During the Huawei P10 Plus review period, I had some priceless moments and a great time testing this dual lens smartphone. My 5,000^th instagram shot was a double rainbow over the skyline of Marina Bay Sands at Marina Bay Singapore using the Huawei P10 Plus! The other was producing an impromptu video for my friend’s new food outlet – Keith Crackling Roast, shot in 4K video with the Huawei P10 Plus. He’s a Huawei Mate 9 user, thanks to my persuasion and conversion after letting him try out my Huawei P9 smartphone!

The Huawei P10 Plus dual lens camera setup is an improvement from the highly successful Huawei P9 series that set the stage for the dual lens camera smartphone in the Huawei smartphone family. In the later paragraphs, readers can view the number of different functions and capabilities packed inside the Huawei P10 Plus dual lens camera smartphone. On the Huawei P10 Plus, you can find the Leica Summilux-H 1:1.8/27 ASPH lenses driving it, resulting in one of the best dual lens camera smartphone in the market (in my personal humble opinion).

Dual lens camera technical specifications

Main Camera

• 20 MP Monochrome + 12 MP RGB, F1.8
• OIS (Optical Image Stablization)
• Dual-tone Flash
• PDAF + CAF + Laser + Depth Auto Focus
• 2x Hybrid Zoom
• 4K Video Recording

Front Camera

• 8 MP AF, F1.9

Modes

• Photo
• Monochrome
• Video
• HDR
• Panorama
• Night Shot
• Light Painting
• Time-lapse
• Slow-mo
• Watermark
• Audio Note
• Document scan
• Good food

Photo Mode

• Wide aperture
• Portrait mode with artistic bokeh and beauty level
• Colours: Standard, Vivid and Smooth
• Touch & hold shutter icon – burst shot
• Capture smiles: take photos automatically when smiles are detected
• Assistive Grid: Fibonacci spiral (left), Fibonacci Spiral (right), Phi grid, Grid, off
• Resolution: 20M 5120×3840 (4:3), 12M 3968×2976 (4:3), 9M 3968×2240 (16:9), 9M 2976×2976 (1:1), 8M 3264×2448 (4:3), 6M 3264×1840 (16:9)

Photo Mode (Pro)

• RAW + JPEG
• No burst shot
• No capture smiles
• Can adjust ISO, Shutter, EV, AF, WB, Metering
• Assistive Grid: Fibonacci spiral (left), Fibonacci Spiral (right), Phi grid, Grid, off
• Horizontal Level
• Resolution: 20M 5120×3840 (4:3), 12M 3968×2976 (4:3), 9M 3968×2240 (16:9), 9M 2976×2976 (1:1), 8M 3264×2448 (4:3), 6M 3264×1840 (16:9)

Monochrome Mode

• Wide aperture
• Portrait mode with artistic bokeh and beauty level
• Colours: Standard, Vivid and Smooth
• Touch & hold shutter icon – burst shot
• Capture smiles: take photos automatically when smiles are detected
• Assistive Grid: Fibonacci spiral (left), Fibonacci Spiral (right), Phi grid, Grid, off
• Resolution: 20M 5120×3840 (4:3), 12M 3968×2976 (4:3), 9M 3968×2240 (16:9), 9M 2976×2976 (1:1), 8M 3264×2448 (4:3), 6M 3264×1840 (16:9)

Monochrome Mode (Pro)

• No burst shot
• No capture smiles
• Can adjust ISO, Shutter, EV, AF, WB, Metering
• Assistive Grid: Fibonacci spiral (left), Fibonacci Spiral (right), Phi grid, Grid, off
• Horizontal Level
• Resolution: 20M 5120×3840 (4:3), 12M 3968×2976 (4:3), 9M 3968×2240 (16:9), 9M 2976×2976 (1:1), 8M 3264×2448 (4:3), 6M 3264×1840 (16:9)

Video Mode

• Wide aperture mode
• Beauty mode
• Resolution: UHD 4K (16:9 stereo), FHD 1080p (16:9 stereo at 60fps), FHD 1080p (16:9 stereo), HD 720p (16:9 stereo), VGA 640×480 (4:3), QVGA 320×240 (4:3) and MMS (176×144)

Video Mode (Pro)

• Can adjust EV, AF, WB, Metering
• Wide aperture mode
• Beauty mode
• Resolution: UHD 4K (16:9 stereo), FHD 1080p (16:9 stereo at 60fps), FHD 1080p (16:9 stereo), HD 720p (16:9 stereo), VGA 640×480 (4:3), QVGA 320×240 (4:3) and MMS (176×144)

Light Painting Mode

• Tail Light Trails
• Light Graffiti
• Silky Water
• Star Track

Night Shot Mode:

• ISO: Auto or manual from ISO100 – 1600
• Shutter: Auto or manual from (1/4s – 32s)

Time Lapse Mode

• HD 720p

Slow-mo Mode

• FHD 1080p (16:9 stereo 120fps) and FHD 720p (16:9 stereo 120fps)

Huawei P10 Plus versus Samsung Galaxy S8+

In my earlier introductory article when I started with the Huawei P10 Plus review journey, I also have the Samsung Galaxy S8+ together with the Huawei P10 Plus to observe and compare the differences between them.

Pro mode comparisons

Panorama comparisons

4K video comparisons on YouTube

• Huawei P10 Plus test shot
• Samsung Galaxy S8+ test shot

During my review period using the Huawei P10 Plus and Samsung Galaxy S8+, I observed and compared both smartphones on their strengths and weakeness through the photographs and camera user interface.

Some key observations between them are

• Samsung Galaxy S8+ can do 360 panorama while Huawei P10 Plus is unable to do it, some users like 360 panorama, some users don’t.
• Samsung Galaxy S8+ handles the shadows better than the Huawei P10 Plus (for photographs shot straight out from their respective cameras)
• Huawei P10 Plus photos are more authentic and accurate than the Samsung Galaxy S8+
• Huawei P10 Plus camera app user interface has more functions and capabilities (it might seem more complex for some users however, photographers would like it) than the Samsung Galaxy S8+ camera app
• Both smartphones are able to produce 4K videos, I produced 2 simple test shot videos shot by the Huawei P10 Plus and Samsung S8+. First and foremost, I have to declare that I am not an expert nor trained in videography and I am still learning the basics of videography. From my two simple sample shot videos, my humble and personal view is that they are quite close to each other in terms of 4K performance and output.

In my earlier introductory article titled “Journey with me along with the Huawei P10 Plus”, I shared my thoughts and views on Huawei P10 Plus versus Samsung S8+. At the end of my review stint, writing this review, my thoughts and views on them were further reinforced through my observations and comparisons between them.

My views are that while Huawei P10 Plus and Samsung S8+ are both very good smartphones in the market. From my review, observations and analysis, the Huawei P10 Plus has stronger camera capabilities and functions over the Samsung S8+, moreover, the authencity and accuracy of the Huawei P10 Plus suits me perfectly, the photographer that I am.

What are some of the key aspects/capabilities/observations from the Huawei P10 Plus dual lens smartphone that stands out for me?

1) Low light photography with Summilux-H 1:1.8/27 ASPH : With a f/1.8 lens, this allows a lot more light to enter thus making it easier for low light/night photography with the Huawei P10 Plus.

2) Sharp and detailed photographs produced with the Summilux-H 1:1.8/27 ASPH: Since I am currently using the Huawei P9, therefore I know first hand on the sharpness and details of the photos produced by the Huawei P series. The Huawei P10 Plus is able to produce sharper and more detailed photos.

3) Monochrome photography: One of the key aspects of the Huawei P10 Plus camera, when I first experienced it with the Huawei P9, I was already blown away by their monochrome photography capabilities.

On the genre of monochrome photography, photographers have different “tastes, preferences, expectations and appreciation” on the blacks, shadows, highlights, contrasts of monochrome photography. Therefore, let me invite you to view my dedicated photo album on monochrome photography shot with the Huawei P10 Plus.

Personally, the Huawei P10 Plus is the perfect smartphone camera for monochrome street photography.

4) High ISO performance: From my observations, the Huawei P10 Plus is able to handle high ISO better than other smartphones available in the market.

5) 4K video: Huawei uses the newer H.265 codec, it creates some challenges for computers/websites that are using the slightly older H.264 codec. In time to come, this shouldn’t be too much of an issue when the market adopts the H.265 codec altogther.

Final thoughts, views and opinions on the Huawei P10 Plus

After finishing reviewing the Huawei P10 Plus and returning it back to the public relations agency. I felt something was missing after returning back to my Huawei P9, it’s still an excellent smartphone and still in good working condition. The quality and improvements of the Huawei P10 Plus are excellent and in my personal opinion, a great upgrade and improvements over the Huawei P9, makes me miss the Huawei P10 Plus and I would love to upgrade from the Huawei P9 to the Huawei P10 Plus if any opportunity arises.

Equipped with 4K video capabilities, the Huawei P10 Plus is now not only a photographer’s smartphone, this feature has helped me explore my amateur videography, applying it for my vlogging, live updates, producing small 4K videos for photography, travel, live events reportage and social media coverage. Do check out some of my videos shot with the Huawei P10 Plus during the review period, on my YouTube channel.

In my personal humble opinion, the Huawei P10 Plus is the smartphone that I highly and strongly recommend to photographers and photography enthusiasts. It is packed with an excellent dual lens setup with the Summilux-H 1:1.8/27 ASPH lens, functions and user interface is what a photographer like me wants, the controls. The quality and output displayed in the photographs, showing it on the laptop or desktop computer, the quality, details and sharpness are superb. Do visit my Flickr collections to view the photographs shot with the Huawei P10 Plus!

Personally, the Huawei P10 Plus is the perfect photographer’s smartphone for the photographer.

I would like to thank Huawei Singapore and Hill+Knowlton Strategies Singapore for the opportunity to review the Huawei P10 Plus.

The post Huawei P10 Plus Dual Lens Camera Review appeared first on TGH Photography and Travel Portal/Blog.

Recently, I got an opportunity to review the Huawei P9 smartphone camera and I am thankful for the two weeks plus that I had with this smartphone. What happened was that my iPhone 6 had a very bad apps crash and it kind of damaged my rear facing camera and flashlight. Therefore, I wasn’t able to do any live updates with photographs and my Instagram became Latergram. The Huawei P9 provided me with the opportunity to do my mobile phone photography during that two weeks plus review period.

The Huawei P9 provided me this opportunity to test and review it. In this article, I would concentrate on the camera review on the Huawei P9 while the other segment of the review (aesthetics, user interface) has been completed in an earlier article on my personal blog covering technology and other personal areas of interest.

Huawei P9 smartphone camera is amazing for its technical specifications and photography system packed inside that beautifully designed and well built smartphone at the size of my palm. During my two weeks plus review period, I had a very interesting and fun time with the Huawei P9, producing some pretty good quality photographs straight out from the smartphone without any further editing. Huawei had been using these slogan “Reinventing Smartphone Photography” in their website and from my short review stint with the Huawei P9, indeed, it can and I think it would reinvent smartphone photography.

In an earlier article that I shared on my personal blog, the Huawei P9 press release article, let me recap some key information and details –

Integrating the design values and engineering excellence of both Huawei and Leica in a smartphone photography system co-engineered by the two companies, the P9 brings together best-in-class hardware and software, from optical lenses and sensors, to image processing algorithms, empowering users to capture the highest-quality images.

Key to the P9’s superlative imaging capabilities is a dual-camera design that fully unleashes the power of Leica’s optical lenses, renowned for precision and attention to detail, and subject to the industry’s most stringent quality screening requirements. The RGB camera on the P9 specializes in capturing color, while the monochrome camera is outstanding at acquiring picture detail. The two rear cameras of the P9 work in tandem to enable users to create images of superior detail, depth and color. The P9 truly excels in low-light conditions, as the dual-camera design guarantees that more light and detail can be captured.

There are many features packed inside the Huawei P9 smartphone camera.

Swipe left on the main camera screen, you can see 14 modes that you can choose from – Photo, Monochrome, Beauty, Video, HDR, Beauty Video, Panorama, Night Shot, Light Painting, Time-Lapse, Slow-Mo, Watermark, Audio Note and Document Readjustment

Swipe Right on the main camera screen, there are

1. Settings
2. In Photo mode, you can shoot in RAW (not available in other modes)
3. Resolution – 12M, 9M, 8M, 6M
4. Film mode – Standard, Vivid Colours, Smooth Colours
5. Camera grid – Off / Grid / Phi Grid / Fibonacci Spiral (Left) / Fibonacci Spiral (Right)

On the main camera screen, you can use Full Auto, Pro (almost full Manual) mode, Virtual Aperture (similar to Aperture priority) mode.

When using Pro mode, you can control and change the settings that you desire except the aperture is at f/2.2

1. 3 metering modes – Weighted, Partial, Spot
2. ISO – Auto or 50-3200
3. Shutter speed – Auto or 30s to 1/4000s
4. EV – -4.0 to +4.0
5. AF-S , AF-C and MF
6. White balance options – Auto, Cloudy, Tungsten, Sunlight, User Define 1

In Virtual Aperture mode, you can adjust the aperture range from – f/16 to f/0.95, however the other settings cannot be changed.

Other key points to highlight

1. EXIF information available and it’s very useful. It’s very similar to the information and data that you see on compact digital cameras, mirrorless cameras and DSLRs.
2. Further editing can be done on the phone itself e.g. Rotate/Crop/Filter/Splash/Illusion/Adjust/Beauty/Mosaic/Graffiti/Watermark/Label

What are the key factors to me that make the Huawei P9 camera stands out?

1. Film mode (Vivid colours) – the photographs are bright, colourful and rich. I like this particular mode a lot.
2. Fibonacci Spiral (Left or Right) – this is great for those starting out in photography to learn one the rules of composition, the Fibonacci Spiral is an absolute classic to make them learn. I believe that even for seasoned and professional photographers, the Fibonacci Spiral comes in useful when using the Huawei P9 to compose their photographs.
3. Monochrome mode – I love it, straight out from the Huawei P9 smartphone. On a personal note and my own personal preferences, I felt that they were good enough to be uploaded and shared with my readers on my various social media channels and platforms. However, I can understand that if there are comments/views that post editing can be done/should be done to make the monochrome photographs better or edited in a different B&W style, I also agree and I would look into it at a later time.
4. Many customisable functions of the main camera screen, you can be fully automatic or (almost) full manual.
5. 14 modes to choose from when you swipe to the left of the main camera screen.
6. Choose from Full Auto, Pro Mode (almost full manual), Virtual Aperture (almost aperture priority)
7. In Panoramic mode, you can take also take using landscape mode panorama beside portrait mode panorama.
8. Easy to use once you get the hang of the camera app, I reckon photographers would love it.
9. Small and lightweight, ideal for mobile street photography

There are a few points that I don’t really like is

1. Noise level at high ISO
2. Battery heating up when using the smartphone and I need to slow down, allowing it to cool down before continuing to use it

Huawei P9 and P9 Plus were born from the results of a first collaboration between Huawei and Leica, following from an agreement of a long term partnership that was announced in February. Leica has been deeply involved in the development of the Huawei P9 and P9 Plus, with significant technological collaboration on many aspects of the camera, in the areas of optical design, imaging quality, image data processing and mechanical construction of the camera module to the graphic user interface. In this collaboration, we can see the high quality and standards from the dual camera lens system powered by Huawei and Leica deep collaboration, seen inside the Huawei P9 smartphone through their Hybrid Focus Technology, 12MP dual BSI CMOS sensors and image processing algorithm. The photographs that I took, produced by the Huawei P9, through this special and deep collaboration between Huawei and Leica, are a testimonial to the quality of the dual camera lens system and technology inside it.

The photographs that I took and shared on my 500px, Flickr and Instagram photography sites were not edited any further on the computer or any other software. They were straight out from the Huawei P9 smartphone camera system. I would leave it to the readers to view the photographs and have an understanding of the potential (and real) quality of the photographs taken with the Huawei P9 smartphone camera. Post processing/editing can be a very personal preference matter and also can be very subjective. The quality of the photographs that I took with the Huawei P9 were good and I was able to share it with my followers and readers on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook without any worries of post processing on my part.

The Huawei P9 is not going to replace my current photography system setup. However, it has a place in my overall technology, business and photography setup. In my personal humble opinion, the Huawei P9 is an excellent smartphone for both leisure/business users and also for photographers, people like me who would love to have the best of both worlds of work and mobile phone photography inside the Huawei P9.

To me, as a photographer, a technology gadgets enthusiast, a person on the move handling marketing and social media, the Huawei P9 is an excellent smartphone choice that I am most likely going to own it down the road. While it would not replace my iPhone 6, it would most likely to co-exist with my iPhone when I decide to work with 2 mobile phone numbers, one for work and one for personal using a combination of one iOS smartphone and one Android smartphone, capturing the best of both worlds.

I would like to thank Huawei Singapore and Ogilvy Public Relations for the opportunity to review the Huawei P9 smartphone.

The post Huawei P9 Camera Review appeared first on TGH Photography and Travel Portal/Blog.