Dual Cameras

The rear photographic camera system on the LG G5 is unusual in that it contains two separate sensors. The principal sensor is a 16-megapixel (5312 x 2988) Sony IMX234 1/2.vi" CMOS sensor with 1.12µm pixels and a native xvi:9 aspect ratio. This sensor is paired with an f/ane.8 27mm (effective) lens and optical paradigm stabilization. For those who remember the LG G4, this is pretty much exactly the aforementioned photographic camera unit of measurement.

The 2d rear camera has been included for broad-angle shots, featuring a 135° field of view compared to the 78° field of view you get with the other camera. The sensor is Sony's new eight.3-megapixel (3840 x 2160, native 16:ix) IMX268 CMOS, paired with an f/2.4 9mm (effective) fisheye lens and OIS. I believe this sensor is around the 1/3.2" mark with 1.4µm pixels (Sony hasn't released specifications for the IMX268), which helps deliver similar depression lite performance compared to the main camera with its smaller pixels simply larger aperture.

The front photographic camera is an 8-megapixel (3264 x 2448, native 4:iii) Toshiba T4KA3 i/iv" CMOS sensor with 1.12µm pixels. It's paired with a 28mm (constructive) f/2.0 lens. Both rear cameras can capture 4K video, while the front camera is limited to 1080p.

The main 16-megapixel camera delivers substantially identical functioning to the LG G4. Color quality is authentic and generally splendid, specially in strong lighting, and the broad f/i.eight aperture delivers fantastic depth of field for macro shots. I was likewise pleased with dynamic range, which is good by default and even better in the automatically-activated HDR style.

With 16-megapixels of detail in each image, the G5'south master camera produces precipitous stills when viewed in its entirety. However, when you zoom it becomes credible that the prototype processing system heavily applies sharpening and noise reduction filters, which significantly reduce the quality when viewing 100% crops. This is a disappointing regression from the LG G4, which held back on quality-reducing filters.

Low low-cal performance is surprisingly excellent from this camera, matching or even besting the Milky way S7 Edge'south larger-pixel sensor. Once again, the quality in these situations is similar to what we saw with the G4, with the G5 having a knack for producing bright, sharp and well colored images in lesser light. There are some times when loftier ISO artefacts are noticeable, though it's no worse than any other smartphone camera in low light.

The G5's camera does autumn behind the Galaxy S7 in some areas. The 'dual pixel' arrangement that Samsung has used makes the S7 a significantly faster camera, particularly when focusing. LG'south laser autofocus is not hugely slow, but at that place were times I attempted to capture fast moving objects only to take an out-of-focus paradigm, which is non something I'd have accomplished with the Galaxy S7.

The Galaxy S7 also features superior operation in moderate lighting conditions, such as nether bogus indoor lighting. The S7 is easily the all-time photographic camera I've seen in these atmospheric condition, and despite the G5's strengths in other situations, information technology can't match the S7 indoors. Again, the G5 isn't specially bad here, it's simply not the all-time camera on the market.

The nigh compelling function of the G5's camera organization is the wide-bending unit, which is very unlike from what we usually run into on smartphones. When switching to the broad-angle camera though a uncomplicated push on the interface, you'll of a sudden run into a whole lot more than of the scene in forepart of you lot. This can come in handy when capturing landscapes: y'all'll go more of that beautiful mountain range or luscious woods in your photo when using the G5's wide bending camera.

While I did find myself using the wide angle camera often to capture wide landscape shots – it's clearly superior to the main photographic camera in these situations – there are some notable caveats to be aware of. Firstly, the wide angle camera is only 8 megapixels, and then you lot're not getting the same level of detail as the main camera. If you want high detail and zoomability, you should utilise the standard camera instead, which provides a closer crop and more than megapixels for a significantly higher level of detail for any object in a scene.

Secondly, the wide angle lens does not have a focus lens, which makes it completely unsuitable for whatsoever medium or close up photography. I'k non sure why you'd employ the wide bending camera for shut ups, but it'due south not actually possible. And lastly, the fisheye lens introduces significant distortions, particularly around the edges of the images. The only time these distortions are noticeable is when in that location's a clearly straight object, like a pole or shelf, in the fringes of the paradigm; at other times the distortions are largely irrelevant.

The colour quality is similar to the main camera, only not identical. The depression low-cal functioning of the broad angle camera is not as good, and general color quality is a step behind. Yous tin nonetheless go some great shots from this camera though, especially when lighting is good.

While I like the versatility that the broad bending camera provides, at that place is a different type of lens I would have preferred to run across: a fixed focal length zoom lens. In that location aren't a whole lot of times where I've really needed a wide angle lens on a smartphone, only there are enough of times I would similar to see something in the distance. Considering phone cameras are typically reasonably wide (sub-30mm) anyway, they merely tin't capture enough detail for objects far away from the shooter.

Perchance in a future smartphone I'd like to see a secondary camera pack a 50mm or even 70mm+ lens to provide decent longer-altitude photography without having to rely every bit much on digital zooming. I don't necessarily want this secondary camera to pack a variable zoom lens equally most smartphones that do are bulky and mediocre, simply something that would allow me to snap clear, crisp photos of a whiteboard from the back of a meeting room would be handy.

As for camera features, the LG G5 packs a typical range. The camera interface is like shooting fish in a barrel to utilise and additional shooting modes are kept behind a visible "mode" button. LG'due south fantastic manual shooting mode has returned, giving easily the all-time set of photographic camera controls to the user for everything from white balance to shutter speeds. Other shooting modes like Multi-Window and Popout have advantage of the multiple cameras, only I didn't really find myself using them.

The G5's front facing eight-megapixel camera delivers high quality selfies in both strong and weak lighting. In that location's actually zilch to complain nigh hither and I'm glad LG didn't neglect the front camera on their flagship, which has happened with other high-end phones.