After all, you can’t leave everything to the lenses for churning out perfect pictures. Yeah, that’s the case most of the times, but wouldn’t it be wonderful to learn a bit about the Galaxy S9’s camera functions and, more importantly, how to perfect those already-perfect pictures? That’s where we come in. We have gone through the camera interface of the new Samsung Galaxy S9 with a fine toothcomb and here are a few tricks to amp up your camera experience. Take a look!
1. Freeze Moments With Super Slow Motion
With its stunning ability to record footage at 960 frames-per-second, the Super Slow-mo feature of the Samsung Galaxy S9 can record amazing videos in (you guessed it right) slow motion. But, what makes these little snippets even cooler is that the device automatically produces three different versions from the same video — Loop, Inverse, and Swing. Yep, you read that right, and that too with no extra efforts from your end. What’s more, music effects are added automatically. However, if you want you can choose to change them by tapping on the Music icon. To access and save the other videos, tap on the three-dot menu on the upper-right corner and tap on Details. Now all you need to do is rename (optional) and save. Interestingly, you can also choose to save these videos as lock screen wallpapers.
2. Have Fun With the AR Emoji Stickers
Now you no longer have to depend on third-party apps for the AR Stickers. The Samsung Galaxy S9 comes with an integrated AR Emoji option, which creates an animated avatar of you and your friends. The fun part is that the device creates a set of 18 different stickers that you can share across the messaging platforms. Once you’ve captured a close-up of your face, you can also customize your AR-version as you deem fit. You can pick glasses, hairstyles, and even clothing. Now all you have to do is save and that’s it! The AR stickers will be integrated into your messaging apps. Different apps treat these stickers differently. For one, WhatsApp treats them as GIFs while you may need to activate the MMS feature on your default messaging app. What’s more, you can also record cool videos of your virtual avatars.
3. Explore the Portrait Mode aka Live Focus
Galaxy S9+ users have an advantage over the single-lensed variant. The portrait mode lets you take magnificent portraits with an incredible depth-of-field effect, thanks to the dual lens setup. The Samsung Galaxy S9 can capture pictures with an incredible depth-of-field effect However, you would have to take into effect what goes into making a picture even greater. That’s when terms like background color, lighting conditions, and amount of blur comes into play. Adjusting the background blur is super easy. All you have to do is slide the slider until the picture looks well balanced. Meanwhile, look for bright and vivid backgrounds so that the object is in sharp focus since a light background doesn’t make the subject ‘pop-out’. The Samsung Galaxy S9+ doesn’t handle fuzzy hair well Additionally, make sure that you have ample light. Lastly, avoid objects with fuzzy borders. No matter how advanced this camera is, it still gets confused by fuzzy hair or hair that is blowing in the wind. Galaxy S9 users can use the selective focus option. This camera setting takes a number of pictures with the focus varying across the object. This results in a picture where you can select the focus manually — near, far or pan focus, and save it accordingly.
4. Click Instagram-worthy Pictures With the Food Mode
If we were to go through the stats, Instagram has more than 300 million food photos. Like it or not, food photography is one of the most liked and loved sections on social media. So, if you’re a sucker for food photos, your Galaxy S9 will be your most faithful assistant, thanks to its built-in food mode. All you have to do is tap on an area to focus, hit the shutter button, and Bam! Your ordinary looking plate of pasta has been transformed into a lip-smacking delicious platter!
5. Zoom With Ease
The Galaxy S9 gives you a nifty option to zoom in and out of your frames easily. All you have to do is place your finger over the shutter button and drag it up and down. The good thing is that you can see the zoom-levels by the side. Plus, it gives you the freedom to use only one hand during the operation.
6. Portrait Mode in Selfies? Yeah, That’s Possible Too!
Why limit the portrait mode to the rear camera alone. The front shooter can also capture beautiful pictures in the portrait mode. How? Well, say hi to the Selfie Focus mode. The Galaxy S9 uses AI to determine the object and its distance from the background and accordingly brings the subject into focus. No fancy setting in this one. All you have to do is swipe to the right option and click. The same tricks for portrait photography applies here — keep the background as vivid as possible.
7. Use the 2X Zoom for Macro Shots
You can also use the 2X optical zoom to capture the finer details of objects at a distance. What’s more, the bokeh effect is naturally available in the macro shots, thanks to the wide aperture.
8. Explore the Pro Features
The pro mode can produce great pictures if you know how to play around with the ISO, white balance, aperture, IRIS settings. Though the pro mode in the previous Samsung phones has been known to be quite good, the Galaxy S9/S9+ takes the cake, thanks to the variable aperture feature.
9. Track the Focus Automatically
The Tracking Auto Focus mode lets you focus and track any moving object. Especially useful for objects in motions, such as an over-enthusiastic kid, birds or pets, this mode gives you a respite from blurred and unfocused images. To enable it, go to Settings and toggle the Tracking AF switch to on.
10. Take a Wide Selfie
With the Galaxy S9, you can safely ditch your selfie stick. The Wide Selfie mode is perfect for those times when you want to pack everyone in a single frame. All you have to do is gather everyone and capture the first frame. Now, swivel your camera towards the left and then right and ‘Voila’! Say Hi to the panoramic selfie … oops, Wide Selfie! What’s more, the Galaxy S9 also records a cool video clip at the same time.
11. Capture the Moments Before the Shot
Motion Photos is one of my favorite camera settings. This little setting records a tiny clip before a shot is actually captured, thus letting you see the moments before the shot is captured. To enable it, navigate to the Settings page and toggle the switch on. Motion photos are denoted by the Play Motion Photo icon at the bottom. What’s more, you can even capture a shot from the saved pictures.
12. Make the Camera Interface Clutter-free
Samsung has beefed up the camera interface in the Galaxy S9/S9+. Instead of three screens, the different camera modes can be accessed merely by swiping left or right. However, if you find this interface messy, you can remove some of the camera modes. To do this, head over to Settings > Edit Camera mode and uncheck the modes which you don’t want. That’s it, you’ll have a clean camera interface. Alternatively, you can also add a few camera modes through this process.
13. Ask the Phone to Click
The Galaxy S9 and S9+ feature a number of voice commands. This mode is helpful if you’re a sucker for selfies. So in the rare moments when reaching for the shutter button can be difficult, all you have to do is say one of the commands and the moment will be captured. The phone supports commands as simple as ‘Cheese’, ‘Smile’, or ‘Capture’. To enable this mode, head over to settings and toggle the voice control switch to on.
Get the Most Out of Your Galaxy S9/S9+
With a slew of additional modes and settings such as filters, stickers or a floating shutter button, I bet the camera experience on your new Samsung Galaxy S9/S9+ will be worthwhile. How has been your camera experience so far? Do let us know in the comments below.
