Melbourne Skydeck is almost 300m above ground giving you are mesmerising view of Melbourne city skyline. While you can use the devices provided such as the binocular devices in the facility, most likely there will be a kid or someone less is using it. Thinking about our smartphone, this is actually a good opportunity to use the Periscope Zoom of the Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra.
Note: This article will have a lot of photos in sequence for better appreciation
Before we begin let’s take a refresher about the Galaxy S24 Ultra’s Specs
| Chipset | Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 for Galaxy |
| Screen | 6.8-inch Dynamic AMOLED 2X, 3088 x 1440, 1 – 120Hz, Vision Booster |
| RAM | 12GB |
| OS | Android 14, One UI 6.1 |
| Rear Camera | 200MP f/1.7 Main with OIS, 12MP f/2.2 Ultrawide, 10MP f/2.4 3x Optical Zoom Telephoto, 50MP f/3.4 5x Optical Zoom Telephoto |
| Front Camera | 12MP f/2.2 |
| Storage | 256GB, 512GB, 1TB |
| Network | Dual-SIM, 5G |
| Connectivity | WiFi 6E, Bluetooth 5.3, NFC, USB-C |
| Battery | 5,000mAh, 45W Fast Charging, Fast Wireless Charging 2.0, Wireless PowerShare |
| Others | S-Pen Support, In-Display Fingerprint Scanner, GalaxyAI, IP68 Dust and Water Resistance, Titanium Frame |
| Dimensions | 162.3 x 79 x 8.6mm |
| Weight | Starts at 232g |
| Colors | Titanium Gray, Titanium Black, Titanium Violet, Titanium Yellow |
Having a periscope capable of 10MP 3x Optical Zoom + 50MP 5x Optical Zoom from plus the 200MP Main Camera Sensor combined can deliver up to 100x Zoom. So instead of relying using the binoculars, we used the Galaxy S24 Ultra and here are results.
We will be displaying 7 photos per set which compose of the following
- Ultrawide
- Main Lens
- x3 zoom
- x5 zoom
- x10 zoom
- x30 zoom
- x100 zoom
Sample – Set 1
Overall photo quality is high quality either lens you use, it will be just dependent on your hands on how stable they are when taking photos. Here on a bright sunny day quality of photos are great with wide range of color and high dynamic range, as per sharpness it will be a bit subjective as since you are taking photos against a glass, sometimes the laser autofocus sensor is making mistakes.
After reaching x10 zoom, it will be software based algorithm to determine the photo quality. Here we can see that major details are still good for x30, as long as there is no moving objects being taken then its acceptable.
On x100 zoom the photo details isn’t sharp anymore but the overall photo quality is still readable and acceptable. Though you will expect here the question…when will I need x100 zoom? Then this is a good sample scenario indeed.
Photo Sample Set 2
Here we will focus into a the Melbourne Cricket Stadium which is 1.65km away from the tower. Despite the glare from the glass, the photos are stillpresentable. BTW we tried using the Galaxy AI in removing the reflection but
Due to that the LED wall is constantly moving, the x100 zoom sensor wasn’t able to take a clear photo of the display anymore. This is what we meant of that when using the software based zoom or x10 and above, its best that the subject being taken is stationary.
Photo Sample Set 3
We went outside for this set in order to avoid the glare from the glass wall, here you can see despite the wiremesh, quality of photos are outstanding and flagship quality. Next subject is 530m away from the tower, which is the St.Paul’s Cathedral.
Here in the ultrawide camera you can detect a bit of lighter hue of colors compared to the other lenses used, but this is expected on a ultrawide lens as the light intake is challenged.
Here you can see at the x30 details for people is still great where you can still have story telling. Even small details on the St.Paul’s Cathedral is still captured well.
At x100 given the challenge of very windy environment from where I was taking photos, plus moving subjects in the frame the photo overall isn’t that great as it already is smudged and lacks sharpness. Again, this is given if you are taking photos of moving subjects using the digital zoom.
So? How did the Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra fare in maximizing the periscope lens? Right now there are only a few smartphones that can do this as the periscope lens is only found in a handful of devices and even the iPhone 15 Pro Max doesn’t have one. As far as taking photos in places like the Melbourne Skydeck, then its the best smartphone to have in tourist places like this.
Plus with the Galaxy AI built-in, you can modify further your photos to improve the quality as you wish. So the combo of a great hardware + AI software is really useful to capture your best tourist shots.
You can buy the Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra starting at Php84,990 for the 256GB variant with tons of offers especially at the official Samsung Online Store.
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