The popular Samsung Galaxy S10 smartphone family offers superb camera features. This article will show you all the options available to take the best shot possible in any scenario you may encounter.
Note: Screenshots and content in this article are based off the S10 5G phone’s camera, but are relevant to all original S10 phone models (S10e, S10, S10+ … everything but the new S10 Lite which has a different camera).
Versatility
As you can see from the above chart, you certainly have camera options. The primary camera features autofocus, a dual aperture lens for performance in lighter or darker settings and a 77-degree field of view.
The ultra wide-angle lens has a 123-degree field of view, although it has a fixed focus. The telephoto lens offers a 45-degree field of view and autofocus.
When you are in the camera interface, note the zoom icons (small circular “tree” icons) that are located in the bottom of your image and allow you to select your camera lens of choice. The icon with one tree is for the telephoto option, two trees is for the regular primary camera, and three trees is the ultra wide-angle option. When you perform a zoom in/out motion, the phone will switch between the cameras as needed.
Camera modes
Beneath the zoom buttons, you’ll find the camera modes. Swipe left or right to find the option you desire. The default mode is Photo. Moving left, you’ll find Live Focus (which blurs the background to help the subject stand out), Live Focus Video (same idea, but with video) and Single Take (captures multiple photos/videos with a single press of the shutter button).
To the right of the Photo mode is Video mode. Next to that is a button that says “More.” Here, you’ll find a lot of modes, including Panorama (tap the camera button and pan slowly in one direction to capture a panoramic), Food (optimizes food imagery) and Night (reduces noise from dark environments to enhance photo detail). For time manipulation options with video, there is Super Slow-Mo, Slow Mo and Hyperlapse (for creating time-lapse videos).
Pro mode
My favorite mode that appears in the “More” section is Pro Mode, which allows precise manually adjustments to be made. This is where the magic happens. You can set ISO sensitivity between 50 and 800. Aperture can be adjusted between f/1.5 and f/2.4 as noted earlier. Shutter speed adjustments can change from 1/2400s all the way up to 10 seconds.
In addition, there are options to adjust color temperature, switch to manual focus, set your white balance and alter the exposure (-2 to +2 stops). In the Settings area, discussed below, you have the option to save JPEG and RAW copies of photos taken in Pro mode.
Using Pro mode effectively will help you capture long exposures needed for light trails and smooth water motion, while offering better low light ability for nighttime landscapes. You also have the ability to save files in RAW.
There is a Pro Video mode with similar options for video. One note of caution — remember to turn off the stabilization option when recording video with camera moves (such as pans, tilts, etc.). If you don’t, subtle moves will not be seen in the recording since the camera will compensate for them and stabilize.
S10 5G time of flight technology
The S10 5G has an extra front-facing and rear-facing camera that has time of flight sensors, which uses reflected light beams to judge depth and create a 3D depth map of the scene. The thought here is that effects and filters will appear more realistic and refined. This results in improved bokeh (aesthetic quality of the blur in out-of-focus parts of the image).
Settings
On the top of the screen, above your image, you’ll find a row of options. On the top left is the Setting icon (the gear symbol). This has some intelligent optimization features you can toggle on/off, but is most useful to set your video resolution, your image options (including JPEG and RAW file types when in Pro mode) and smart HDR or Selfie tones.
Back out on the main camera interface, you’ll find more icons next to the Settings icon. These include your flash settings, timer, ratio, motion photo (captures a brief time leading up to when the shutter button is released) and the effects icon (offers filters and other preset effects).
One last button to note, down to the right of the zoom buttons, is the Scene Optimizer option. This intelligent function automatically adjusts your shots based on the current scenery.
I encourage you to get out there and explore the capabilities of the versatile Samsung S10 phone’s camera!
