Samsung Galaxy Z Fold2 diary: 10 awesome shots taken with this smartphone camera

Usually, when it comes to a smartphone camera, we expect it to beTake good pictures in

bright sunny day.And today absolutely any camera shoots this way, even the most budget model. The most interesting things begin when there is not enough light: indoors, at dusk and even at night. Flagship smartphones have made real breakthroughs in night photography over the past two years. And the Galaxy Z Fold2 is no exception: by and large, its cameras shoot at the same level as the Galaxy S20 and Galaxy Note 20 series. Except where some special tricks are used: for example, the Galaxy Note 20 Ultra and Galaxy S20 Ultra is a superzoom that uses a lens in which the lenses are mounted in a “periscope” configuration. Which allows you to take amazing photos. Or an emphasis on the selfie camera, like the Galaxy S20 FE, which uses a 32-megapixel module. I've selected a dozen interesting images taken with the Galaxy Z Fold2 that demonstrate its capabilities.

First, a little theory.The Galaxy Z Fold2 has five cameras: a triple main one and two (due to the design of the folding display) front ones. The capabilities of the main cameras differ in their aperture ratio - for conditions where there is little light, the main one is best suited, this is especially noticeable in video. But, the second and third cameras are designed to change the angle of image capture (smaller and larger), which they do very well. The front cameras are identical in their capabilities. All cameras can shoot video in resolutions up to UHD (3840x2160 up to 60 frames per second). In the professional shooting mode, which I wrote about in detail in the Galaxy Note 20 Ultra diary, the main camera is available for video recording with support for HDR 10+ and autofocus tracking (both functions work in all modes except the maximum possible - 4K@60fps). The technical capabilities of all 5 cameras look like this:

  • 12 MP, main, wide-angle, f/1.8, 26 mm, 1/1.76″ matrix, pixel size 1.8 µm, Dual Pixel PDAF autofocus, optical stabilization
  • 12 MP, f/2.4 telephoto, 52 mm, 1/3.6″ matrix, pixel size 1.0 µm, PDAF autofocus, optical stabilization, 2x optical zoom
  • 12 MP, ultra-wide-angle f/2.2, 12 mm (123˚), pixel size 1.12 µm
  • 10 MP, wide-angle, f/2.2, 26 mm, pixel size 1.22 µm
  • 10 MP, wide-angle, f/2.2, 26 mm, pixel size 1.22 µm


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Examples of pictures taken with the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold2 camera

This photo was taken in cloudy winter weather,when Kyiv was covered with freezing rain and ice. I took this photo 2 minutes before, cursing and cursing the weather, I dealt with the same layer of ice on my car, where, in addition to problems with the windshield and rear window, a layer of ice a good centimeter thick blocked the door. This image clearly shows how bokeh works in macro photography: the background is already out of focus at a distance of several centimeters, and the background is generally beautifully blurred.


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The front camera also takes good pictures, butThe Galaxy Z Fold2, due to its design, has one feature: the smartphone allows you to take selfies with the main camera. To do this, you need to click on a special selfie icon, like the Z Flip, which activates the external screen in shooting mode.


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After this, the interface will appear on the external screencamera controls, including lens selection and shutter button. And by the way, this button can also be pressed when the screen is open, but then it is simply called On/Off and when activated, there is no control interface or shutter button on the external screen, which confused me at first. But there is still a way out - just show the camera your open palm to activate the two-second shutter countdown timer. Two seconds is enough to lower your hand and make a funny face and get ready.


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Front cameras also support one of myfavorite modes in Samsung cameras - "Live Focus". You can blur the background in five different ways, including desaturation, which is used in this case.


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Indoors, in good lighting conditions, you can get predictably good pictures with excellent detail.


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But here is an example of shooting through the glass of a shop window - in fact, a very common situation in real life. The glare from the LED lamp on the glass only added to the atmosphere of this shot.


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When there is not much light in the room, but there is someone willing to pose, you can also achieve good results:


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As I already wrote, modern flagship camerassmartphones do an excellent job of shooting in low light conditions. The camera sees a lot more than the human eye - automation, if necessary, turns on first HDR, then night mode. The result is a shot like this under the couch with high dynamic range.


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But you can shoot in complete darkness. In this shot, the candle on the cake is the only light source.


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Night photography on the street has generally become the hallmark of modern technologies in smartphones cameras.


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The pictures look especially impressive with all the bright garlands that appear in cities on the eve of the New Year holidays.


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You can view and download all images in full resolution here.

Three things you need to know about the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold2's camera

  • It has five lenses: three for the main camera and one each for the two front cameras.
  • Thanks to the folding display design, you can take selfies with the main camera.
  • The shooting results correspond in level to the capabilities of flagship Samsung smartphone models.