The Samsung Galaxy Note 8: A Camera-Driven Phenomenon

As I stand here in this beautiful city on this beautiful day, surrounded by the bustling streets of New York, I couldn't help but feel a sense of excitement and anticipation. The Samsung Galaxy Note 8 is one of the most hyped devices to hit the market, and I'm eager to find out if its new dual camera setup lives up to the hype.

The Galaxy Note 8 shares the same 12 megapixel F1.7 red camera as the S8 and S8+, but with a notable addition - a second 12 megapixel telephoto lens that gives you 2 times optical zoom. This is not only a game-changer for mobile photography, but also a first for dual-camera phones, where both lenses have optical image stabilization. The aperture on the zoom lens is narrower at F2.4, which will affect its performance in low-light conditions compared to the main camera. However, it's still wider than the iPhone 7 Plus' telephoto lens, making this phone an attractive option for those who want a versatile camera system.

If you've used previous Samsung devices with similar cameras, you'll already know what to expect from the Note 8 in terms of picture quality. Photos are rich and detailed, with excellent dynamic range, thanks to the advanced image processing capabilities of the device. The same can be said for videos, which are sharp and smooth, especially when recorded at 4K resolution. However, I did encounter a few minor issues during my testing, such as reduced quality at night and some footage being slightly noisy.

So what sets the Note 8 apart from other smartphones in its class? Two things stand out: the dual camera system with optical image stabilization, and the new live focus mode. The latter is essentially a portrait mode that gives photos a shallow depth-of-field bokeh effect, making subjects stand out against a blurred background. While it's not perfect - it can be temperamental at times and may blow out some parts of the subject or struggle to achieve complete focus - the results are undeniably cool and add a lot of style to your photos.

One of the best features of live focus is that you can adjust the level of background blur before and after taking the photo. This allows for more control over the effect, making it easier to create professional-looking portraits without having to post-edit them later. And with the dual capture feature, you can take a normal photo at the same time as a bokeh-effect one, giving you two shots in one go.

In addition to these camera features, the Note 8's second camera lens is also worth mentioning. This is not just any ordinary zoom lens - it has optical image stabilization (OIS) and allows for smooth video recording while zooming in or out. This makes a big difference when filming, as you can get closer to your subject without sacrificing image quality.

Overall, the Note 8's camera system is one of its standout features, making it an excellent choice for anyone who wants a smartphone with top-notch mobile photography capabilities. While there are some minor issues to be aware of, such as reduced quality at night and some potential focus problems with live focus, these can be easily overlooked when considering the overall package.

As I prepare to wrap up this article, I want to ask: is the Note 8 worth buying for its camera alone? Absolutely. But what about the rest of the phone? Should you consider purchasing it based on its performance beyond just photography? That's a story for another time - stay tuned for my full review, coming soon!

"WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: enthis is the Samsung Galaxy Note 8 I'm here at the launch in New York and while I've got a couple of days so I thought I'd go round about here in this beautiful city on this beautiful day to find out if the camera is actually any good because the new dual camera setup is one the most hyped features on the no take up to 12 megapixel cameras with a zoom lens so I want to find out if it's any good if it's much of an upgrade over the s8 and where there really is worth buying so the Galaxy Note 8 shares the same 12 megapixel F 1.7 red camera as the SI and ESA plus but with a note 8 they've added a second 12 megapixel telephoto lens that gives you 2 times optical zoom not only that but it's the first dual camera phone to give you optical image stabilization for both lenses unlike the one +5 or iPhone 7 plus so even when you zoom in it's still super smooth the aperture is narrower though on the zoom lens at F 2.4 so won't be quite as good in low-light as the main camera but it is therefore wider than the iPhone 7 plus is telephoto lens which is F 2.8 so that's the camera specs but if you've used an essay or an essay plus before you pretty much know what you're gonna get here in terms of picture quality which is to say this is one of the best cameras on the market photos are rich detail down with HDR have excellent dynamic range the same can be said for videos too which are sharp especially in 4k and smooth thanks to that stabilization although on the whole I'm very impressed with the video there were a couple of small issues I did find that at night time the quality was not nearly as good and some of the footage was quite noisy and while I was filming the skyline from the helicopter I did find that I didn't get perfectly smooth footage but then again I am in a helicopter going hungry miles now or whatever it is so that's to be expected somewhat but it's not flawless but there's two things that make the note 8 stand out the 2 times optical zoom and the new live focus mode which is like a portrait mode and gives photos a really cool shallow depth-of-field bokeh effect the live focus mode can be a little bit temperamental often telling you it can't be used but then a second later it can but the results speak for themselves life focus photos look great and to my eyes add a lot of style and character to a picture you can also adjust the level of background blur before and after you take the picture and the best part is the new dual capture feature so it takes a normal photo at the same time so you can choose between them it's not perfect though live focus doesn't appear to support HDR so you'll find yourself sometimes taking pictures though are overexposed a little bit blown out I also found that sometimes it would blow out the wrong bit of the subject or it wouldn't be completely in focus but most of the time it worked absolutely fine so portrait modes aren't new but it is a nice feature to have and combined with a notates excellent camera with its fantastic dynamic range and smooth OIS it's definitely my favorite portrait mode on any phone right now so that's live focus but of course the other big feature here is that second camera lens and it's something I'm really glad Samsung have added as I love having a zoom lens on my one plus five and the fact that the zoom lens also has oh is means that when you're flying around Manhattan in a helicopter you know as you do it's it's a hard life you get much smoother video on the note than say the one plus it also means as it doesn't end that you can zoom in while retaining full detail unlike using a digital zoom so the dual camera is one of the notates most interesting new features and it builds on the already exceptional quality of the s8 giving you a really cool live focus mode and handy to time zoom lens so it basically makes one of the best cameras even better and I would definitely say it's worth considering buying the note 8 for its camera alone as for the rest of the phone and whether you should buy it well you can have to wait for my full review which is coming very soon so let me know what you make of the note 8 in the comments and whether you consider buying it thank you very much for watching guys and if you enjoy the video click that like and subscribe button also make sure notifications are turned on for my channel I'll see you next time back in the UK on the texturethis is the Samsung Galaxy Note 8 I'm here at the launch in New York and while I've got a couple of days so I thought I'd go round about here in this beautiful city on this beautiful day to find out if the camera is actually any good because the new dual camera setup is one the most hyped features on the no take up to 12 megapixel cameras with a zoom lens so I want to find out if it's any good if it's much of an upgrade over the s8 and where there really is worth buying so the Galaxy Note 8 shares the same 12 megapixel F 1.7 red camera as the SI and ESA plus but with a note 8 they've added a second 12 megapixel telephoto lens that gives you 2 times optical zoom not only that but it's the first dual camera phone to give you optical image stabilization for both lenses unlike the one +5 or iPhone 7 plus so even when you zoom in it's still super smooth the aperture is narrower though on the zoom lens at F 2.4 so won't be quite as good in low-light as the main camera but it is therefore wider than the iPhone 7 plus is telephoto lens which is F 2.8 so that's the camera specs but if you've used an essay or an essay plus before you pretty much know what you're gonna get here in terms of picture quality which is to say this is one of the best cameras on the market photos are rich detail down with HDR have excellent dynamic range the same can be said for videos too which are sharp especially in 4k and smooth thanks to that stabilization although on the whole I'm very impressed with the video there were a couple of small issues I did find that at night time the quality was not nearly as good and some of the footage was quite noisy and while I was filming the skyline from the helicopter I did find that I didn't get perfectly smooth footage but then again I am in a helicopter going hungry miles now or whatever it is so that's to be expected somewhat but it's not flawless but there's two things that make the note 8 stand out the 2 times optical zoom and the new live focus mode which is like a portrait mode and gives photos a really cool shallow depth-of-field bokeh effect the live focus mode can be a little bit temperamental often telling you it can't be used but then a second later it can but the results speak for themselves life focus photos look great and to my eyes add a lot of style and character to a picture you can also adjust the level of background blur before and after you take the picture and the best part is the new dual capture feature so it takes a normal photo at the same time so you can choose between them it's not perfect though live focus doesn't appear to support HDR so you'll find yourself sometimes taking pictures though are overexposed a little bit blown out I also found that sometimes it would blow out the wrong bit of the subject or it wouldn't be completely in focus but most of the time it worked absolutely fine so portrait modes aren't new but it is a nice feature to have and combined with a notates excellent camera with its fantastic dynamic range and smooth OIS it's definitely my favorite portrait mode on any phone right now so that's live focus but of course the other big feature here is that second camera lens and it's something I'm really glad Samsung have added as I love having a zoom lens on my one plus five and the fact that the zoom lens also has oh is means that when you're flying around Manhattan in a helicopter you know as you do it's it's a hard life you get much smoother video on the note than say the one plus it also means as it doesn't end that you can zoom in while retaining full detail unlike using a digital zoom so the dual camera is one of the notates most interesting new features and it builds on the already exceptional quality of the s8 giving you a really cool live focus mode and handy to time zoom lens so it basically makes one of the best cameras even better and I would definitely say it's worth considering buying the note 8 for its camera alone as for the rest of the phone and whether you should buy it well you can have to wait for my full review which is coming very soon so let me know what you make of the note 8 in the comments and whether you consider buying it thank you very much for watching guys and if you enjoy the video click that like and subscribe button also make sure notifications are turned on for my channel I'll see you next time back in the UK on the texture\n"