The camera has become one of the most important features in a phone, with a rising trend in the race to conquer the selfies and the night photos. While manufacturers like Nokia chose to redesign the camera lens (with spectacular results), Lenovo opted to do something a bit crazy in terms of engineering: have an aperture of 1.8.
If you’re not familiar with how a camera works, aperture is essentially one of the main ingredients in controlling how much light is taken in. The smaller the number, the better it is. And though plenty of cameras have an aperture of 2 to boast their night-time photography capabilities, the jump to 1.8 may seem small but is, in fact, significant – it captures 33% more light.
But how does the camera fare?
THAT SUPER NIGHT MODE
To be honest, I expected a much better night photography performance. The camera has a regular night mode and a “super night” mode, which I believe is their key selling point. Night photography on phone cameras creates something called digital noise – it is this grain you see in your photos. To overcome noise, the phone camera software applies some wizardry to clean it up. The problem with the Vibe Z is that the software applies too much of it that it effectively kills all the detail in the photo, leaving you with a well-lit night photo but one that is smeared and looks as though a watercolour filter has been applied.
You can see that in the first image there is plenty of noise, but there is detail; the second image has been smoothed out to the extent that the sky looks like a watercolour painting and the details in the buildings and the roads are gone. In the next images below in, notice the blue light pixelation in the decor when super night mode is on:
Finally in the next set, the details on the moth are completely gone.
Perhaps I am being too picky, but it really boils down to what you want to use the photos for. If it’s for Facebook and emailing your friends, then by all means this isn’t bad at all. I personally don’t use photos from my phone outside the realm of social media, so while super night mode is too smudgy for me, it is adequate.
The other gripe I had (which to me is major) is the lack of HDR mode. Not that HDR is necessary per se, but in a place like Dubai, HDR on cameras is probably the only way to get in some sky. There is a backlit mode so at least the friends you want to photograph will look fine, but you’ll have to live with an overexposed background.
THE BRIGHT SIDE OF THINGS
Though the camera falters in high contrast daylight scenarios and during the night (if you don’t like the noise reduction that is), it gives you plenty of creative control over the mechanics (as is expected of android) allowing you to select metering modes and whatnot as well as plenty of tools for you to take creative photos. Admittedly, plenty of the effects could be achieved through third party applications, but it is really a treat to have quite a large selection of effects and modes right there in the camera app.
One of the best I have liked so far is the tilt-shift mode, which you can adjust straight from the camera (line or circle). There aren’t many apps which give you this option (or do it well). I admit taking a tilt-shift photo of my shoe isn’t the most creative photography but just to give you an idea:
Speaking of which, can you see the level of detail? Stunning – the camera truly does wonders in close up and macro shots than it does in other modes. My jeans never looked better on a phone camera before. Here are a few more macro shots:
And of course, the selfie:
OVERALL IMPRESSION
The camera captures plenty of detail and provides a fantastic platform to get creative out of the box. The selfies and macro modes (especially when combined with other tools) make for awesome photos. The night shots are quite a disappointment, but since this is a software issue, a patch from Lenovo can remedy the smudging to a degree.
