Photography with the Samsung Galaxy S8+

Samsung stormed this year with the release of its newest flagship phones, the Galaxy S8 and S8+, with its bezel-less body. I have been using the Galaxy S8+ for over a month now and it’s undoubtedly one of the best camera phones on the market, offering a convincing blend of top-notch optics and clever image processing. This, considering the fact that the rear camera hasn’t been upgraded since last year’s Galaxy S7.

The phone’s rear camera packs a 12MP Dual-Pixel AF sensor with f/1.7 aperture, and optical image stabilization along with a new 8-megapixel sensor with an f/1.7 aperture in the front.

The large screen size of the S8+ makes the camera the market leader for mobile photography – and also for viewing video content online. The phone comes packed with an array of features and editing tools to bring the camera to the next level.

The varied list of tools in its editing suite includes a number of features that are directly linked to improving and tailoring portraits – or selfies – many of which can be applied either before or after pressing the capture button, including skin-tone correction; eye-enhancing and face-slimming tools; spotlighting faces; smart-auto to track faces in shots; and auto adjusting for an optimum combination of all of those features.

The rear camera supports Auto mode, Pro mode, Panorama, Selective focus, Food focus with other modes.

The camera also offers the ability to shoot and save photos in RAW/DNG format on the Galaxy S8 and S8+ using the Pro mode. Images shot in the RAW/DNG format will allow you to extract a wee bit more in terms of dynamic range and details from the phone’s sensor using the Snapseed app’s RAW file editing capabilities. Do note that RAW/DNG photos take up significantly more space than JPEG photos, so make sure to have plenty of storage space free on your phone.

One need not be a professional photographer to try the Galaxy S8’s pro mode. You can simply experiment by adjusting the aperture, ISO, white balance and exposure and see how these numbers change automatically as you point the camera at different subjects, and make the necessary changes to get the desired results for your photos. You could also try using the Manual Focus option by moving the slider to get a nice focused effect.

Samsung also introduced Snapchat-like filters into the phone’s native camera app, much to the delight of the user. They look quite high definition in the view finder and seemed more responsive to subtle body movements, better than with Snapchat app. Everyone’s loving the augmented reality photo effects by default on their phone.

The phone performs very well in low lighting conditions as compared to most camera phones. The sensor is capable of capturing accurate light and color information without much noise.

Here are few of the photos that I have shot using both the automatic mode as well as the pro mode. My muse here is Radhika Bose from Yogasini.

Overall, the Galaxy S8+ is rather a fantastic phone which sets the bar for 2017 very high indeed. It maybe expensive, however it’s a beautiful bezel-less body to go with the stunning dual pixel 12mp front camera for stunning imagery. Go for it if you are a photography enthusiast who loves capturing moments on the move.