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What's the best phone camera for low light video?
- Thread starter Miksu80
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liopleurodon
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The 1st gen Google Pixel's big 1/2.3" sensor does a good job with video in low light for a cell phone.
xperia xz1 (1/2.3 inch sensor size, 960 frame fps)
if frame rate is not a concern, panasonic cm1 (1inch sensor) or nokia 1020 (1/1.5 sensor)
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Please forgive my grammar but if you find it inconceivable address me in romanian.
if frame rate is not a concern, panasonic cm1 (1inch sensor) or nokia 1020 (1/1.5 sensor)
--
Please forgive my grammar but if you find it inconceivable address me in romanian.
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Nokia 808 if you don't need OIS or have a tripod...nothing can beat live oversampling
808 low light videos have purple noise on the right side when the processor heats up. not the "best" if you're after consistency over the entire frame
bigley Ling
Senior Member
Think the OP wants a phone that is capable of capturing higher than the standard 25/30fps say 60fps in low light conditions...
Not sure myself on what phone would meet that criteria, but for starters to capture 60fps and higher, a much more modern phone camera would be a requirement. Combine that with an exceptionally fast aperture eg f1.7 and this may be able to achieve what is required.
The new Apple phones are great for this function, if you can swallow the price tag.
I used the 8plus for about 10 days and the one thing that impressed me about it photographically - and I mean really impressed - was the slo-mo video. 60 fps at 4k, as well as 120fps and 240 fps dedicated slo-mo shooting (I think at 1080).
I sent it back because I didn't like the still quality, but if you really need this function I'd go there. I have the google Pixel 2 now, and the 4k topping out at 30fps seems like a major downside.
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bigley Ling
Senior Member
Most flagship or mid to high end phones these days are able to handle 60fps. It depends on the resolution required at that frame rate. To reduce motion blur at higher frame rates the camera needs to be able to take in an adequate amount of light never a faster aperture would be beneficial, going for an phone with an F1.8 aperture should be a priority. For ultimate low light the upcoming Samsung s9 is meant to sport a camera with variable aperture f1.5-2.4.
Brad Nishida
Leading Member
My nexus 5x and my pixel 2 both do well in lowlight video. Also look at dxo,ark reviews. The video texture and noise values are the most important
supeyugin1
Leading Member
HTC u ultra has 1/2.3" sensor, f/1.8 and OIS. This is better than any Google pixel.
and you believe this because you own all these devices?
supeyugin1
Leading Member
Pixels are made by HTC, and HTC have better spec, also compared sample pictures. There is a version Gcam with HDR+ for HTC as well.
N
noisephotographer
Guest
Equivalent aperture should be more important than f-number, at least for stills. The two phones with the best equivalent aperture are the Galaxy S9 (Canon-Aps-c equivalent aperture of f/5.6) and the Huawei P20 Pro (Canon Aps-c equivalent aperture of f/5.2). Sony, Google and Apple have worse equivalent apertures (f/6.8, f/6.7 and f/7.7). Huawei's better equivalent aperture should lead to more captured light than Samsung's, but nonetheless I assume that Samsung has better low light video quality and it seems that Samsung has much better video stabilization. I also imagine that it could be difficult for Huawei to use the entire 40 megapixel sensor for video. Most phones just need a 16:9 crop of the sensor for 4k video. But a 16:9 crop of the entire 40 megapixel sensor and then downsampled to 4k likely needs too much processing and a 16:9 crop of 10 megapixels wouldn't have enough pixels for 4k.
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In my experience, Pixel 2 video is terrible in low light, they make it super grainy with very high ISO, basically unusable.
Brad Nishida
Leading Member
It does tend to be grainy but that is better that the dark blobs I get with my iPhone 7 in the same situations.
bigley Ling
Senior Member
Really? the F number still represents the amount of light gathering the lens can transmit to the sensor? The equivalent aperture you are mentioning is more to do with depth of field.
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