Samsung Galaxy S2 review: Camera

The Samsung Galaxy S2 has an 8MP sensor with single LED flash and a multitude of shooting options.

We're used to a heritage from Samsung phones in the photography department – remember the ill-fated Pixon 12, anyone? – and this has filtered down 'normal' phones to offer a stable and impressive camera experience.

We're not talking anything near the quality levels offered by the Nokia N8 – probably the best camera phone on the market at the moment – but it's certainly better than the Samsung Galaxy S and the HTC Desire, both phones with more than adequate cameras.

What we like here is the way that Samsung has nailed down the features users actually want from their camera phone – a device that lets you take a photo every once in a while, and make it a decent one when you do.

The camera application fires up in just over a second (sadly there's no physical shutter button, so we recommend putting the application on your home screen) and is ready to take pictures instantly.

However, opening the settings menu takes one or two seconds with a spinning dial for company – odd when the rest of the application is so whizzy-fast.

Shutter speed is slightly above average, with around four to five seconds between shots at maximum resolution if you're taking a few in quick succession. This has nothing to do with picture size, as the processor can handle all of them easily; it's the autofocus that's a little tardy.

There's no option to turn it off either, so something like the Sony Ericsson Xperia Arc is a much better option if you're after a snappy shutter.

However, the shutter speed will be adequate for most, and the range of shooting modes on offer will make up for it too.

Outdoor visibility mode is a godsend – basically it's Samsung turning up the contrast to silly levels on your screen so it can burn through direct sunlight. The quality is much poorer, but at least you can see what you're snapping, and it's a real boon for outdoor shots.

The shooting modes are a mixed bag – action mode doesn't do what you think it will, instead creating a collage of lots of frames from a moving scene. Beauty and Panorama mode are OK too, but the options to Cartoon-ify a scene seem a bit pointless indeed.

Of more use are the macro modes, exposure alteration and the automatic metering, which help actually make the photo look better by bringing up the correct colours and brightness.

Blink detection and smile shot both work well though, with the former picking up a couple of family portraits where people ruined them with shut eyes and the latter firing when a smile was seen – although most of the time you'll be able to see that and push the shutter yourself.

A word of warning: if you turn on the anti-shake capabilities of the Samsung Galaxy S2, then be prepared for a few attempts at getting it to focus. Your pictures might be less blurry, but will take longer to shoot in some cases.