So the Samsung Galaxy S6 and Galaxy S6 Edge are touted to have the best camera on a smartphone in the market right now. Some say that the camera quality is even better than the iPhone 6 or iPhone 6 Plus.
Of course, the camera image quality is nowhere near the 41 megapixel camera monster on the Lumia 1020 that Nokia came out with in the past, but at present, the camera on the Samsung Galaxy S6 is definitely one of the better ones. But is it the best?
Let’s take a look at the key camera specifications that the Samsung Galaxy S6 and the Galaxy S6 Edge have to offer.
Key Photographic/Video Specifications
– 16MP BSI CMOS sensor
– F1.9 lens
– Optical Image Stabilisation
– 4K video
– 5MP front camera with F1.9 lens and real-time HDR
– Support for manual shutter speed control in third-party apps
All this looks impressive on paper, but if it was really a war for who has the biggest megapixel count, Apple or Nokia would have burst the Samsung bubble many years ago.
Why does Apple still use the same old 8 megapixel iSight camera on the iPhone 6 and not a 16 megapixel monster. Now that’s something to think about.
The camera module on the Samsung galaxy S6 and Galaxy S6 Edge combines a 16 megapixel, 1/2.6-inch CMOS sensor with a very fast F1.9 aperture and optical image stabilisation.
The camera is located at the top in the centre of the glass back-panel of the phone. This is good because when you take a picture in landscape mode, you don’t have to adjust your hands to avoid covering the lens with your fingers.
Ease of Use
Samsung Galaxy S6 and S6 Edge have a nifty little feature to launch the camera app – just double click the home button up-front and the camera fires up.
But there is a flip side – the button is too sensitive. If you’re putting the phone in the pocket of your jeans, the camera can fire up by itself. This leads to the battery draining out and the phone heating as you walk along without realising that the camera is on.
Almost left me with a thigh burn.
The camera app interface is quite easy to use. The Auto mode features icons for flash control, HDR and the settings menu on the left edge.
The shooting mode screen has options to switch between Pro mode or select one of the special modes like Panorama, Selective Focus or Slow Motion video.
In the settings menu, you can set the picture and video resolution and activate grid lines for framing. The phone also gives you manual control over focus, white balance, ISO (100 to 800 only) and exposure compensation.
All this is pretty neat and you expect these things from a high end Android smartphone from any tech company. So Samsung has got most of these things right with the Samsung Galaxy S6 and S6 Edge.
Image and Video Quality
The Galaxy S6 Edge’s camera app opens up very quickly, which is great for capturing those unexpected moments. The autofocus works swiftly as well. In bright light it locks on very quickly but slows down considerably in very low light.
The macro focus is disappointing on the Samsung Galaxy S6 and the S6 Edge. It struggles to focus on tiny objects at a close range. The iPhone 6 on the other hand does not struggle to click macro images, it focuses sharp and with ease in Macro mode.
The images come out really crisp and sharp. However, when the LED flash is used to capture images, the photos do tend to become a little hazy at times.
The flash lights up everything in front of the camera lens. This is where the Nokia Lumia’s 1020 Xenon flash scores over the Samsung Galaxy S6 and the S6 Edge.
The video quality is also good on the S6 phones. Recording videos on phones doesn’t give you much control over the process in any case. Pressing the video button starts recording and while recording you can pause, stop or capture a still image.
Video resolution is accessible in the settings menu. Here you can choose from a range of 640 x 440 pixels in a 4:3 aspect ratio to 4K recording in 16:9. Slow and fast motion modes are accessed via the camera app’s mode button.
The slow motion video mode is 120 fps (frames per second) while the iPhone 6 is capable of 240 fps slow-mo videos. So the Samsung Galaxy S6 can handle slow motion videos but not the ultra slow motion ones that an iPhone can manage.
The time-lapse mode on the S6 phones is also decent. it just takes more taps to get the job done. On an iPhone it’s much easier to switch between normal video mode and time-lapse or slow-mo mode.
It’s a good camera nonetheless for shooting videos.
What you should not do with the camera, though, is zoom in to take videos or images. The image becomes distorted and loses its sharpness.
Front Camera
The Galaxy S6 Edge sports a 5 megapixel front camera. This is also loaded with a fast F1.9 aperture that can keep the ISO down in dimly lit areas. So the selfies come out amazing and in focus in any kind of lighting.
The palm gesture for capturing selfies or a slight tap on the heart rate sensor at the back is a nifty little feature on the Samsung Galaxy S6 and S6 Edge.
Verdict
Sure, the camera on the Samsung Galaxy S6 and the S6 Edge is great and unique, but it lacks in certain areas when compared to the iPhone 6 and the iPhone 6 Plus. And when it comes to manual controls and a Xenon flash, it’s nowhere near the Nokia Lumia 1020.
It’s fair to say that Samsung has something going for them with the cameras on their flagship phones, but it’s not going to set the benchmark for future cameras on smartphones.
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