Buzz
Oppo A93 is a mid-range phone, but they've packed it with 6 cameras, 4 at the back and 2 at the front, branding it as an AI Camera for its algorithmic photography features, mainly serving portrait shots and skin beautification. When I took it out to shoot, I also tried out its wide-angle and narrow lenses, along with those software features. Sharing my thoughts with you all.
I took some pictures, capturing them naturally and freely, like daily life, like ordinary people, trusting in the machine's automation. Photos depict human life with landscapes. Just resizing them to fit the forum's format, no editing involved.
Focus For me, a camera is appreciated for its focusing speed and sharpness. If it's sluggish to focus or lacks sharp details, it's easy to lose interest. Nowadays, phones have improved this aspect significantly, but user demands continue to evolve. Oppo A93 focuses very quickly, almost making you forget about it when you raise it to shoot. Of course, everyone says, if it's well-lit, there's no need to focus 😁 Hence, there's a night mode for low-light conditions, a feature now standard in phone camera interfaces. In low light and darkness, cameras need tricks, while phones, being more convenient, rely on software/algorithms. Photos may not be real, but they satisfy the need for quick and convenient shots.
On the left is the full-size image, on the right is a 100% crop. Those motorcycles are said to be aftermath of a fire incident.
Portrait shots add flavor. Zoomed in 100%, the details are excellent, though the skin seems a bit different from the original handsome look. :D Over-processing can make it challenging to balance scene colors and skin tones.
Here are two shots taken in the evening, very dark. On the left is a shot in normal mode, feels more natural, doesn't it? On the right is night mode, where companies leverage the ability to capture multiple shots quickly using an electronic shutter, selecting the best pixels from each shot and blending them together. The photo looks sharper, with better light balance, but it lacks naturalness. That might be the limitation of computational photography (!)
Zoomed in 100% on the two shots above for you to easily see what I'm talking about. The smoothness, meaning the transition of color details/contrast/grayscale... of the natural-looking shot on the left is softer compared to the stacking shot on the right, even though the right one is much sharper and clearer. However, it still fulfills the need when people want to 'shoot night like day'. Oppo A93 inherits these from the high-end Reno series.
Color Palette
Perhaps my photos lack joy. Always. Oh well, whatever.
A residential area in Chau Ma along Highway 51. It's been raining heavily all day. Children aren't going to school.
This guy says he makes a living by farming and gardening for others. Today, it's raining so he's taking a break.
Every individual has their own unique corner
There are plenty of kids here.
Life and people's photos are always the ones I enjoy capturing. There's no such thing as an ordinary life. It's always special.
Camera Processing SpeedIn the above, we talked about focusing speed. When capturing fast-moving scenes or taking multiple shots in quick succession, the camera processing unit must ensure users won't miss a moment. Sometimes, after pressing the shutter, you open the image and find no one there :D. In challenging conditions, like cloudy weather or low light, it should still be capable of capturing timely shots. The Oppo A93 has a camera cluster with a reasonably fast processing unit, sufficient to reassure users with such needs.
'Remember what I told you!' If it's just quick enough to capture, then they've let go :D
Like a fleeting glimpse
Storms and haze fill the air
Wide / Narrow Lenses
The rear quad cameras of Oppo A93 range from wide to 5x optical telephoto. In reality, the lenses and sensors of phones are much smaller compared to those of a camera. The amount of light (physically) passing through the lens is very limited, causing significant degradation in quality by the time it reaches the phone's image sensor. Therefore, software algorithms intervene heavily to compensate. The key is which company's AI is smarter, for more optimal processing. Oppo is particularly diligent whenever they launch a new product. Despite A93 being a phone priced at around 7 million VND, they have incorporated 4 rear cameras and invested significantly in AI. Wide lenses correct distortion, recognize various scenes for automatic adjustment...
Night Mode / Low Light Photography
Night mode or low light photography has become quite familiar with phone cameras. Ever since Google Pixel pioneered the 'night sight' feature. Essentially, it involves stacking images. The advantage is its ability to capture many shots quickly, utilizing a very fast electronic shutter speed, then selecting the best pixels from each shot and blending them together to form the final image. If using the 'manual' mode to reduce the shutter speed as in conventional methods, moving objects will appear blurred. So, this can be considered a quite unique feature of phones. The difficulty lies in the AI's ability to be smart and skillful, much like a proficient chef, to ensure that the details in the image don't appear overly artificial. Oppo A93 inherits this feature from the Reno and Find series. From my experience, it's slightly more challenging than Reno, but still acceptable.
The difference in image quality between normal mode and night mode. All the images below are taken using night mode. In fact, if the shots were taken using normal mode, there would be no images to upload.
Wide-angle Selfie
Oppo equips the A93 with two front cameras. One is a 2MP camera solely for measuring the distance from the camera to the subject to facilitate processing. Personally, I rarely take selfies with the front camera, but the A93's wide-angle selfie camera is quite enticing. Let's snap a picture to show off to friends. The selfie AI processing, for those who enjoy taking their own photos, makes the A93 a worthy choice. It guarantees a cute look like mine. :D
Video Recording
When it comes to filming, the Oppo A93 boasts built-in anti-shake feature. Whether you're out for a casual outing needing a memorable clip or simply using a mid-range phone for basic vlogging, it's got you covered. Here are some compiled clips, showcasing both day and night moments, perfect for reminiscing. From wide-angle to narrow shots, outdoor to nighttime scenes, and even slow-motion footage, day or night, it's all there.
