Are the Galaxy S6/S6 edge really that great at low light shots? Samsung test setup seems inconclusive
During its Unpacked event that took place yesterday, Samsung made sure to stress just how proud it is of the Galaxy S6's and Galaxy S6 edge's cameras in terms of low light photography. Clips and images from their sensors were directly compared with identical stills taken with the likes of the iPhone 6 Plus, the idea being simple enough -- the Galaxy S6 and S6 edge are the best you can do as far as low light performance is concerned. Or so we were supposed to think.
Why is Samsung so confident? Well, to start off, the duo of new Galaxy flagships both have extremely wide, f/1.9 lens. All things being equal, the smaller the f number the more light the sensor can take in at any given time (and the more depth photos lose). That's hardly all there is to it, of course, as software camera algorithms also play an essential part.
So are Samsung's claims legit? To find out, we used a test setup put together by Samsung itself -- a box with a miniature composition within and two holes just big enough for a smartphone camera to peek in and take a snap. As you can image, the scene on the inside is covered in near complete darkness and we were asked not to use the flash. To really make the S6 sweat, we used the HTC One M8 due to it being among the most capable low light shooters, courtesy of its very large, 2-micron pixels. We tried all it has at its disposal, too -- night mode, HDR (we were asked), and auto, so that you have the opportunity to contrast and compare. A single, pre-determined sample is far from sufficient to really call this just yet, but it certainly seems like Samsung's new hard-hitters will perform well in future tests.
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