The Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra Review for Photographers 

FYI: The S Pen is a great tool for taking photos. I love having a remote to take photos. I use it a lot when taking photos from a moving vehicle, where I can keep a steady hand and not move the camera by pushing the shutter button on the phone to take a photo. It's also great when taking a selfie. You can hold the phone at arms length and use the S Pen to take the photo instead of trying to hit the shutter button with the same hand holding the phone. Try it, you may really like it!

19:12 TURN OFF "AUTO LENS SWITCHING"! That "feature" completely destroys image quality because instead of using the optical zoom, it'll sometimes use the main sensor and digitally zoom.

The S-Pen is a perfect tool to remotely take a shot with the camera app, so actually a perfect tool for Photography.

Thanks for having me in the video🎉 until the next smartphone event🙏🏿

Motioncam is offering raw video, software prores , mcrawlog hevc 8 bit and 10 bit (live in next update). I would suggest people to try it on their Androids even old ones if they got a snapdragon processor! Thanks for recognising the project!

What I found with the S23U is that you don't need Night mode for taking night shots, and that you in fact get better photos from just shooting standard, main lens, photo mode. It gives you a longer exposure anyways, and stabilizes it just the same as the night mode.

23:50 this is a MASSIVE game changer for me... I love long exposure photography and have always needed to use things like sunglasses to serve as ND filters. this is amazing.

Really like you're using the A9 III for video. Great to see something longer-form done with this new camera.

You can use the pen as a remote shutter! I love that!

The camera is always such an interesting thing with samsung at launch. There's always an update that comes along shortly after that makes it better. I'm hoping for great things from this phone.

One thing to remember with video is to go into the advanced tab under video settings and enabling 'high bitrate'. Gives significantly higher image quality and larger file sizes.

Wow, great video. Greatest I have seen on the topic.

Thanks for the thorough and honest photo and video camera review, guys!

hey Peta thank u for this Video it was what i wanted!!!, i alredy pre-ordered mine 1TB and cant wait to take it to my hands

Portrait mode looks excellent, more than passable for general uses.

best review hands down. portrait shots are the most important for me. and the s24 ultra portrait mode looks absolutely sick!

S Pen stylus is super handy just the truly handy thing go under the radar usually. My favourite and most used feature is the translate feature when you hover over anything on screen (even works with youtube videos or photos) and it is translated. Also there is an spen mmagnifier, also very handy in apps where you cant zoom into something, you hover over the part you want to magnify in a popup. Quick note is also i use a lot, that without unlocking the device you just pop out the pen and you can jot down things...

Excellent review!

Thank you good job to explaining everything

I'm still shocked that most "photographers" don't gravitate to the Sony phones where all the computational stuff is thrown out and just good AF and base files (with an actual shutter button) are key. Shows me that even photographers want an "easy" solution for snapshots.

Thanks for an excellent review.

Awesome Review you guys!!! Thank you for this impressive coverage 🙌 Now Following!!

Thank you for your honest review.

Awesome!!! A video from my favourite camera channel of my favourite smartphone brand! 👏👏👏👏🔥

Thanks for the review.

Reflection and remaster are options in the photo editor. They've been there for years - they aren't new features. Select the "four square" icon snd select object eraser to manually use those features.

The best camera review so far!

Nice one review man 🤝

Looking at this video and also the one from Pixel 8 Pro and the DSLR to iphone comparison I see that you finally did what I have been missing for years: honest reviews of smartphone cameras from a photographer (and videographers) perspective, looking at aspects that are relevant for photography with a solid background on "real" cameras. This is what to date no review, be it on websites, dead trees or youtube did. I also liked that you took the effort to really shoot interesting scenes and subjects that actually show each mode and focal length for what it is useful for - and not like 99% or reviewers: point camera out the window and shoot the front yard and then begin to pixel peep the ugly results. So many thanks for your really helpful reviews, I gave them a thumbs up and subscribed your channel and look forward to more interesting stuff. I actually ordered the S24 Ultra now - have the feeling that the iPhone 15 Pro max is substantially better camera wise, but since I am locked in the Android Ecosystem I took the second best choice (for me). And I actually do love the S-Pen and Dex!

I'd really love to see you guys test the video capability on this using motioncam, let's see what kind of raw video this is capable of. Or ProRes

Great that you are getting into smartphone photography. And the S24 Ultra did some improvements but still lacks behind with its 3x tele camera for portraits (thats imho far more usable) So far the best for portraits I saw is the Oppo Find X6 Pro. I hope you are also checking out the other phones besides Apple, Google & Samsung as they according to my tests and Dx0mark seem to be even better

Thank you for talking about Expert Raw

Thanks for the honest review. Real time reviews instead of Samsung unpacked reviews are always better

The Samsung gallery app is a big winner along with the SPen. I recently switched to a Motorola phone and I really miss the Samsung Gallery app - the image eraser function which is kinda buried within the editing functions is unbelievably good. The video editing functions to trim and crop the aspect ratio is also underated vs overall ease of use. The only thing Samsung has goofed on, is removing the ability to use any image as a sticker - made putting people's faces into memes easy as pie. Smart select to create gifs is easier with the SPen to frame what you are looking to capture and because the SPen is essentially a mouse, you can press play in RU-vid and then "click" record with the SPen on the screen

Ty

how does the camera compare to Samsung Galaxy S23? I just had my S21stolen on vacation and need to replace it, is it worth the money to get the S24? I want it as a camera for travelling and zoom for filming video at football matches and concerts...

Awesome to see that Samsung phones can now create force fields. I always knew Star Trek was based in reality.

Nice video❤ those protraits look really good😯 definitely will go head to head with iPhone 15pm protrait mode

Great review, camera features may be playing catch up but overall id say its still a top notch choice for a flagship phone.

How is it compared to the excellent low light of the pixel 8 pro?

Be great to see you guys review the OnePlus Open

Thank you very much guys. Please do a comparison with the software at launch. The update should come on 23rd.

Hey there. I have an S22 ultra and S23 ultra that I use for filming run and gun in the woods. The 10x optical is a godsend. I also use my S23 for Civil Air Patrol and love being able to punch in and swap between camera zooms when filming objects in flight without having to stop and start. Does the S24 do something different? Cheers Rick

Fantastic video

There is a software update coming on the 23rd January to fix a lot of camera bugs & other issues.

Although it only shows up in one shot, I hope you guys are doing a review of both the 28 and 35 Thypoch lenses. Especially interested in the 28!

best review out there

Samsung has more features in the camera app, why are they saying iPhone 15 pro max do better videos !!

Hi guys, love the video as always (even though I have no interest in this mobile phone), however one comment would be that sometimes your framing and backdrop can be a bit boring; maybe you could find like a giant metal sculpture to like put in the background or use to frame Chris in some way?

This video was way better than I expected.

The s24 hasnt been released yet in stores. Samsung usually pushes an update on the day the phone ships out to majority of people making notable improvements. I went to the galaxy experience store here in NY and my s23 ultra takes better photos majorty of the time when compared to the s24 ultra, but thatll definitely change once the offical release update rolls out

Would love to see what you think of the Xiaomi 14 Ultra when it's released in a couple of months as a lot of the things you call out I think are fixed in the 12s Ultra I have, let alone the improvements they're looking to make in the 14 Ultra (judging by what's in the 14pro) - that is if they're doing a global release.

I just upgraded from iPhone 12 to s24 ultra

Don't forget that this is a product that hasn't been released for sale yet. I am absolutely sure that few updates will make a lot of things right.

Hey Jordan, at 16:56 you mentioned Motion Cam, would it be possible to get a comparison between using that app with the S24 and the apple log on the iPhone? Would love to hear your take :)

Stylus is fine. But I miss the IR port that I have in Note4 and use it a lot for TV/projectors, air conditioning remote, camera remote etc. Also audio Jack is basic thing that should be in any phone. And other thing is user replaceable battery. So the Galaxy Note 4 was the last one having all these features... and I still use it. Cameras and lenses on phone are just toys, I prefer to carry Olympux XZ-2 or Stylus1s everywhere unless I have DSLR or M4/3 with me.

Hi. I have S23U, and my complain is that when I record 4k video, the colors look oversaturated and washed out. Would you confirm if colors are more natural when recording video with S24U?

dream phone 😢 you earned a sub btw :) your video is inspiring and i like your personality thats why i subbed :)))

this is the best review yet

The A9III video is gorgeous 😍😍

I use the S23 Ultra and iPhone and view them as basically a replacement for a point-and-shoot, and nothing more. You can't defy physics, and large sensors and lenses just produce different results. All of the vids proclaiming "bettar than full frame!" "I shot a feature film on iPhone!" are just clickbait and paid marketing posts. My favorite was the Sony claim that their new amazing Xperia phone sensor is similar in low-light performance to a full-frame A7... it's impressive what these marketing folks can say with a straight face.

You should really check out the Vivo x100 Pro - the floating telephoto lens is insane and the results are very natural looking with that lens in particular.

I'm current running the p30 pro and love the image quality and leica cameras.. I'm torn whether to switch to Samsung s24 ultra (or S23) or the pixel 8 pro... I mainly use my camera for basic family shots but all low light gig photos. Which would you recommend I edge towards? Thanks

One of the best camera reviews

Thanx for a great overview review. I'm in the process of getting a replacement of my P30 pro and would love to know how the Samsung compares to the P60 pro.

Would love to see your take on the Xperia 1 v or pro-i especially in comparison to the phones you already reviewed in terms of photography/videography, since Sony's approach is quite different than phones and more in sync with traditional cameras.

I think the AI fakery of all the photos is making us hate Ai more than ever and it's not a significant selling point, it's just a gimmick.

In my S23 ultra the post-processing on 50mp and 200mp photos is much more aggressive than that of 12mp photos, I don't know why.

Which encoder would you recommend for filming, aiming for the best image quality in 4K videos at 30 FPS for RU-vid, such as for a travel video? I know that the H.265 encoder is claimed to offer the same quality as H.264 but with half the required data. However, I prefer H.264 encoding because the decoding of H.265 data significantly extends the editing time in my editing software. Personally, I don't mind that it consumes more data, as editing time and compatibility are more important to me. Currently, I am confident that I would exclusively use the H.264 standard (bitrate around 48,000 kbits). However, there is an additional parameter in the advanced video settings for HEVC (H.265) called "High Bitrate Videos." Enabling this option provides a bitrate of around 80,000 - 90,000 kbits when recording with H.265, almost twice as high as H.264 or H.265 (without selecting higher bitrate). How can this be, and is the image quality significantly better? Unfortunately, I cannot perceive any difference in image quality myself. If the image quality were truly much better, I would even consider switching from H.264 to H.265 (High Bitrate) and accept the poorer compatibility and convenience in the editing software for it.

Glad they fixed the shutter lag

Great review with more detail about the camera and photography app. Samsung does not specify any sensor size detail for the new 5X 50MP sensor which is annoying. The rumours are Sony IMX8xxx series but it would be good to know the sensor size. The iPhone 15PMax 5X tele can produce some decent images but you can tel its just a small 12MP sensor. I was hoping for something more from Samsung in the S24U but it does appear to be a modest, incremental upgrade. Still buying one though to upgrade from my S22U!

6:16 omg if I had seen this out of context I would swear that photo was taken with a high quality mirrorless camera. Impressive!

I would have loved a more in-depth review of Expert Raw, considering this is a review for photographers.

Crazy how all this great work is only 177k subs, still day job needed count. not fair

Note: Apparently, a camera software update is coming to the S24 series on the 23rd. It's set to improve the S24 cameras before most S24 owners actually receive their new phones. So, all camera comparisons with the S24, S24 Plus, and S24 Ultra are using an older software version you will never see. (Aka...A day one software patch.)

Question: will it better to just stick with 200MP on the mode and let the phone decide on the max MP to use when you use different lenses instead of just stick 12MP mode for all lenses?

You really ought to do a camera comparison with the OnePlus Open. It has some AMAZING cameras 📸 In a lot of cases I find OnePlus Open images more pleasing than my S23 Ultra, and I'm speaking as a professional photographer. Looking forward to more reviews of the S24 Ultra!

Overall a pretty great video. Only thing is it says it is for photographers but then they do a lot of talking about all the other features and basically down playing them in my opinion. No one saying the phone is perfect and yes some of the new features will eventually come to other Androids and even Apple at some point mainly speaking of the Google features as Google is pretty much on any and every phone. But isn't that all phones. Pretty much any feature on a new upcoming phone will eventually be coming to other new and upcoming phones and even trickle down to some of the older models. The thing is it is new for this phone now so it is the first to have the feature which is the case with most new features okay so therefore the S-Pen is a nice feature that only it has and most other phones will probably never have

Hey Is it good for uploading videos on social media without compression like iPhone ? I'm considering this phone to make contents. I heard Samsung collaboration with third party application like instagram and Snapchat. Have you uploaded anything on Instagram yet in full quality without compression ? Please tell me, i have already booked this phone instead of iphone just because of multiple features available like switching camera, and pause my video, and director view. Looking forward to reply from your side. Thank you

Chris and Jordan you guys need to try videos on some of the Sony IMX 989 sensor touting smartphones!

Great video. So it still suffers from variable frame rate? That has caused me serious frustration. If you see any of my exploring videos filmed with my s22 Ultra it is ao obvious when mixed with other cameras. Also thought audio sounded worst than on my 22 ultra... Hope im wrong. Just pre ordered 😂

Great review, explanation on point 👌🏼 Just have one question. Is there are reason that the S23 Ultra can't switch lenses when recording in 4k/60? I mean the chipset is more than capable

You should have waited until the major camera software update on 23 Jan

Just wanted to check: when the video description says its using the internal audio, that means you're recording with the phone's built in mic even though the host is also wearing an external mic (i assume as a backup), right?

Please compare it with the pixel 8 pro, especially on the ultra wide camera and low light capabilities

you can actually try and force the remove reflection and remaster like in the past

The "new" features of Expert RAW you talk about are already existent in the S23 Ultra. I don't know if they've kept this feature in video mode, but with the S23 Ultra, the phone is capable of recording 360 audio when pairing Galaxy Buds2 Pro with the device.

Hello, I have a question: do gray and titanium gray have different shades or are they the same colors? regular gray is probably lighter, am I right?

BTW.. We been able to switch back and forth between the lenses while recoding video for a few years now.. At least since the S22 Ultra. And it's always been a nice transition. Not sure if it's because I always record on 60 fps. 🤷🏼‍♀️

You didn't talk about the new director view mode where you can shoot with 2 rear cameras on 4K at the same time.

Having used phones with glass and aluminum backs, I far prefer polymer backs for devices. They offer superior grip without a case and are not as prone to sliding out of one's hand or pocket at inopportune times without adding the bulk and weight of a textured case.

Is the corner of the Ultra version uncomfortable in your palm, especially when using it with one hand taking photos ?

The generative fill isn't good for removing, fairly certain that erase object option also uses ai to fill it, it just doesn't full on replace it with something new

I'm quite confused as Samsung uses the crop logic for 5x to 10x. Why didn't they just changed the 3x to 5x and let the 10x stay. As far as we know the main camera 200MP can just be cropped to 2x to replace the 3x

Just got this phone yesterday and was excited to shoot photos at a high school basketball game. All photos were trash no matter what settings i used. Very blurry, or incredibly grainy. Make sure you have a LOT of light.

The S pen can be used as a remote control for taking photos. Try it, I find it really useful

Great. Btw waiting for ZV-E10 mark 2

I am an iPhone user switching to the S24 Ultra. The flat screen and design of the s24 ultra looks so nice!

You mentioned Samsung is king for video on Android but have you reviewed Pixel Boost video on the Pixel 8 pro? Does that put the Pixel ahead of the Samsung for video? Or even beat the iPhone?

I think ill wait for the s25 ultra. Sticking w s23 ultra.❤