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The Samsung Galaxy A51 is a $400 (£329, AU$599) powerhouse with 4 cameras that give flexibility for pictures, from ultra-wide to macro. But Apple’s new iPhone SE, regardless of solely having one rear digital camera, has good pictures options borrowed from costlier fashions such because the iPhone 11. Here’s how these two $400 telephones examine on all the pieces from portraits and landscapes to video recording.Read extra: iPhone SE 2020 is proof that Apple will not really deliver again the tiny telephone
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iPhone SE or Galaxy A51: Battle of the $400 telephone cameras
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The Galaxy A51 has extra cameras for varietyRight off the bat, the Galaxy has 4 rear cameras: a 48-megapixel fundamental digital camera at f2, a 12-megapixel ultra-wide, a 5-megapixel macro digital camera and a depth sensor. The iPhone SE has a single 12-megapixel rear digital camera at f1.8.But whereas the variability sounds nice on paper, in apply, I discovered myself getting numerous use from simply two out of the 4. The depth digital camera, for instance, does not really take photographs. It’s solely used for reside focus (or portrait mode) photographs.
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In addition to utilizing the primary digital camera, I discovered that the ultrawide digital camera on the Galaxy A51 was handier than the macro digital camera and it was the primary factor I missed when taking photographs on the iPhone SE. That’s as a result of I used to be capable of shoot a bigger space with out bodily having to maneuver again. Use the sliders on the picture under to see the distinction in perspective from the broad to ultrawide digital camera.That’s to not say that the A51’s macro digital camera is a dud. For macro photographs, there is not any contest: The Galaxy A51 can seize photographs at a a lot nearer attain than the iPhone SE, though you want numerous mild to get the most effective out of this digital camera. I bought the most effective outcomes when taking photographs of crops exterior on a vivid sunny day, whereas something I attempted to snap indoors was a blurry unfocused mess. One of my profitable macro photographs.
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Also, there is not any optical picture stabilization (OIS) on any of the Galaxy A51’s cameras, in contrast to the iPhone SE which has OIS on the rear digital camera.Neither telephones have optical zoom so I relied on digital zoom to get nearer to things — 5x on the SE and 8x on the A51. Both produce an appropriate shot at 5x, however the iPhone’s picture appears much less oversharpened and “crunchy” than the A51.Galaxy A51’s vivid photographs vs. the iPhone SE’s pure lookThe Galaxy A51 has a scene optimizer that is turned on by default. The digital camera robotically detects the topic within the body, like meals or landscapes, then enhances the photograph. It makes colours pop off the display, however in some circumstances, significantly with photographs of meals or flowers, the scene optimizer makes photos look too oversaturated. The iPhone SE produces a extra natural-looking shot, which I like greater than the extraordinary colours from the Galaxy A51. Your private choice could differ from mine.Both the Galaxy A51 and iPhone SE have an HDR mode to assist stability out shadow and spotlight element, and each telephones did such an incredible job that I discovered it was exhausting to separate HDR efficiency from each other.When I checked out photographs at a diminished magnification on a pc display, there wasn’t a lot to separate the 2 on something apart from coloration saturation. But once I seemed nearer on the 100% crop, many photographs I took on the common Galaxy A51 digital camera seemed much less detailed than the equal iPhone SE shot.Portrait and night time mode are nearer than you assumeBoth telephones might help make your topic pop by blurring the background to attain an analogous impact to a photograph taken on a DSLR at a large aperture. The iPhone pulls off this blur or “bokeh” impact extra naturally, particularly should you’re taking the impact to extremes and wish to blur the background as a lot as attainable. But the Galaxy A51 has higher edge detection due to that depth digital camera, so there was extra definition between my topic and the background. At instances, wonderful particulars like hair confused the iPhone SE, so a few of these particulars bought misplaced within the background blur.The iPhone SE can solely take portrait mode photographs of individuals, whereas the Galaxy A51 works on any topic, together with pets. You simply want to ensure your animal pal stays nonetheless whilst you take the shot.Only the Galaxy A51 gives a devoted night time mode for taking photographs in low-light conditions. While this sounds nice for the A51 on the floor, the iPhone SE is ready to take comparable photographs even with out such a mode. The iPhone SE produced a usable night time photograph so long as I stored my hand regular. But I wanted to do the identical for the A51 when utilizing night time mode. The Galaxy A51 captures extra sharpness and preserves spotlight element than the iPhone SE at night time, however not by a lot. It additionally outputs a smaller, 8-megapixel file when utilizing night time mode.
Selfies are extra pure on the iPhone SEAlthough the Galaxy A51’s front-facing digital camera gives extra megapixels (32!), the iPhone SE produces photographs with extra pure colours. To my eye, the Galaxy A51 oversaturated the pink channel a lot in order that my brown hair seemed virtually copper in some selfies. The A51 captures a sharper shot general than the iPhone SE’s 7-megapixel entrance digital camera, however the iPhone’s colours and pores and skin tone look extra true-to-life.For video decision although, the Galaxy A51 has the higher hand. It can take 4K video from the front-facing digital camera whereas the iPhone SE maxes out at 1080p. You can see a pattern from each within the video on this web page.The iPhone SE takes the sting for videoI filmed your complete video on this web page on each the iPhone SE and Galaxy A51 and located that the iPhone undoubtedly carried out higher general right here. In good mild, the picture appears cleaner with much less noise than the Galaxy and OIS on the iPhone makes an enormous distinction when recording video. Clips I recorded handheld at 4K seemed tremendous easy on the iPhone SE in comparison with the identical decision on the Galaxy A51, which does not have any OIS. You can get digital picture stabilization at 1080p on the Galaxy and it helps should you’re filming handheld.The iPhone may also movie at 4K/60fps, whereas the A51 can solely movie at 4K/30. Autofocus on the Galaxy A51 is not as easy as it’s on the iPhone SE. For numerous clips, particularly when filming a static topic, I needed to lock the main target earlier than filming to maintain issues easy. I seen the autofocus twitching when filming a transferring topic on the Galaxy A51. On the iPhone, actions seemed smoother and extra cinematic.Audio from each is okay, however the iPhone sounds fuller and rounder in comparison with the clips from the Galaxy, regardless that each telephones document in stereo.Does the iPhone SE or Galaxy A51 have the higher digital camera?Both these $400 telephones have succesful cameras that bely the retail value. The Galaxy gives extra flexibility if you would like to have the ability to change between completely different eventualities like utilizing ultra-wide or macro. But the iPhone has stronger video recording and, in some circumstances, the digital camera captures extra element at full magnification. Regardless of which telephone you select, you are getting numerous digital camera in your buck, however personally I’d select the iPhone SE for its stronger video recording. I’d decide the Galaxy A51 if I wished the pliability of an ultra-wide lens.
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