Amateur Photographer (2019-04-13)

8 13 April 2019I http://www.amateurphotographer.co.ukI subscribe 0330 333 1113

Huawei

P30 Pro

AmyDaviestakesalookat

Huawei’snewestsmartphone

camerainnovation

WHILEstillthesubjectof some
derision,smartphonecameras
havebecomesogoodin recent
yearsthathereat APwesaw
fit toincludea brandnew
‘SmartphoneCameraof
theYear’categoryat the
2019 APAwards.
Thataccoladewentto
theHuaweiMate 20 Pro,
whichwasannouncedin
Octoberlastyear.Whilethe
smartphonemarketis packedwith
healthycompetition,it’sfairtosaythat
Huaweihasimpressedthemostwithits
smartphonecameraofferings,thanks
toa rangeof advancedtechnologiesin
competitivelypriceddevices.
Huaweitendstoannounceitsflagship
modelsin six-monthcycles,withthe‘P’
rangeusuallybeingunveiledin March,
andthe‘Mate’rangein October.

Builtforphotographers
Althoughbothof Huawei’sflagship
modelsareequippedwithexcellent
cameras,it seemstheP rangeis more
squarelytargetedat photographers.
Indeed,thetaglineforthisyear’slaunch
was‘rewritetherulesof photography’.
Interestinglyenough,that’snot100%
marketinghyberbole– someof the
technologyusedinsidetheP30Pro
marksa departurefromwhatwe
normallyunderstandtobethe
traditionalwayof doingthings.
Lastyear’soutgoingP20Prodebuted
a triple-lensLeicacamerasystem.This
year,we’vegotfour– withsomekey
changestonote.Focallengthandpixel
countremainthesameforthe‘main’
27mmequivalent,40MPcamera
module,butwenolongerhavea
monochromesensorasfoundin the
P20Pro.Instead,there’sa super-
wideangle20MPcamera,givingyou
theequivalentof 16mm- we’veseenthis
beforeontheMate 20 Pro,butHuawei
saysthatit featuresimprovedrectilinear
correctionformorenaturalresults.Also
replaced is the 3x telephoto lens; now

Ataglance

£899-£1,

■Androidsmartphone

■Four-lensLeicacamera

■5x ‘periscope’ lens

Dewdrop

notch

Atinynotchhousesthe

front-facing32MP

camera,whichcan

shoot‘SuperHDR’.

Promode

Animpressivefeatureof

Huawei’ssmartphonesis the

Promode,whichcanbeused

totakefullmanualcontrol

andrecordDNG

rawfiles.

Periscope

The5xzoomlensgives

anequivalentof125mm,

andusesfoldedopticsto

makethebestuseof

thespace.

TOFlens

Thislensis usedtohelp

createa ‘depthmap’torender

shallow-depth-of-field

effectsmoreaccurately

andnaturally.