speed, produces slow motion videos.
Example: iphone 11 Pro camera specifications
Now we will understand camera features in smartphone like ‘iphone 11 Pro’. The below highlights of camera specifications have been mentioned at the official website of Apple. We should look for similar rich features in the camera of mobile as many as possible.
Camera
- Triple 12MP Ultra Wide, Wide and Telephoto cameras
- Wide: ƒ/1.8 aperture, Ultra Wide: ƒ/2.4 aperture,
- Telephoto: ƒ/2.0 aperture, 2x optical zoom in, 2x optical zoom out; digital zoom up to 10x
- Portrait mode / bokeh and Depth Control
- Dual optical image stabilisation (Wide and Telephoto)
- Night mode, Smart HDR for photos, Auto image stabilisation
- Slow-motion video support for 1080p at 120 fps
Video Recording
- 4K video recording at 24 fps, 30 fps or 60 fps
- 1080p HD video recording at 30 fps or 60 fps
- Optical image stabilisation for video (Wide and Telephoto)
- 2x optical zoom in, 2x optical zoom out; digital zoom up to 6x
- Slow‑motion video support for 1080p at 120 fps or 240 fps
- Take 8MP still photos while recording 4K video
Above are the details for features of images and videos, for other features of camera like battery, display etc., we can check guides on amazon.in, gsmarena.com