Just stumbled upon this article on The Star this morning.

http://www.star2.com/living/sponsored/2017...aign=HuaWeiWTA2

This photographer takes striking shots with mobile camera


It is true that technology has created amazing things beyond our imagination. In year 2000, when the first camera phone was invented, it was hard to imagine that one day, these pocket gadgets would be developed enough to replace conventional cameras altogether.

Yet 17 years later, here we stand with smartphone cameras that can shoot stills, motion videos, and sometimes even replace the trusty DSLR.

Advertising art director Randy Low Chun Khee is an avid photographer, who is constantly on the lookout for the latest image-capturing gadgets.



However, as the quality of image processing on mobile phones grew more powerful over the past five years, Low had moved towards the art of mobile photography, growing particularly attached to his latest gadget, the Huawei P9.

Low’s photography style involves capturing the hustle and bustle of daily life, which includes food shots, candid events, pets or animals, and nature.

Over the years of studying and refining his photography skills, Low has cultivated a good eye for composing his shots. As a result, Low has garnered close to 700 followers on social media.

Beginning his hobby in 2002 when studying in London, Low was taken up by the architectural heritage of the city. Wanting to share his experience with friends and family, he purchased his very first digital camera, and began his journey into the art of photography.

“When I look back at the photos I took with my first camera, I find that it was different, alright for a beginner’s level,” says Low. “But what I really like now is a photo that can tell a story through its atmosphere, the feeling and emotion.”

To Low, his P9 smartphone not only produces superior quality images compared to other smartphone cameras he has used, but also encapsulates the ambience and artistic nuances of the photo rather professionally.

In fact, Low trusts his P9 so much so that his conventional photography gear gets left behind as he goes on travel adventures. With his photos turning out close to DSLR quality, he finds carrying a bulky device around unnecessary and inconvenient, especially when trying to take a selfie.

The first thing that caught Low’s attention about the P9 was the fact that it came equipped with a Leica dual-lens camera.

“I know that a Leica camera is really costly, and although my first camera in 2002 had a Leica lens, the photo quality then was still compromising on the colour.

“The P9 has a dual-lens camera with Leica technology, which is really what triggered me to try it out. It has a superb bokeh effect, and can give me results similar to a photo taken with a DSLR camera,” attests Low.

Initially when the gadget was still new to him, Low would take comparison shots between the P9 and the other smartphones that he was carrying with him at the time.

He would place them side by side, and sometimes present the comparisons to his friends to witness the difference themselves.

“I carry more than one smartphone with me usually, which allowed me to take the same photo on several different smartphones and compare. For example, on smartphones, photos of the same place and same moment may look the same, but if you look closely you can see that the emotion and mood is different.

“Huawei is very good in handling auto detection of contrast and light. It takes great low light pictures, and its dual-lens camera includes a monochrome lens, which means that black is really black. This makes a difference in the photo entirely, which can be seen if you take a photo of smoke, for example,” explains Low.

Low looks up to great commercial photographers such as Mario Testino, Chen Man, David Lachapelle, as well as home-grown photographer Heart Patrick to exemplify.

As for his own followers, Low coyly says, “I feel happy that there are people out there who love what I shoot. I hope I can continue to show them more of my world and what I experience through my photos.”

With Huawei’s P10 release just around the corner in Malaysia, tech-savvy Low is all hyped up for the prospects of this new gadget.

“The P10 comes with a Leica lens for its front camera too, which means that now I can take a selfie with Leica,” says Low with a laugh. “I’m excited to try the P10 Plus, which has SUMMILUX-H lenses and will provide a better outcome for photography.”

Huawei sponsored post la, those photos aren't even striking in the first place.

raw support?

coz he never tried lumia 1020 yet

well is true also but then different needed also when you come to cilent then it will be different price also charges especially in malaysia example client in malaysia what camera you will using then you say im using hp leica to shoot your product then u will see the client face like different and then price sure drop gao gao because equipment price is cheaper a lot wat. if in oversea you can do that first the photographer got name already then it will have a lot different client needed plus some client dont even ask wat camera are they using as long as the result like wat they want n they can do they needed it should be not a problem
ps: is just my opinion thanks

Missing this part...

This article is brought to you by Huawei.
Read more at http://www.star2.com/living/sponsored/2017...zWPtVezGwHKA.99

Huawei preying naiveté of consumers

The article on The Star may be sponsored by Huawei for publicity but it is useful to note that the P9 may be among the best camera phones alongside say Galaxy S7 or iPhone 7. Since the cost of the P9 is considerably lower than the Samsung and Apple units, it may represent great value for money to those who are looking for a smartphone that is not too costly but yet take good photos.

I have not been paying much attention on Huawei though it appears that the upcoming P10 Plus may be worth considering. I am aware that the quality of photos may not depend on the quality of the phone too much but the person who is using the phone itself. Though it is encouraging to note that the quality or hardware of the phone is good for photography. The photos may not look too striking though it is useful to note that it's one of the better camera phones among the plethora of smartphones out there.

Not everyone wants a Windows phone. Although the Pureview 808 is a great camera phone, there are not many who can live with a Symbian these days.

Refer to my response to Goldfries. Although the article may be Huawei-sponsored, the Huawei would still prove to be good camera phone when compared to most at its price range.

Shoot a few walls and buildings already striking, mana boleh........... .

Here's mine - Honor 7 (which is by Huawei) - 1 year ago, low-light photos and under the rain.



He should bring the P9 to do more challenging stuff la, the photo posted doesn't even bring out the quality of the Huawei P9. My cheap cheap old Honor 7 also can do the same type of pics, in fact want to talk about nice phone cameras then it's the Honor series that's actually awesome (which also under Huawei).

Models like the Honor 5X, the image quality is good enough to pass stock photo agency's stringent checks. https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/ro...q-SpKRJbmeg-1-0

he said Leica lens is good. True.
but. kenot be just because of that la.
aiyo so kesian one..

End of the day the Huawei camera pictures are all result of in camera post processing.
Slap on Leica name as marketing ploy to woo uninformed mass consumers into buying phones.

There is only so much a wide angle lens with a tiny processor can do before photos have to be faked.

Bokeh is a simple example of what the P9 fakes.


The results can be comical.
P9 gets confused by the dog leash and applies bokeh to parts of it. The rest of the leash is still in focus.
Grass bokeh abruptly ends, there is a clean line separating the out of focus and in focus grass.

Conclusion photographer in the article has limited photography range, simple phone cam is enough

The lens is not made by Leica.
Difference is in the wording Co-Engineered by Leica.

At least old Nokia's have glass made by Carl Zeiss

This post has been edited by aaronpang: Mar 6 2017, 05:45 PM

Is the photo above taken by the Huawei P9? It looks pretty good to be honest. What I look for is sharpness in the photos (little to no smearing) and natural and accurate colours. The clarity and colours of the photo are good, the green grass and the dog on the leash.

I am not a fan of post-processing and is more to out-of-camera JPEGs.

Yes, some Nokia phones have Carl Zeiss lens but they do not run on Android are are lacking behind the competition. That is where the iPhone7 and Samsung Galaxy and cheaper phones (but with good cameras) have picked up. Although the size of the sensor of a smartphone is on the smallish side, it appears that phone makers have compensated by incorporating a lot of technology which include dual sensors monochrome and colour, and other types of technology to produce good quality photos off a smartphone.

Nice photos from the Honor 7 but can't view in full resolution larger size. Also, the colours seem a little pale?

Just checked on other Honor series and found that the phones do not come with the so-called ""Co-Engineered by Leica" lens which seem to bring some quality upmarket feel to the Huawei phones. Although the lens of the Huawei P9 may not come from Leica, the fact that it's co-engineered may suggest that it is different from the Honor range with perhaps some differences in areas of image quality.

Upon closer inspection, shots are not that phenomenal. NR is bit heavy with some detail loss. Highlights on the neonlight could be tuned down a little. However for a smartphone camera, it's plenty good for majority people not looking into too much detail.

This post has been edited by DaddyO: Mar 13 2017, 06:07 PM

Yeahhhhh ............ but this is cheap phone leh, shooting under low-light conditions under the rain. I had to wipe the screen so often, go back to the room I was drenched already.

I don't have Leica engineered stuff.

Pale ah? I find it quite contrasty already. I didn't edit at all, straight out of camera.

Can view the images here if you prefer https://www.flickr.com/photos/goldfries/alb...157667689641211 - on my randomly updated Flickr account.

THanks for the link to the photos on the Taipei street. Now, these samples paint a different picture from the previous set of photos I looked at earlier. The comment on the pale colours are actually directed to the pictures of the various types of food in bowls and plates. The colours looked a bit washed out with not so impressive contrast. Sorry for the remark though I may be wrong as the set of "food photos" cannot be enlarged and viewed at full resolution.

The images of the streets of Taipei taken at night time are a different story. It surely shows the capabilities of a modest smartphone. I noticed on the Flickr site that the phone is a Huawei PLK-L01 instead of the Honor 7. Perhaps the PLK-L01 is the Honor 7.

The clarity of all the photos of Taipei is good. Not exactly razor-sharp detail but there is no smearing or breaking of images or lines when viewed at larger size. The colours are also not bad at all, not super-rich but still good colours(no pale colours here). And most importantly, there is very little noise in all these night shots in low light which is a good thing. Very impressive to have low noise in all these shots although I noticed ISO 200 is used for these shots. Perhaps a low shutter speed has compensated for the lowish ISO setting.

I particularly like this photo as shown below as it gives a good evaluation of the quality of the smartphone. I enlarged the photo and scrutinized the details of the inside of the shop on the right. There is no smearing or breaking of lines when the photo was enlarged. With inferior phones, when the image is enlarged, the lines will break and become diffused. With these Taipei photos, the lines did not break but instead squarish boxes become visible which is a norm as the photo enlargement is limited by the size/resolution of the photo.



One thing I noticed is the size of the photos is on the low side. For instance, the largest original size of the photo above is 1.66 MB. I presume the settings of the smartphone is on "Standard" and not "High" picture quality. If on highest quality, the size of the photo is usually above 3 MB.

This post has been edited by ryder_78: Mar 16 2017, 07:55 AM

The EXIF will show the model number, for example Huawei P9 is EVA-L19

I didn't upload the original. The ones uploaded are 1920 x 1080, which is the size I used for the video.

You sure these photos were taken by Huawei P10 and not Canon DSLR just like last time?