Xiaomi 14 Ultra is every photographer’s dream

For most individuals, the compact camera is long dead; A camera is a phone and a phone is a camera. However, despite all of the technological advancements which have occurred over the previous couple of years, phones still leave loads to be desired should you are someone who enjoys taking photos.

Traditional cameras—especially those of certain styles and sizes—are still alive and kicking, partly because nothing beats real buttons, dials, and a solid grip. These are things that phones normally haven’t got – apart from the Xiaomi 14 Ultra. It’s the largest camera phone I’ve utilized in the last decade (RIP, Nokia Lumia 1020) and I actually wish it was available within the US.

We love seeing an exposure compensation dial.

The Xiaomi 14 Ultra Camera Kit – an optional accessory pack for Xiaomi’s flagship – truly turns this phone right into a camera. This is a continuation of the photography suite introduced last 12 months with the 13 Ultra, and for probably the most part, Xiaomi has done something right. Like the previous version, it features a phone case and a detachable holder that snaps into the case. The grip has a two-stage shutter button and zoom lever, which at the moment are joined by a customizable dial and video button.

Seriously, it’s all killer, no filler – all the pieces on the handle is very useful. The dial defaults to exposure compensation and I left it there; I like the flexibility to alter the image brightness up and down without touching the screen. This also works in standard camera shooting mode, not only manual mode. My only grievance is that it’s just a little too easy to bump it and unintentionally raise or lower the exposure without realizing it.

The video button is equally useful; I haven’t got to have a look at the screen to start out recording video. All of those input mechanisms are customizable. Best of all, you’ll be able to set the zoom switch to modify steadily between lenses, slightly than using continuous digital zoom between them. It’s a thing of beauty.

This 12 months’s camera grip features a larger battery and a USB port that plugs directly into your phone’s charging port. This is more useful because it will probably give your phone some juice when it’s low on power, and it also reduces control lag in comparison with last 12 months’s version, which only connected via Bluetooth. The previous version wasn’t slow in any respect, but this 12 months’s is a hair faster – and every millisecond counts. The only downside is that the battery adds a little bit of weight, and the difference is only whenever you hold the phone in a single hand using the grip. I suppose you’ll be able to’t have all the pieces.

The Xiaomi 14 Ultra uses a 1-inch predominant camera sensor – that is in regards to the same as smartphone cameras, assuming a bigger sensor is higher. There are also 3x, 5x and ultra-wide cameras on the back panel. But the large story is that the predominant camera offers a stepless variable aperture of f/1.63-f/4, based on the twin aperture design of the 13 Ultra. I owe this latest aperture an apology for initially calling it a gimmick; after using it for some time, I believe it’s just just a little gimmick.

14 Ultra predominant camera with aperture stopped right down to f/4.

Almost every phone camera you’ve got ever used has a set aperture; only a couple of of them ever offered an aperture with a couple of setting. There’s nothing unsuitable with that – most phone camera sensors and lenses are so small that you just actually need to have the widest aperture setting in any respect times to let in additional light. But the Xiaomi 14 Ultra, as noted, is not most phone cameras. The 1-inch sensor format is large enough that the flexibility to stop down the lens to a smaller aperture is really helpful for a couple of reasons – I like Android Authority’s deeper tackle this topic.

(*14*), a bigger sensor and lens mean you could achieve a shallower depth of field with a large aperture setting, and sometimes chances are you’ll want your subject to be in sharper focus than the setting allows. In addition, often telephone cameras with 1-inch sensors they show ugly lens aberrations at wide aperture settings that disappear when stopped down. Helpful! Still, situations where it’s value stopping right down to f/4 seem rare, and the native auto mode stays at f/2 more often than not. But my favorite feature of the brand new aperture design has nothing to do with that: it is the sun stars.

Just have a look at this sun star!

Sunstars are a byproduct of the 6-blade aperture design. This is completely latest within the 14 Ultra model, since the 13 Ultra model uses a round membrane: without blades or stars. It’s a small thing, but reader, I used to be absolutely thrilled to find you could get sun stars together with your smartphone camera.

I’ve been shooting with the 14 Ultra for a couple of weeks now and I still feel like I’m just scratching the surface – this camera can achieve this much. The image quality is impressive up to now, but when I can complain about one thing, it’s that the segmentation in portrait mode is not as refined as in Samsung. Even though the 14 Ultra’s sensor is large, you may still need portrait mode should you want a very soft background and the topic is greater than a foot away. It’s actually a superb portrait mode, nevertheless it’s not one of the best in the sport.

At the danger of stating something extremely obvious, it is value remembering that every one this is available in your phone. I can download the Lightroom app on it. I can post my photos directly on Instagram. With just a couple of clicks, I can upload photos to shared albums on Google Photos. Sorry I’m a weirdo, but I am unable to wrap my head across the undeniable fact that I can have an exposure compensation dial and all the above functions on the identical device.

To be clear, I do not think phones can or should replace traditional cameras. But I’m glad a phone maker is taking smart cues from the world of traditional cameras, and I believe traditional cameras could learn a thing or two from phones. I wish I could buy this particular phone here – it’s a very nice camera.

Photography: Allison Johnson / The Verge

Credit : www.theverge.com