The Galaxy S9 introduces big changes to the cameras on Samsung’s flagship phones. While last year’s Galaxy S8 featured largely the same dual-pixel camera found on the S7, the S9 changes things up with a rear camera that switches aperture depending on conditions and improved software that can reduce noise in photos. Opt for the $840 Galaxy S9+, and you’ve got a second rear lens to provide an optical zoom and a stylish bokeh effect on portrait shots.
Credit: Tom's GuideAdd up all these new hardware and software additions, and shooting on the Galaxy S9 is a completely different experience than it was on previous Samsung phones. Here are a few tips for getting the most out of the new features and abilities found in the Galaxy S9’s camera.
Quickly change modes
While some of the more complex updates to the S9’s camera are hard to find, the most important one is in your face and a big step forward, regardless of whether you shoot a lot or a little.
Rather than digging into the phone’s menus to change the camera’s mode, all you do is open the camera app and swipe across the screen to choose among the modes: Food (for optimized food photos), Hyperlapse (time lapse animation), AR Emoji (selfie emojis), Super Slow-Mo (slow motion movies), Auto (just snap), Pro (with lots of options) and Panorama (to create a single wide image by scanning the landscape).
Depending on whether you have an S9 or S9+, you’ll also get either a Selective Focus (on the S9) or Live Focus mode (S9+). Live Focus uses the two rear lenses on the S9+ to create portrait or close-up shots with stylishly blurred backgrounds, while Selective Focus takes multiple shots from the S9’s lone shooter with the focus in front of the object, right on it and behind it. Later, you can choose the one you like the best from the Gallery.
As you swipe through your camera options, the current section lights up in yellow above and in large white characters in the middle of the screen. Just stay on the screen for the mode you want, and you’ll get a preview along with available adjustments.
Choose your own aperture
The S9’s camera is really good at capturing low-light images without resorting to a flash. In fact, each shot you take starts with 12 images that are divided into three groups of four for image processing, resulting in less speckle and more detail. The S9’s camera also has a mechanical aperture that adjusts how much light enters the lens, widening to let in more light when you’re somewhere that’s dimly lit.
Swipe your way over to the Pro mode, and then tap the circular icon, second from the left. The current aperture settings appear on the left. You can go between f/1.5 (fully open for low light shots) and f/2.4 (a more narrow aperture for greater depth of focus). As you switch apertures, the camera compensates by adjusting the shutter speed to get a good shot.
Super Slow-Mo tricks
Under the skin, the S9 has its photo memory circuits built onto the camera’s imaging chips to speed up its performance. This comes in handy with the phone’s new Super Slow-Mo mode that can capture up to 960 frames a second (fps) for brief bursts. When they’re played back at the normal 30 fps, the motion is slowed down by a factor of 32. In other words, 0.2 seconds of action becomes a 6-second clip.
You access the feature by swiping horizontally to Super Slow-Mo. The Auto/Manual mode selector in the lower left of the screen determines when the camera starts shooting in slow mo by sensing if there’s motion in the on-screen box. By tapping on the Settings gear icon and selecting Super Slow-Mo, you can choose between shooting based on a single item moving or several, like a group of kittens playing.
Go to the Gallery to view the video and share it with friends. Unfortunately, the 64GB of storage space on the S9 and S9+ will fill up quickly at about 20MB per second of recorded Super Slow-Mo. I suggest getting a microSD card to augment the phone’s storage potential; both models can expand capacity to 400GB — plenty for slo mo extravaganzas.
Editing Super Slow-Mo clips
I’d suggest trying out the Super Slow-Mo mode a few times to get the feel of it before using the feature to record anything important. Because Super Slow-Mo amplifies any movement or shaking, it’s important to hold your S9 steady. I ended up using a phone grip but a tripod works as well.
You can also edit your slow-motion video. Just tap on the three linked circles at the center of the video’s thumbnail to open the editor. Save the file in the upper right corner; this might take upwards of 20 or 30 seconds due to the amount of data. Then, tap on the scissors icon at the bottom to edit the start and end point of the clip; a preview shows up near the bottom.
The S9 will automatically add music based on the amount of motion, but you can override the phone’s artistic choice with the music note icon at the bottom right, even picking your own soundtrack.
How to Use Live Focus (Galaxy S9+)
The Live Focus mode on the dual-lens S9+ doesn’t just blur the background of your photos. It also gives you the opportunity to captures images with both cameras at once, and decide which one to keep later.
Here’s how it works. Swipe to Live Focus mode. Next, tap the two overlapping rectangles at the bottom to turn Dual Capture on. (Tapping again turns the feature off.) The wide angle image takes in twice the field of view but objects seem farther away while the telephoto shows an object close-up, twice as big.
Shoot away, but understand that it will fill up your phone’s storage twice as fast.
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