Camera review of 'Galaxy S24 Ultra' and 'Galaxy S24' that can zoom up to 100x with the power of AI
In our previous
[Samsung Electronics] The latest 'Galaxy S24 series' usher in a new era of mobile AI Equipped with Galaxy AI to enrich everyday life | Samsung Japan Official
https://www.samsung.com/jp/explore/news/galaxy-unpacked-s24-series/
Galaxy S24 & S24+ | Galaxy AI | Samsung Japan Official
https://www.samsung.com/jp/smartphones/galaxy-s24/
Galaxy S24 Ultra | Galaxy AI | Samsung Japan Official
https://www.samsung.com/jp/smartphones/galaxy-s24-ultra/
One of the features of the Galaxy S24 Ultra, the top model of the Galaxy S24 series, is its overwhelming camera performance with a quad camera and autofocus sensor. The configuration is a 12MP (12 megapixel) ultra-wide-angle camera, a 200MP wide-angle camera, a 50MP telephoto camera, and a 10MP telephoto camera, which is the second from the top on the right column.
On the other hand, the Galaxy S24 comes with a triple camera setup consisting of a 12MP ultra-wide-angle camera, a 50MP wide-angle camera, and a 10MP telephoto camera.
◆: 0.6x (ultra-wide-angle camera)
Let's start with the Galaxy S24's ultra-wide-angle camera, which has a magnification of 0.6x.
Next, the ultra-wide-angle camera of the Galaxy S24 Ultra. The magnification is also 0.6x. Since the number of pixels is the same, there is not much difference in the ultra-wide-angle camera.
◆: 1x (wide-angle camera)
This was taken using the Galaxy S24's wide-angle camera at a magnification of 1. The pixel count is 50MP.
And here it is, taken with the Galaxy S24 Ultra's wide-angle camera, which has the same magnification but 200MP resolution.
Below is a comparison of the tree branches, which are prone to differences in detail, cropped to the same size. You can see that the Galaxy S24 Ultra captures more detail than the Galaxy S24 on the left.
◆: 2x (wide-angle camera + AI)
2x zoom taken with the Galaxy S24's wide-angle camera.
Similarly, the Galaxy S24 Ultra's wide-angle camera is set to 2x zoom. The 2x zoom combines the physical zoom of the wide-angle camera with AI zoom correction, making the difference in performance even more clear.
◆: 3x (telephoto camera)
This photo was taken with the Galaxy S24's telephoto camera, with a magnification of 3x. This is the limit of the Galaxy S24's physical zoom, and any magnification beyond this will be achieved by digitally zooming the image taken with the 10MP telephoto camera using AI.
The following was taken with the Galaxy S24 Ultra's telephoto camera at a magnification of 3x. Since the performance is the same as the Galaxy S24, there is not much difference.
◆: 5x (telephoto camera/Galaxy S24 Ultra only)
The Galaxy S24 Ultra has two telephoto cameras, with the second telephoto camera with a pixel count of 50MP being used for zooms of 5x and above. This second telephoto camera is what distinguishes it from the Galaxy S24 and Galaxy S24+, and is also a major improvement over the Galaxy S23 Ultra's telephoto camera, which only had a pixel count of 10MP.
◆: 10x (telephoto camera + AI)
10x zoom on the Galaxy S24. You can see that the tree branches and building outlines are a bit blurred.
The same 10x zoom on the Galaxy S24 Ultra. This is digitally zoomed, but the finer details are much clearer.
◆: 30x (telephoto camera + AI)
Zoomed in to the maximum on the Galaxy S24. It's pretty blurry, and the letters on the stone lantern are so blurred they're unreadable.
On the other hand, on the Galaxy S24 Ultra, the details are a bit blurred, but the character 'Houtou' on the stone lantern is still clearly readable.
◆: 100x (telephoto camera + AI / Galaxy S24 Ultra only)
The Galaxy S24 Ultra can zoom in up to 100x. Of course, the correction makes it look like a coloring book, but you can still clearly see the stone lanterns and lion-dog statues at the very back, which looked like grains of sand in the life-size photo taken with the wide-angle camera.
◆: Portrait mode
I took a photo of flowers using the portrait mode of the Galaxy S24. The background is blurred, but if you look closely, you'll notice something odd about the foreground blur in the bottom left.
The performance difference between the Galaxy S24 and the Galaxy S24 Ultra is also evident in portrait mode. First of all, the Galaxy S24's portrait mode is limited to 3x zoom.
On the other hand, the Galaxy S24 Ultra's portrait mode can zoom up to 5x, allowing you to get much closer to your subject.
◆: Distant view photo
To check the telephoto camera's performance in more detail, I took a picture of a distant landscape and compared it with the Galaxy S24 (left) and the Galaxy S24 Ultra (right). First, the image below was taken at 1x zoom.
Next, I tried taking a picture of a tall green sign in the center of the scene at 30x, the maximum magnification of the Galaxy S24, but I couldn't read what it said.
On the other hand, on the Galaxy S24 Ultra, it is just possible to read 'Oshima Orthopedic Clinic.'
For reference, I tried zooming in 100x on the Galaxy S24 Ultra. The text is a bit blurred due to the correction, but I was able to zoom in this much. Also, although it's not clear from the image, the image stabilization is quite powerful when shooting with zoom, so I didn't lose sight of the subject even when zoomed in 100x.
◆: Night view
Finally, Nightography, one of the strengths of the Galaxy series, has also been strengthened, so I tried taking a night view with the Galaxy S24 Ultra. First, the image below was taken in normal shooting mode. It was already clear.
In addition, the following photo was taken in night mode. Because the shutter speed was slowed down and the photo was taken over about one second, moving objects were blurred, but the image was clearer.
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