Can you use optical zoom while recording video? - Huawei P20 Pro Questions & Answers

On the S9+, you can use optical zoom while recording video. It seems to be that this is not the case with the P20 pro for some reason, which would be a deal breaker for me.
Can someone confirm?

Bump

The youtube camera comparison vids from SupaSaf suggest that there is no optical zoom button in Video Capture Mode like on the S9 but you can pinch to zoom (it's just not known whether this is optical or digital but suggests digital to me).

Optical zoom is there. Just no button. Have to use fingers.

orbital247 said:
The youtube camera comparison vids from SupaSaf suggest that there is no optical zoom button in Video Capture Mode like on the S9 but you can pinch to zoom (it's just not known whether this is optical or digital but suggests digital to me).
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gavinfabl said:
Optical zoom is there. Just no button. Have to use fingers.
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I just watched the SuperSaf video and it does seem like digital. Is there any confirmation it's actually optical zoom?

Bump, anyone who received it can confirm?

You can zoom. It's digital zoom as far as I can tell

esiemi said:
You can zoom. It's digital zoom as far as I can tell
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That’s disappointing. I’m contemplating just cancelling my order and going back to my S9+. I loved everything about it but the very, very mediocre battery life. But the P20 pro which seemed great with the camera at first now seems to have some major drawbacks (no stabilization at 4K, no 4k60 recording, pictures looking soft, no way to enable beauty mode, etc.). What a shame.

Sorry to exhume this thread, but I'm interested in the topic. I can see why the 5x hybrid zoom might be too taxing for video, but it would be extremely disappointing for the phone to contain a 3x telephoto lens and not contain a 3x optical zoom.
YouTube has a couple new videos, but I'm not sure how to interpret. This one shows digital zoom that strikes me as very disappointing.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0DOobLhcCqU
This one, on the other hand, to my eye, looks more like optical zoom. It's tough to judge the quality in portrait mode on YouTube, but it looks better than digital zoom to me:
https://youtu.be/mJJw8lLJF8I?t=207
Anyone have any thoughts on this or new experiences with the phone in the last couple of weeks?
Thanks in advance!

Please see:
youtube.com/watch?v=XwstKlJFCoc
@1:02

llllllllllllllIIIIIIIIIII said:
Please see:
youtube.com/watch?v=XwstKlJFCoc
@1:02
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Thanks, that was a great video.
Fwiw, I ended up buying it. So long as you take video in 30fps, you get what looks to be sharp, optical zoom. If you film in 1080p60, however, you get a hot mess of digital zoom. The attached shows a frame capture of 1080p30 (pretty sharp) next to 1080p60 (blurry mess). 4K30 looks much like 1080p30 but appears not to zoom in quite as far.

3x video definitely uses optical zoom. You can compare 3x vs 2.7x frame quality.

jshooter said:
3x video definitely uses optical zoom. You can compare 3x vs 2.7x frame quality.
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Thx a lot but 5x doesent have hybrid zoom?

Mmmm, I'm not sure, but I think so.
Pic 1: 4,8x
Pic 2: 5x

jshooter said:
Mmmm, I'm not sure, but I think so.
Pic 1: 4,8x
Pic 2: 5x
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Interesting! Fwiw, my screenshots were both taken at 10x to maximize distortion so I assume there was some optical/hybrid as well as digital zoom occurring on the 30fps sample and pure digital on the 60fps sample

Related

Camera Zoom

This camera has some kind of zoom, right? Optical or digital? Can someone explain how to zoom in the default camera app? I can't find the buttons or settings or anything... TIA!
there is no way it can be optical, even a photo amateur will know that.
yes there is digital zoom feature included
right. so how do i zoom?
Use the volume buttons.
I never would have guessed that. Thank-you!
But digital zoom is useless..
andrewluecke said:
But digital zoom is useless..
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You don't have to tell me that. Thankfully I don't rely on my camera for high quality images.
ohh you'll be surprised with our build in camera
it has auto focus, shaky hands control (IS), and lots and lots of other features
and if that is not enough, you can also use 3rd party professional photo camera software, results are even more amazing.
there as a side by side comparison in a topic forum
but i forgot the tittle
AllGamer said:
ohh you'll be surprised with our build in camera
it has auto focus, shaky hands control (IS), and lots and lots of other features
and if that is not enough, you can also use 3rd party professional photo camera software, results are even more amazing.
there as a side by side comparison in a topic forum
but i forgot the tittle
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I'm actually a hobby photographer. The cell phone cam does indeed have many great features... but such a small sensor in a phone + plastic optics will never be on-par with a real camera, even one with less megapixels.
yup for real photos i use my Cannon (model #) IS... damn having a mental lapse, can't remember a lot of anything

Camera zoom grainy pictures?

When I use zoom I find that the photo picture quality is quite grainy, and the photo ends up looking more like a low res video still, does anyone know is this the norm or am I doing something wrong?
I am running Viperone.
Cheers all :laugh:
happysteveo said:
When I use zoom I find that the photo picture quality is quite grainy, and the photo ends up looking more like a low res video still, does anyone know is this the norm or am I doing something wrong?
I am running Viperone.
Cheers all :laugh:
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Click to collapse
It's a no brainer, we got a 4 megapixel camera, useful only for wide angle shots
Sent from my iPod touch using Tapatalk
happysteveo said:
When I use zoom I find that the photo picture quality is quite grainy, and the photo ends up looking more like a low res video still, does anyone know is this the norm or am I doing something wrong?
I am running Viperone.
Cheers all :laugh:
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Click to collapse
Don'y forget its a digital zoom and not optical.
Optical zoom = the real thing, no quality loss
Digital zoom = enlarges the pixels and reduces the image resolution and the image quality.
IMO don't use the zoom of you want ''good'' quality photo
http://www.digitaltrends.com/photography/digital-cameras-digital-zoom-vs-optical-zoom/
Thank you both for your replies :good:

stabilzation in 1080 60 fps

Hi, has stabilization for 1080p 60 fps video been added or at least improved in latest updates. Who can confirm this ????
Never come OIS on 60 fps maybe!!! maybe eis possibble.but yet no
Saw this sample on youtube
It shows a well stabilized 60fps FHD video from the p20 pro.
Can anyone (having the latest soft update) test 60 fps FHD video Stabilization to figure out that
ketman5001 said:
Saw this sample on youtube
It shows a well stabilized 60fps FHD video from the p20 pro.
Can anyone (having the latest soft update) test 60 fps FHD video Stabilization to figure out that
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Bare in mind that YouTube stabilizes videos automatically.
dladz said:
Bare in mind that YouTube stabilizes videos automatically.
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In that case we would never notice unstabilized p20 pro videos from youtube posted videos
ketman5001 said:
In that case we would never notice unstabilized p20 pro videos from youtube posted videos
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Well you can see some ghosting but it does a decent job
Google photos can also stabilise videos.
But you just can't beat OIS
dladz said:
Well you can see some ghosting but it does a decent job
Google photos can also stabilise videos.
But you just can't beat OIS
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That s true. Huawei should at least implement EIS gyroscope based
ketman5001 said:
That s true. Huawei should at least implement EIS gyroscope based
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They can add a form of EIS but it'll never be brilliant, it's one of the reasons I wanted a new phone, the OnePlus 5 only had EIS, it's just not good enough.
With the pro though, 800 quid and no OIS throughout? Terrible to be honest.
Anyone has a credible explanation as to why OIS is not present at 1080 60? I can understand it not being available in higher resolutions but really at 1080 60, on a flagship with is marketed as (and by many agreed to be) the best camera phone of the market it's just not acceptable. Found out while waiting for my order to ship and am pretty pi$$ed.
Can we at least hope it will be added with a sw update in the future or it's not possible technically? Is the P20Pro sensor's OIS somehow bound to the 30fps?
mclisme said:
Anyone has a credible explanation as to why OIS is not present at 1080 60? I can understand it not being available in higher resolutions but really at 1080 60, on a flagship with is marketed as (and by many agreed to be) the best camera phone of the market it's just not acceptable. Found out while waiting for my order to ship and am pretty pi$$ed.
Can we at least hope it will be added with a sw update in the future or it's not possible technically? Is the P20Pro sensor's OIS somehow bound to the 30fps?
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P20 pro never had ois on its main camera, the rgb and mono. It only has ois on the telephoto 8mp lens to assist with too much vibration while zooming. The 1080p 30fps only uses eis/ais.
Afiuq said:
P20 pro never had ois on its main camera, the rgb and mono. It only has ois on the telephoto 8mp lens to assist with too much vibration while zooming. The 1080p 30fps only uses eis/ais.
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1080p @30fps has to be OIS??
I've been at the absolute maximum zoom limit whilst recording and the stabilization is amazing, if that's EIS then it's incredible and a lot better than any OIS i've ever seen on any device, I would say at 1080p 30fps it has OIS unless as i said it's got the best implementation of EIS i've ever seen.
Also @ the OP.
OIS by all accounts is available in the cameras on a hardware level but it's not been implemented, i read this a while ago about the p20 pro, whether or not they'll have this as a feature at some point I don't know, it wouldn't be unlike Huawei to add features but not make them active.
dladz said:
1080p @30fps has to be OIS??
I've been at the absolute maximum zoom limit whilst recording and the stabilization is amazing, if that's EIS then it's incredible and a lot better than any OIS i've ever seen on any device, I would say at 1080p 30fps it has OIS unless as i said it's got the best implementation of EIS i've ever seen.
Also @ the OP.
OIS by all accounts is available in the cameras on a hardware level but it's not been implemented, i read this a while ago about the p20 pro, whether or not they'll have this as a feature at some point I don't know, it wouldn't be unlike Huawei to add features but not make them active.
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I read somewhere that the rgb and mono hardware moving is for autofocus not ois. It's ais (ai stabilizer) that making the recording good at stabilizing.
Oh not to mention xperia's steady shot is EIS and not OIS and it's pretty good.
So, if it's all digital, does it make even more sense to expect it being available in the future on resolutions greater than 1080 30? I mean at least 1080 60 should be standard in 2018 flagships!
I bought a gimbal for $90... Im hoping this would do the trick for 4k stabilization...
gd6noob said:
I bought a gimbal for $90... Im hoping this would do the trick for 4k stabilization...
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My thoughts exactly. I am one click away form ordering the Zhiyun Smooth Q. Then again I know the AIS on the P20 Pro works superbly so I can maybe limit my videos to 1080 30? Decisions decisions...
mclisme said:
My thoughts exactly. I am one click away form ordering the Zhiyun Smooth Q. Then again I know the AIS on the P20 Pro works superbly so I can maybe limit my videos to 1080 30? Decisions decisions...
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Click to collapse
Thats the one I got.. It seems to be pretty good... I havent done any intense testing just around the house for now.. works well...
dladz said:
1080p @30fps has to be OIS??
I've been at the absolute maximum zoom limit whilst recording and the stabilization is amazing, if that's EIS then it's incredible and a lot better than any OIS i've ever seen on any device, I would say at 1080p 30fps it has OIS unless as i said it's got the best implementation of EIS i've ever seen.
Also @ the OP.
OIS by all accounts is available in the cameras on a hardware level but it's not been implemented, i read this a while ago about the p20 pro, whether or not they'll have this as a feature at some point I don't know, it wouldn't be unlike Huawei to add features but not make them active.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes it's AIS. And Sony uses the same excellent stabilisation. Better than OIS hands down. I had Sony phone before. Just a shame that Huawei didn't implement it at 4k and at 60fps.
Afiuq said:
I read somewhere that the rgb and mono hardware moving is for autofocus not ois. It's ais (ai stabilizer) that making the recording good at stabilizing.
Oh not to mention xperia's steady shot is EIS and not OIS and it's pretty good.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yea it's absolutely amazing. Never seen anything like it..
yeah EIS is good.. but it crops the image too much. I prefer OIS
So sad you’ll had to buy an stabilizer device.... having the most powerfull mobile in photos of 2018.... I have my iPhone 7 Plus with FHD/60fps with stabilization in fact.... better videos with a mobile of 2016...

P20 Pro Camera problems

Believe it or not, P20 pro shoots terrible photos! Zoom in and see the details they are absolutely terrible. Especially when shooting close-ups the phone performs poorly and the images are blurry. I don't know why the problem occurs but it shouldn't be how so called the worlds best camera would perform. Anyone else has this problem?
Sure. But it looks nice on the phone display. This is what people want.
all the pugs said:
Sure. But it looks nice on the phone display. This is what people want.
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but why is it even worse than my old huawei p8 lite.
I don‘t know. I also wonder. For me, zoom is not usable, and I only use pro mode, because it processes the images differently. Auto, night and hdr mode are currently just outputting bad, blurry and oversharpened images. Hoping for a firmware fix but I often read that other users like the look, so it‘s probably how huawei wants them to look.
Jeph gonna Steph said:
Believe it or not, P20 pro shoots terrible photos! Zoom in and see the details they are absolutely terrible. Especially when shooting close-ups the phone performs poorly and the images are blurry. I don't know why the problem occurs but it shouldn't be how so called the worlds best camera would perform. Anyone else has this problem?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
no problem here (Macro)
Upload macro photo pls(Untouched original files /original size)
Ty
I noticed that the zoom sensor isn't always stabilized: in low light and in close up shots it loses his stabilization, thus it produces awful results. Few days ago I took a picture of a little cat with 3x zoom, in a very low light scenario. This is the result I got (see attachment).
I also have attached a video where you can clearly see the stabilized zoom lense kicking in, and how shaky the image is when the stabilization goes off (focus on how the images "stretches" when I zoom to my little Wi-Fi antenna and to my mouse).
https://photos.app.goo.gl/AJiWNjdbFyMj3UeKA
Another quick comparison (attachments):
3x Without Stabilization (closer to subject) vs 5x With Stabilization (Farther)
Same light conditions, I just moved farther and closer to reach the distance needed to lose stabilization.
I think our zoom lense is intended to work just with far objects and not to take closer macro shots.
solefero69 said:
Another quick comparison (attachments):
3x Without Stabilization (closer to subject) vs 5x With Stabilization (Farther)
Same light conditions, I just moved farther and closer to reach the distance needed to lose stabilization.
I think our zoom lense is intended to work just with far objects and not to take closer macro shots.
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Mate! yes!
When capture close photo with 3x zoom not the TELE lense working .!!!Regular lense with DIGITAL zoom
Tele lense useless for macro shots! Minimum distance 1, 1.5 meter need.
Your absolutly right!
kabirjedi said:
Mate! yes!
When capture close photo with 3x zoom not the TELE lense working .!!!Regular lense with DIGITAL zoom
Tele lense useless for macro shots! Minimum distance 1, 1.5 meter need.
Your absolutly right!
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I roughly measured the distance: it's about 50-60cm. Getting farther from this with good light conditions will enable Stabilized Zoom Lens. In low light scenario, stabilization doesn't work at any distance for me.
Jeph gonna Steph said:
Believe it or not, P20 pro shoots terrible photos!
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Click to collapse
I agree! Especially in scenes with high contrast (landscapes in bright sunlight...) 1. dark surfaces (mostly shadows) turn into deep black (no more structures...) and 2. all details lost when you zoom into the picture (And no, i am not a pixelpeeper, but pls compare the 100%-View with another flagship...).
Intelligent Auto-HDR has to come, like in iOS or Samsungs Galaxys...
I also agree with the statement, these p20 pro pictures were made for good looking at the small display, not more!
holgerka75 said:
I agree! Especially in scenes with high contrast (landscapes in bright sunlight...) 1. dark surfaces (mostly shadows) turn into deep black (no more structures...) and 2. all details lost when you zoom into the picture (And no, i am not a pixelpeeper, but pls compare the 100%-View with another flagship...).
Intelligent Auto-HDR has to come, like in iOS or Samsungs Galaxys...
I also agree with the statement, these p20 pro pictures were made for good looking at the small display, not more!
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Mate too much,,,
One of the best camera yet.
Thsi is auto with ai and ai off
Imigine pro mode...
https://drive.google.com/open?id=1IExHyzoJMEEjiQfe36m1r82PEEPNLCK9
https://drive.google.com/open?id=17WkXYeaM48DrOc1RXsVWjid9Hp_IcJuk
no camera problems here
3x Zoom by Maik Reifschneider, auf Flickr
5x Zoom by Maik Reifschneider, auf Flickr
crop from 40MP no Zoom by Maik Reifschneider, auf Flickr
no zoom by Maik Reifschneider, auf Flickr
3x zoom by Maik Reifschneider, auf Flickr
5x zoom by Maik Reifschneider, auf Flickr
10x zoom by Maik Reifschneider, auf Flickr
holgerka75 said:
I agree! Especially in scenes with high contrast (landscapes in bright sunlight...) 1. dark surfaces (mostly shadows) turn into deep black (no more structures...) and 2. all details lost when you zoom into the picture (And no, i am not a pixelpeeper, but pls compare the 100%-View with another flagship...).
Intelligent Auto-HDR has to come, like in iOS or Samsungs Galaxys...
I also agree with the statement, these p20 pro pictures were made for good looking at the small display, not more!
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Click to collapse
I'm sorry but that's not totally correct. When AI is turned on, it automatically enables HDR when needed and is surprisingly good.
All shot and edited on P20 Pro. I love it.
https://www.flickr.com/photos/[email protected]/
I think you may be the problem with your photos.
1st is 3x lens
2nd is 5x hybrid further away.
The 3x is clearly better.
Sent from my CLT-L29 using Tapatalk
3x
5x
10x
2018-06-19_09-22-23 by Maik Reifschneider, auf Flickr
Obviously there are shortcomings with the zoom which users should be aware of when using it. The big one is the aperture which if i remember correctly is only f/2,4 or something like that. A big difference from the other lenses as it let's in a lot less light to the sensor. It also answers the questions why it performs poorly when the light disappears. Use zoom only when you have enough light to get a good shot, if the light is poor shoot at 40mpix shot and then crop it in post.
I'm having no big issues with the zoom myself as i only use it in good daylight situations and i avoid the 5x zoom since it looks way to artificially enhanced. Just crop into a 1x or 3x shot is enough.
I do wish Huawei toned down on sharpening and noise reduction as it would improve detail rendering to a much greater degree. A little sensor noise is not a bad thing, it gives photos a bit more character and personality.
/ Magnus
Magnus3D said:
Obviously there are shortcomings with the zoom which users should be aware of when using it. The big one is the aperture which if i remember correctly is only f/2,4 or something like that. A big difference from the other lenses as it let's in a lot less light to the sensor. It also answers the questions why it performs poorly when the light disappears. Use zoom only when you have enough light to get a good shot, if the light is poor shoot at 40mpix shot and then crop it in post.
I'm having no big issues with the zoom myself as i only use it in good daylight situations and i avoid the 5x zoom since it looks way to artificially enhanced. Just crop into a 1x or 3x shot is enough.
I do wish Huawei toned down on sharpening and noise reduction as it would improve detail rendering to a much greater degree. A little sensor noise is not a bad thing, it gives photos a bit more character and personality.
/ Magnus
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Click to collapse
Totally agree with you
Sent from my CLT-L29 using Tapatalk
solefero69 said:
I'm sorry but that's not totally correct. When AI is turned on, it automatically enables HDR when needed and is surprisingly good.
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In auto mode HDR is also used automatically when deemed appropriate with AI turned off. The only way to disable auto HDR is to use pro mode (and likely some of the other modes, but they are obviously more specialized).
Magnus3D said:
I do wish Huawei toned down on sharpening and noise reduction as it would improve detail rendering to a much greater degree. A little sensor noise is not a bad thing, it gives photos a bit more character and personality.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Absolutely +1!
---------- Post added at 10:20 AM ---------- Previous post was at 10:15 AM ----------
MikeMTS said:
In auto mode HDR is also used automatically when deemed appropriate with AI turned off. The only way to disable auto HDR is to use pro mode (and likely some of the other modes, but they are obviously more specialized).
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Sorry you both(solofero & MikeMTS)! It may be right that HDR comes with Auto (with AI or w/o AI doesn´t matter)... But that intelligence when HDR turns on is crappy, most pics I wish they had HDR comes without it. So I have to turn on HDR manually for most situations...

Question Poor quality when taking pics of people

Hello guys,
First of all I love the camera. It is so good but I am facing two issues and would be good if anyone has a solution.
1- When recording a video and zoom between 1.1 - 2.9 the quality is super poor and unusable, however on 1X or 3X the quality is super sharp and great, I am not sure why the main lens act poor when zooming in to 2.9 before switching to the tele lens.
2- taking selfies is great when there is one person or two in the photo but when there are more than 2 in the photo, their faces become so cartoony with no details, even in day light, this happen also when using the back camera. I am using the standard resolution, no idea if using the 40mb or the 108mb will make any different
Other than these, the camera is great!
Khalid Madkour said:
Hello guys,
First of all I love the camera. It is so good but I am facing two issues and would be good if anyone has a solution.
1- When recording a video and zoom between 1.1 - 2.9 the quality is super poor and unusable, however on 1X or 3X the quality is super sharp and great, I am not sure why the main lens act poor when zooming in to 2.9 before switching to the tele lens.
2- taking selfies is great when there is one person or two in the photo but when there are more than 2 in the photo, their faces become so cartoony with no details, even in day light, this happen also when using the back camera. I am using the standard resolution, no idea if using the 40mb or the 108mb will make any different
Other than these, the camera is great!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
1. That's normal. 1.1 to 2.9x zoom is digital zoom. Don't expect the same quality as when you didn't zoom.
2. Use group selfie or disable bokeh from your selfie shots.
Thread's title edited and inappropriate posts removed.
Have a nice day
DaReDeViL said:
Thread's title edited and inappropriate posts removed.
Have a nice day
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thank you!

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