Realme 16 Pro+ 5G my camera telephoto zoom quality roundup
I've just got the phone (12/512 master grey 7000mah) and spent hours trying the camera
Must say it is even more capable than what reviews were saying, I am starting to think even gsmarena are slacking off in their reviews, because they've missed important things
So here is my main camera and telephoto zoom levels quality roundup, using natural colors preset, HDR off, and the various AI assists off
Pixel-peeping and comparisons done on a PC with 32" 1440p monitor
x0.6 15mm _ bad
x1 23mm _ okay
x1 23mm 50mp _ good ! (hi res mode: not perfect but much more detailed than 12mp)
x1 23mm RAW _ ... (no comment since idk how to handle this format, no experience)
x1.2 28mm _ okay (slightly softer than 23mm)
x1.5 35mm _ bad
x2 46mm _ good (increased sharpening and dark~cold bias though, but clean)
x3 69mm [manual] _ bad
x3.5 80mm _ BEST !
x4 92~94mm [manual] _ good ! (only slightly softer than 80mm)
x5 115~116mm [manual] _ good ! (again only slightly softer)
x6 138~139mm [manual] _ good (getting quite soft but still nice)
x6.9 160mm [manual] _ good (very soft but still quite useable and still rather natural-looking)
---- beyond this point there is more processing done, like sharpening and darker colder tones ----
x7 161~162mm [manual] _ okay or good (like x2 it has some sharpening processing and looks darker-cold, useable but depends on user preference and taste)
x8 183~184mm [manual] _ okay (a little softer and warmer than x7, useable too)
x9 to x9.7 207~223mm [manual] _ meh (like x2 and x7 sharpened and dark-cold, usable for small size)
x9.8 225~226mm [manual] _ good !? (yes ! miraculously this unique narrow setting avoids heavy processing, it looks very soft almost like in a dream, but still natural-looking, good surprise !)
x9.9 227~228mm [manual] _ bad (the sharpening, dark and cold + spotty 'impressionism' effect starts showing)
x10 228~229mm _ bad ('impressionism' effect is all over the picture, good for phone wallpapers or postcard-sized pics)
x15 & x20 _ terrible (except again for making small postcard-sized pictures)
x30 etc - useless (or for making thumbnails and profile pics maybe ? lol) - I quit here
The big question is WHY Realme chose to skip so many good zoom levels after x3.5 and set only x10 that takes terrible pictures ?...?
They should add more zoom shortcuts in an update, like x5, x7 and the surprising x9.8
Because the zoom wheel is a pain to adjust manually ><