The Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra came out more than a month ago. Spending some time with Samsung’s new offering has been interesting. The last time I had my hands on a Samsung device was the Samsung Galaxy S8. At the time I loved the camera on the S8 as I found the photos I took needed far less editing because they were already so vibrant and contrasting. Since then the cameras on the Samsung phones have been the major selling point and the Galaxy S21 Ultra is no different.
The Galaxy S21 Ultra has a pretty fancy camera set up. With 5 sensors you’re looking at a main wide angle 108 megapixel lens, an ultra wide 12 megapixel 120 degree field of view lens, two 10 megapixel telephoto lens with a 3 X optical and 10 x Optical zoom as well as a 40 megapixel selfie camera. The vibrant colours are still as I expected from Samsung. The camera set up can be a bit overwhelming, if I’m honest, but once you get hands on with the phone that changes.
There are 3 specific camera features I love though, so I wanted to share those with you because I’ve used these the most and am really impressed.
Single Take
Single Take lets you record for 10 seconds, allowing you to change a few facial expressions and angles. From there is it will pull a variety of different photos with everything from the perfect shot to a black and white photo and even a boomerang video. You can toss in some filters and Single Take will determine which of the Ultra’s best editing and camera features will work. It is easier enough to find, once you open the camera just slide over to Single Take. From there the feature will pull a bunch of shots for you. You’ll be able to see the Single Take shots in your gallery and you can click to edit them as well if you want to apply different filters and modes.
Director’s Mode
For those who love to vlog or do video content then Director’s Mode is a feature you’ll absolutely love. You have a 1080p capture and are able to easily switch to various scenes and record a bunch of different angles and set ups just by touching a few buttons on the screen. When you open the character you select “More” and choose Director’s View. Once it is open you’ll immediately be able to use the small icon in the left corner to change up how your camera shows. So you can opt for a standard single view, split view or picture in picture which showcases the feed from the front camera in a small window – so you can show both yourself talking and what you’re seeing. There’s also the option to choose which camera you want to record, so you have a host of different view options to choose from and then can swop up your main feed by tapping the camera switcher button if you want to move to a selfie video. You basically can swop and zoom and do all that good stuff in one place, all while recording – so no need for a fancy editing programme or filming a stack of different angles.
Making a Gif
Right this actually isn’t a new feature BUT Gifs are live and this is one of my favourite features and so I’ve added it to my top 3 camera features. Samsung fans will likely be furious because there really are so many other rad features on the camera, but this is one I’ve been using for awhile. You’ll open the camera and in photo mode select Motion Photo On. Take your phone after the count down. Once you have your motion photo, open the gallery, play back the motion photo and then select the GIF button at the bottom. The S21 Ultra will automatically convert it to a Gif for you. Easy peasy!
These are only three features but honestly you could spend hours playing with the camera. There is so much on offer and so much for you to do with this camera. I’ve had so much fun playing around and am really impressed by just how much I can do and edit on the phone only. I’ll probably keep finding new fun features as I go. If you live on Instagram, you’ll love this phone.
Disclosure: I was sent the Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra to review. It isn’t mine to keep and will be returned.