Samsung Galaxy A80: How a mobile made our video producer angry
The rotating camera of the Samsung Galaxy A80 promises selfie shots in the same quality as the main camera. However, this is not the case - and almost drove our video producer crazy. Otherwise, the A80 wouldn't be bad.
Our video producer Manuel Wenk picked up the new Samsung Galaxy A80 in Switzerland. His goal with the phone: he wants the Digitec-Galaxus editorial team to be able to film themselves in the video studio in future.
The Galaxy A80 seems to be the right device for his idea. The A80 is one of the first smartphones in which the front and rear cameras do not consist of two different camera sets. Instead, there is a rotating camera module that turns the camera set when switching between selfie mode and normal mode. Thanks to this design, the A80 should take pictures and videos in the same resolution of 48 megapixels at the front and rear.
Manu's idea: Editors can take videos in good quality and see themselves on the display when filming in selfie mode. This means that a video producer has to stand behind the camera to keep an eye on the recording.
Manu takes the A80 into the video studio to film his colleague Kevin Hofer. Kevin has just finished his Sleeper PC project. The conclusion should be on video.
The thing doesn't film as it should
When unfolding and rotating the front camera, Manu and I notice that the whole thing takes quite a long time. According to Samsung, it takes two seconds. That doesn't sound like much - but to us it almost seems like an eternity. In my opinion, spontaneous selfies are not possible with the A80. Manu doesn't care. He doesn't want to take selfies, but videos.
Manu wants to start filming - and that's where the first of his problems begins: He realises that the smartphone doesn't offer a Pro mode for videos. There is only one for photos. However, the shutter speed cannot be set there. Only ISO, white balance and exposure compensation are possible.
When Manu turns the camera to selfie mode, he realises that there are no Pro functions in photo mode either. Even though it's the same camera and he was still in Pro mode with the rear camera. Samsung's software simply decides that Pro functions are no longer needed in selfie mode. Not good conditions for the video producer.
The camera looks nice, but the functions are a bit lacking
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Manuel is not fazed by all this. So he tries to film in standard mode. Then comes the next problem: as soon as he switches to the selfie camera, the camera can no longer take wide-angle shots in video mode. The camera switches automatically and can no longer be changed. In addition, the image is zoomed in slightly in selfie mode compared to the normal angle of the rear camera. This results in a slight loss of quality. Filming in selfie mode is only designed for filming yourself from an arm's length away.
"I just never know what to expect with this thing," says Manuel in frustration.
Then the next problem: as soon as he wants to film in selfie mode, it is impossible to set the focus. It still works in normal mode with the "rear camera". As soon as the camera is rotated, the focus is locked by the software. Every now and then the camera recognises Manu's face. But as a video producer, he can't rely on that.
This thing now drives him completely up the wall.
Because the selfie shot zooms in far too close anyway without the wide-angle option and therefore outputs too small an image section, Manu can't use the A80 for his videos.
Are third-party apps the solution?
The video producer is not giving up quite yet. He is now trying camera apps that are not installed on the smartphone by default: HD Camera Lite, Open Camera and Manual Camera. All three apps do not get rid of the problems. The focus of the front camera remains locked by the software. Even with third-party apps.
This almost smells like a scandal.
Manuel suspects that Samsung simply wants to cater to standard users and block the advanced functions for the sake of simplicity. The video producer goes on a rant. Something about if you're going to install a good camera, then do it properly. Okay Manuel. His expectations of the A80 are high - the fact that Samsung more or less arbitrarily locks functions when you're shooting is difficult even for me as an editor.
Because everyone is already gathered in the video studio and Kevin needs his video, Manu shoots the video with the rear camera.
The finished result looks like this:
Manuel is only halfway satisfied. He had to do a lot of post-processing, especially with the colours. The mobile didn't get the white balance right at all. Post-processing was even more difficult due to the low bit rate. The video had a far too strong red tone. But Manu didn't notice this on the smartphone display. It was only on the PC screen that he realised that Kevin and his PC had become far too red.
Manuel gives up. The Samsung Galaxy A80 is not a smartphone for videos and he can't work with it as a video producer. And if he can't get it right: How are we editors supposed to cope with it?
Other than that, the smartphone doesn't make a bad impression. I like the beautiful OLED display, which is logically notchless. The display is also pretty much borderless, with the Galaxy A80 only having a frame around three millimetres thick at the bottom. However, it is quite large at 6.7 inches and unusually heavy at 220 grams. Samsung has installed the fingerprint sensor under the display glass. Although this looks stylish, the sensor is slow and I often need two attempts before the mobile is unlocked.
However, as the first smartphone from Samsung to come with a rotating camera, the Galaxy A80 is not bad. However, some things could be improved. Perhaps Samsung can at least fix the focus problem of the front camera with an update.
Manuel, meanwhile, has his sights set on the Zenfone 6 from Asus. It also has a rotating camera. And promises a lot. <p
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