If You Have An Eye For Photography, You'll Love The Dual Leica Lens On This Phone
For the perfectionist in you.
Published for HUAWEI Mobile Malaysia, 19 Jul 2016, 06:39 PM
Leica is a brand that needs no introduction. Synonymous with quality, the company's lightweight cameras are widely used by amateur and professional photographers around the world.
Leica's reputation as a first-class camera manufacturer was established in the 1930's and remains to this day. One of its most acclaimed cameras is the Leica I. While the Leica I was by no means the first 35mm camera, it was the first to make 35mm truly viable, leading to the most popular film format ever.
Leica is one of the most trusted names in photography, making some of the best cameras money can buy.
Now the German optics firm has partnered with the third largest smartphone manufacturer in the world, Huawei, to bring their expertise to the mobile market
Yes, that's Superman and Black Widow taking a selfie together with the P9!
Image via Huawei MalaysiaIntroducing the P9. Sporting not just the Leica brand name, the P9 is equipped with two 12-megapixel cameras on its back. One lens shoots exclusively in black and white, while the two together provide a DSLR-style photography.
The cameras are packed with a wide range of features for both photography enthusiasts and trigger happy phone users that have long abandoned point-and-shoot cameras for smartphones. Here’s what the P9 is capable of:
1. The dedicated monochrome lens is able to absorb more light and detail compared to many smartphone cameras out there that utilises a black and white filter
The lens uses a dedicated monochromatic sensor, meaning that the pictures are taken in black and white. The sensor is more sensitive to details and light than the conventional RGB sensor, and it is in charge of absorbing light, and field depth. As you can see above, the photo taken with the P9 is slightly darker, but otherwise flawless photo, even at a lower resolution.
2. Artistically blur out parts of your photo with the bokeh effect
Fancy some great bokeh shots? You might not know the term, but you’ve definitely seen it: it’s the effect you get with a good camera when the subject is pin-sharp but the immediate background is blurry. While bokeh effects are usually only achieved using cameras and special lenses, on the P9, taking the perfect shot requires minimal effort.
3. Impress your friends with eye-catching light trail photos
Huawei has brought in the awesome Light Painting feature from its predecessor - P8. What the feature does is it captures the scene with the correct exposure and from there it keeps adding the light trails of the passing cars for as long as you like without any risk of overexposing the scene.
4. The Pro mode gives you control over the camera, allowing you to achieve a professional look for your photos
The Pro mode enables you to change the focal points, adjust the shutter speed from lightning fast to slow, change the white balance and set the ISO. It’s very much like using a DSLR camera, and you’ll find that controlling the ISO and shutter can banish the blur that sometimes affects shots in automatic mode.
By using the Pro mode, you'll be able to shoot in RAW. RAW is a file format that captures all image data recorded by the sensor when you take a photo. When shooting in a format like JPEG image, information is compressed and lost. Because no information is compressed with RAW, you’re able to produce higher quality images.
While it might take a little of practice to get the hang of the feature, it gives you complete control over how you would want your photos taken. Challenge accepted? :D
5. Night shots are clear and without distortion
The Night Mode allows you to take clear and distortion-free shots at night, which can be really difficult to achieve even with a DSLR camera. The amazing thing is that the phone shows you a live preview how the exposure changes with every passing second. You can stop the process anytime when you decide you've captured enough details.
It's really easy and requires no additional photographic knowledge or tweaking of manual settings! All you need to do is to frame your shot, start shooting, and then stop shooting as soon as you're satisfied with your photo.
6. Photos in natural light look stunning with high contrast elements
Outdoor test shots were incredibly vibrant with plenty of colour saturation, and that extra contrast captured by the monochrome sensor is particularly telling too, with photos appearing crisp and punchy.
Switch it up to HDR (High Dynamic Range) and witness brighter and more vivid colours in the photos. HDR is a method that aims to add more "dynamic range" to photos (the ratio of light to dark in a photograph). In short - higher quality photos!
To sum it all up, the P9's camera system produces above average results that exhibit some extremely pleasing images
The dual lenses give the camera better depth perception, giving it a wider focal range. Its range of shooting modes provides* enough complexity to take interesting shots and it is equally capable of taking great images with minimum effort.
If you're a photography enthusiast, the P9's Pro mode and bokeh effect would be right down your alley. The ability to adjust the shutter speed from lightning fast to slow, change the white balance and set the ISO would give you the impression of using a DLSR camera.
If you’re a regular smartphone user, the multiple modes and features of the P9 like the Beauty and Monochrome mode will make your snapping sessions an easy and effortless one.
Get your hands on this next-level smartphone camera at discounted prices by checking out ongoing roadshows and Hari Raya promotions. Head to Huawei Malaysia's Facebook for more info!
Aside from the cameras, the phone is also powered by a 1.8GHz octa-core HiSilicon Kirin 955 processor and comes with 3GB of RAM. The phone packs 32GB of internal storage that can be expanded via a microSD card. It runs on Android 6.0 and is powered by a 3,000mAh non-removable battery.
Learn more about the specifications of the Huawei P9 here.
