Comparison Between Samsung Galaxy S21 Camera and S21 Ultra Camera
Why you can trust Pocket-lint(Pocket-lint) - You'll have seen the specs, you'll have read the reviews, and you'll have noticed that Samsung has carved out a bigger gap between...
11/10/2021
Why You Can Trust Pocket-lint
(Pocket-lint) - You'll have seen the specs, you'll have
read the reviews
p>and you will have noticed that Samsung has cut a bigger gap between the standard Galaxy S21 and the Galaxy S21 Ultra.
The Ultra is now the true flagship, having cemented its position since the S20 Ultra in 2020 which we've never really been sold on. The new model is much better overall - and the camera plays a big role in that.
But how do these cameras really differ in the real world? We dive deep to take a closer look, with plenty of samples to examine.
Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra Camera Specifications
Quad rear camera:
Main: 108-megapixel, 0.8m pixel size, f/1.8 aperture, optical stabilization (OIS), laser autofocus
Ultra-wide (120°): 12MP, 1.4μm, f/2.2 p>
Telephoto (10x): 10MP, 1.22μm, f/4.9, OIS
Telephoto (3x): 10MP, 1.22μm, f/2.4, OIS
Selfie camera: 40MP, 0.7μm, f/2.2
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Let's start with a quick recap. Samsung leads the way with great resolution on the main camera
S21 Ultra
, with 108 megapixels on this sensor. It uses a system that Samsung calls "nona binning", which literally means you take nine pixels and treat it as a super pixel - 108 divided by 9 equals 12 - and that's a 12-megapixel photo you get Consequently. p>
The ultra-wide camera is 12-megapixels, but comes out at 0.6x zoom, so slightly different to the 0.5x version on the S21, but it's roughly the same spec. Note that this camera is fixed focus.
Finally, you have two telephoto lenses. To achieve 100X Space Zoom - and all focal lengths up to that maximum - Samsung uses two separate cameras, one for near images with a 3x lens and one for far images with a 10x lens. It's the latter which is a bent lens, or periscope, that's needed to get that magnification without having a really chunky phone.
Both zoom cameras have 10-megapixel sensors, but Samsung converts the images to 12-megapixels in the final images, so there's consistency in image size in the gallery - but we don't see really more to this scaling.
Finally, the front camera sticks to high resolutions with a 40-megapixel sensor, although it again uses pixel binning to give 10-megapixel images, or uses cropping and sensor binning to give an image 6.5 megapixels.
Samsung Galaxy S21 Camera Specifications
Triple camera system
Main Camera: 12MP, 1.8m pixel size, f/1.8 aperture, OIS
Ultra-wide (120°): 12MP, 1.4μm, f/2.2
Telephoto: 64MP, (3x hybrid optical / 30x digital zoom) 0.8m, f/2.0, OIS
Selfie: 10MP, 1.22μm, f/2.2
the
Galaxy S21
and S21+ have the same camera systems and differ from the S21 Ultra in many ways. While the camera app, photo modes, and video offerings are generally the same, the cameras are very different.
The main camera here is a 12-megapixel sensor and on paper the same as the Galaxy S20. Rather than taking a high-resolution approach, it opts for larger pixels, at 1.8μm, designed to absorb more light.
There's a nod to hi-res shooting, though, with the telephoto lens. This has a 64-megapixel sensor and performs three tasks. The first is that it provides the resolution for 8K video capture (for which you need 33 megapixels). Second, it offers 64-megapixel photos and third, it acts as the telephoto offering, claiming 3x hybrid optical magnification.
What's wrong with this picture? You can't offer all of these things through a magnified lens because you'd end up too close to the subject - so there's actually no optical magnification from the lens - the zoom is derived from sensor cropping - from where the name hybrid optics.
How do we know? When you fire up a 64-megapixel shot from telephoto, the view you get is the same as the main camera - it's the same focal length, so you know there's no zoom in the lens itself.
Finally on the rear we have the ultra-wide camera, which as we said is pretty close to the S21 Ultra's offering and again it's fixed focus.
The front camera is 10-megapixel, again offering either a 10-megapixel wide shot or a closer 6.5-megapixel crop.
S21 and S21 Ultra main camera comparison
With a different approach to how images are captured between these cameras, you might expect very different results. Well, given that the app, shooting modes, and AI behind the camera are the same, things are closer to the main camera than you might think.
Both offer Samsung's Scene Optimizer which examines image content and aims to make things better. While it works well for identifying what you're looking at and what might be needed, it's fairly predictable on both devices: blue skies are boosted, greens are increasingly lush, while low-light scenes benefit from a pseudo-night mode of the scene optimizer. Generally speaking, we prefer to leave it on, as it tends to mean you get slightly more exciting images - not always completely realistic, but we think it's an acceptable compromise.
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GALAXY S21 ULTRA
There's another factor at play here which is laser autofocus, which is on the Galaxy S21 Ultra, but not on the Galaxy S21. It will also cause differences because the camera chooses the focal point and can tell the difference between what is in focus and what is not.
There's a slight color difference, with the S21 Ultra perhaps a bit more realistic, the S21 more vibrant and sometimes with a subtle yellow tint. One of the other factors, of course, is that the S21 Ultra is a slightly closer focal length than the Galaxy S21 and that can mean you see a bit more detail in the photos you take, especially up close. Overall, however, from the main camera the results can be pretty close, although we often found the S21 Ultra's images to be sharper.
Low-light performance is similar and look at these photos in detail, the phone selected the same ISO and shutter speed, which suggests the night mode algorithm is doing the same thing on both phones. There may be small differences, but there is not much in it. Note that the Scene Optimizer and dedicated Night Mode will give you results in low-light situations, but Night Mode will give those longer exposures for sharper results.
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S21 ULTRA NIGHT MODE - EXTREME LOW LIGHT
The other string the S21 Ultra has to its bow is that 108-megapixel shooting mode. You'll need to select it specifically to take those higher resolution photos, and you'll end up with a photo that's around 30MB in size.
As we found with the Galaxy S20 Ultra, the 108-megapixel photos tend to be a bit darker, but that means you can zoom in and get more detail. Although in many cases you won't need to do this, sometimes it means you can capture something like text or details, which you won't be able to get from the 12MP photo.
-lint pocket
12MP 100% CROP
But there are very few good reasons to shoot at such a high resolution, especially when using a mobile device. Although the Gallery lets you zoom in and crop new footage, the storage space you'd use to shoot at 108 megapixels just isn't worth it, not to mention the hassle you'd then have to share those footage.
It's a bit strange that the 108MP mode also offers digital zoom, rather than using the dedicated hardware. We can compare images from the 108MP mode and the dedicated telephoto lenses, both at 4x zoom, and the 108MP image looks awfully bad - so it's not an option you'd want to use.
Pocketlint
S21 ULTRA 4X ZOOM 10MP 3X OPTICAL CAMERA
As we said, the Galaxy S21 plays a little trick here with the 64MP mode, so there's a high resolution offering too. It's not coming from the main camera, it's coming from the "telephoto". As for the 108MP mode, that means more detail if you really want it and go for that mode.
The big difference: S21 vs S21 Ultra zoom
Step out of the main camera and there's a huge difference, with the Galaxy S21 Ultra getting dedicated hardware for telephoto shooting. As we explain above, while the Galaxy S21 offers up to 30x zoom, it's actually all digital, which you can see in the results compared to the S21 Ultra.
Starting with the Galaxy S21 Ultra, you can pinch the zoom all the way from 0.6x to 100x, or you tap the lens icons (the little trees) of which there are four - they correspond to 0.6x, 1x , 3x, 10x, which are all optical focal lengths.< /p>
Pocket-lint
GALAXY S21 ULTRA 0.6X
But as soon as you press, you have additional options for other focal lengths up to 100x, with 11 buttons in total on the screen. This includes 2x and 4x, sitting either side of the 3x optical offering, which seems like an extreme overstatement.
The operation of the Galaxy S21 is basically the same, except it achieves 30x zoom instead. There's always confusion with a mass of focal lengths to choose from in the viewfinder.
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GALAXY S21 0.5X
The results are also wildly different, with the S21 Ultra essentially better than the S21 at every position. Sure, the ends are both pretty soft, but the bigger issue is keeping the camera steady at 30x or 100x zoom. Samsung will allow you to tap the screen to lock onto the subject, but we've found that this option can lead to some weird creep effects, where you end up with a photo that's not what you intended. It definitely takes a bit of practice to get used to. The Galaxy S21 noticeably drops in quality as you increase the zoom, while the S21 Ultra will still deliver decent results and at 10x, for example, there's a hell of a difference.
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SAMSUNG GALAXY S21 10X DIGITAL ZOOM
The thing to note here is that once you're on that 10x optical lens on the S21 Ultra, you're working with an f/4.9 aperture which is quite small, meaning less light enters. This can be seen in the samples of the two phones above, where the S21 Ultra's image, while better, is a little darker than the S21's digital zoom.
In low light, the S21 Ultra can switch to pure digital zoom from another lens if the 10x optic would give too dark a result. You won't know it's happening unless you slide your fingers over the lenses to see what's in use.
There's no doubt though: if you love zoom and use zoom, the Galaxy S21 can't go anywhere near the performance of the S21 Ultra and that's the biggest difference between these cameras.
Galaxy S21 and S21 Ultra front camera and portraits
Although there is a 40-megapixel camera on the front of the S21 Ultra and only a 10-megapixel camera on the Galaxy S21, the performance is actually very close. All the phones offer the same features, the only exception being that the Galaxy S21 Ultra has the option of a 40-megapixel front-facing camera.
What's interesting is that Samsung is again using a sensor cropping technique to have the illusion of two angles - a closer portrait and a slightly wider angle that you can select. In reality, the widest angle is the full sensor and that's evident in the resulting images, with a 6.5-megapixel close-up shot a 10-megapixel widescreen image. In reality, there is little difference in point of view.
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S21 ULTRA 10MP PORTRAIT MODE
Samsung also ditched the "live focus" name and instead switched to "portrait" for its bokeh mode. This makes it much easier to understand. Edge detection is generally good, only occasionally tricked when things are tough and it can't separate you from the background.
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The Galaxy S21 and S21 Ultra work pretty much the same here. We found the colors to be similar, and the results to be, too, from both lens angles and in light and dark conditions.
Samsung also offers a range of studio effects, of which you can find a gallery below. . Although you can adjust the intensity of the effect, one of the things it shows is the accuracy of the edge detection. You can add or remove these effects in the Gallery as long as you have taken a portrait mode photo.
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Camera modes
The camera modes on the S21 and S21 Ultra models are basically the same. They offer the same app customization, they offer the same director's view options for video and single take, so whichever device you choose, you get the same choices. The app can also be customized so you can access the modes you use most frequently without having to open the menu - we've explained how to do this
in our detailed tips and tricks
.
Both cameras also offer the same video modes, with up to 4K 60fps available across all cameras, and 8K 24fps the best deal. Note that there are different stabilization options, both in the camera menu and in the viewfinder. However, the latter can only be used on certain modes, and enabling it will drop the resolution back to Full HD capture. It's really effective though.
There's also the addition of HDR10+ capture in menus, but that's still an experimental feature and we question its real value. From what we can see, the video performance between all S21 phones seems to be about the same.
Summary
There's a big difference between the Galaxy S21 and the S21 Ultra - not just the price. There are big differences in display performance, build quality, as well as the camera, with zoom being the biggest overall difference offered. For us, we found that the S21 Ultra consistently delivers slightly better images than the S21, so it would be the phone we would choose if we had to choose one and budget wasn't a consideration.
The Galaxy S21 and S21+ face another challenge, however, and that is the Galaxy S20 FE. This phone is only a few months old (at the launch of the S21) and the camera performance is close to that of the Galaxy S21. Yes, the S21 offers new modes and options than the S20 FE (and we don't know if those software options like Director's View will come to the older phone), and the S20 FE doesn't offer 8K video capture. But other than that, the Galaxy S20 FE experience is close to the S21 and it's much cheaper.
Written by Chris Hall. Originally published on
January 27, 2021
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