When companies release new smartphones, they usually call out a specific camera specification or two. For the Galaxy S24 Ultra, Samsung calls out the 200-megapixel main camera as well as the 5x telephoto, while Apple focused on its 48MP Fusion camera, and Google made bold claims about the power of its 5x telephoto zoom.
However, dive deeper, and you’ll often find that these flashy cameras are paired with other lower-resolution sensors. For some companies, this isn’t a significant problem, and Google has proven that you can work wonders using AI and algorithms, even when the hardware doesn’t match up.
The biggest issue with this approach comes when recording video, particularly when changing lenses mid-recording. When was the last time you were filming a video, changed lenses, and realized that the quality of the image or the light reproduction had shifted significantly? It turns out that most cameras suffer from this problem, but a new phone proves that there is a better approach. In doing so, it showcases a path for Google and Samsung to follow with their smartphones next year. Let’s dive in.
Multiples of 50MP
I recently reviewed the Oppo Find X8 Pro, and while many things stand out — including the excellent camera that tops the iPhone 16 Pro and a zoom feature that’s second to none — the big takeaway for me is Oppo’s approach to the whole camera stack.
The Find X8 Pro is a prime example of how to solve the problem of disparity between different lenses. It features four 50MP cameras that, while having different degrees of focal length and aperture, ensure there’s the same amount of raw data to work with regardless of which lens you are using.
The 50MP main camera is paired with a 50MP ultrawide, 50MP telephoto with 3x zoom, and an additional 50MP with 6x telephoto zoom. The regular non-Pro Find X8 features the same setup, save for the secondary telephoto with 6x zoom, and this approach is my new favorite for smartphone photography and videography.
How it’s different from Samsung and Google
Like many people, I use my phone for photos and videos instead of carrying a secondary camera. For most phones, there’s a noticeable difference in overall quality when using different lenses.
Google comes closest to ensuring this consistency between lenses, with the Pixel 9 Pro and Pixel 9 Pro XL both featuring a 48MP telephoto and 48MP ultrawide paired with a 50MP main camera. This ensures that, while there is a difference when using different lenses, it’s not as obvious as when using other phones.
Samsung takes a different approach to its camera. The Galaxy S24 Ultra has a 200MP main camera, which sounds great, but it is paired with a 10MP sensor with 3x optical zoom, a 50MP telephoto sensor with 5x optical zoom, and a 12MP ultrawide camera. Algorithms help the Galaxy S24 Ultra take good overall photos, but I’ve noticed that the details in ultrawide photos, in particular, can be a significant problem.
Why consistency between lenses matters
Consistency between lenses isn’t a significant problem with still photos, but it is a problem in video, particularly when changing lenses while recording a video. You might not think this is a problem, but imagine being at a wedding and trying to film the proceedings; you’ll quickly find that disparity between lenses is a bigger issue than it may seem.
Let’s first take a look at this video captured on the Pixel 9 Pro:
Now, let’s look at the same video from the Oppo Find X8 Pro:
Lastly, let’s see how the Galaxy S24 Ultra handles it:
While there are still differences in light and color reproduction between the lenses on the Find X8 Pro, there’s no noticeable drop-off in quality when zooming through the various focal lengths. There is still a judder between lenses, and I wish that companies would solve this problem.
The Pixel 9 Pro also has a judder, and there is a noticeable difference in the quality before it switches to its telephoto lens, but it’s still a mostly usable video. It does show that Google should consider a dual telephoto lens approach for future phones, especially as combining 3x and 5x (or 10x) telephoto lenses would solve this problem.
However, both are significantly better than the Galaxy S24 Ultra, which has a considerable shift in quality, light, and color when it switches to different lenses. That judder makes the overall video poorer and means that it’s less reliable when it comes to the overall camera experience. Considering that the Galaxy S24 Ultra is the most expensive of these three devices, it’s clear that Samsung needs to change its approach.
What else can Google and Samsung learn?
Beyond just the consistency in the lenses, the Find X8 Pro has a couple of other camera features I’ve enjoyed using. In particular, it’s the ability to capture photos with zero shutter lag, which ensures that you can capture a multitude of scenes that other phones count.
At Oppo’s launch in Bali, I tested the lightning snap feature, which allows you to press and hold the shutter button and take seven photos per second. Each photo captures nine high-resolution frames and combines them into one photo, and the Find X8 Pro is easily the best phone I’ve ever used to capture pictures of fireworks you’ll see below.
It’s not just fireworks, but any moving scene. I captured hundreds of photos of the Balinese countryside from the window of a moving coach on a bumpy road, and most look like they were captured while standing on the side of the street. If you travel a lot by train or car, this ability to snapshot the scene outside the window is second to none, and I think the zero shutter lag is an important step that Samsung and Google need to take with future phones.
Of course, there’s also the zoom factor, and here, Samsung has a real problem. The key feature of the Galaxy S24 Ultra is the 100x Space Zoom, but Oppo — and OnePlus previously — have shown that Samsung isn’t the leader. Samsung doesn’t beat the iPhone 16 Pro or the Pixel 9 Pro either, as I discovered in a recent camera test in New York City.
Learning from the competition
If there’s one takeaway from the Oppo Find X8 Pro that I wish every phone would adopt, it’s the consistency between lenses. This would vastly improve the raw quality that each phone maker’s algorithms can work with, and when combined with Google’s software prowess or Samsung’s incredible portrait mode, it would make for a compelling smartphone camera experience.
Failing that, however, the Oppo Find X8 Pro will be staying in my bag as my camera phone of choice. The Pixel 9 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro have outstanding cameras, but the Find X8 Pro has proven to be the most versatile camera I’ve used, and this ensures that I won’t be giving it up anytime soon. Thankfully, it’s also more than just a camera phone, and my Oppo Find X8 Pro review reveals how Oppo built a truly compelling overall smartphone.
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