In early March it was announced that OnePlus and Hasselblad, the legendary camera manufacturer, were forming a three-year partnership to co-develop the next generation of smartphone camera systems for OnePlus’ flagship devices. And we’ve already seen at least one product resulting from that partnership. The recently launched OnePlus 9 Pro has a camera that’s been developed by Hasselblad and supports their Natural Color Calibration. This promises more natural-looking and perceptually accurate colours in photos.
Quad-camera setup for all
The main camera on the OnePlus 9 Pro features a 48MP custom-built IMX789 sensor that has been co-engineered with Sony. With a 1/1.43” and dual native ISO, the photos come out richer, with more natural colours than ever before. For example, if you are taking a shot of the sky in the daytime, you’ll be pleasantly surprised with the results.
Even at night, when one is taking a photo from their balcony, there is no lens flare or distortion. One can clearly distinguish one object from another in the photo.
The ultrawide lens on the OnePlus 9 Pro allows for one to see more in one frame. The level of detail from the 12.5MP images is quite impressive. The OnePlus 9 has a 50MP ultra-wide camera that allows for high-quality photos. It features the f/1.56” Sony IMX766 sensor, which is 3.2x larger than that of some competing smartphones. With the ultra-wide camera, one gets enhanced image quality and lower noise.
The ultra-wide camera features a Freeform Lens that uses a series of unique curves to correct incoming light. With this, the distortion on the edges is brought down to 1%. For perspective, most other smartphones have about 10-20% edge distortion in their photos.
The images captured on the OnePlus 9 Pro are also wider than that of previous OnePlus smartphones. You can see more of a building, for instance, in a vertical shot using the ultra-wide sensor. The resulting images also come without any distortion. The lines around the edges of the frame are straight, without any bending.
The 8MP telephoto lens offers 3.3x optical zoom and 30x digital zoom. There’s also optical image stabilisation to help reduce the blur. In good lighting, the 3.3 telephoto excels. Whether it is a building across the street or a signboard just down the road, it doesn’t matter—each and every photo from the telephoto lens comes out crisp. For most use cases, the default reach is sufficient and comes with a good amount of detail. The focusing is also fast.
The monochrome camera is something that has forever fascinated OnePlus’ customers. The 2MP monochrome camera is like the one on the OnePlus 8T. On the OnePlus 9 Pro, this camera assists the main camera in taking monochrome (grayscale) or black and white photos.
With the OnePlus 9 Pro, you can take 8K video (a feature not available in most smartphones on the market) at 30 FPS. It can also shoot 4K video in 30 FPS, 60 FPS, and 120 FPS. Videos are shot in H.264 by default and these 8K videos from the main camera are impressive. Whether you’re hiking up a mountain or taking a video of your friend running the 200m, the video quality is at its best.
The OnePlus 9 Pro does a great job at microphone quality (you can hear the subject huffing and puffing quite clearly while hiking) and stabilisation. There’s also portrait video, in case you prefer that mode as a vlogger. With a robust set of features, videographers will not be disappointed with the results from the OnePlus 9 Pro.
One of the best smartphones in the market today
The OnePlus 9 Pro, with its 5G capabilities, 120 Hz Fluid Display, Qualcomm Snapdragon 888, OxygenOS 11, Warp Charge 65, and a premium design, retails at a starting price of ₹64,999.
Leave a Reply