Brighter Skin Tones and Sharper Faces: "A Reflector Inside the Screen"... The Secret to Life’s Best Shots Unavailable on iPhone

Samsung Electronics Holds Galaxy Z Fold8 Ultra Camera Briefing

AI Imaging Doubles Resolution Compared to Previous Model

Stunning Macro Shots with 50MP Ultra-Wide Camera

"Delivering the Best Shot, No Matter Who or Where"

On the afternoon of the 3rd, under the intense sunlight at Changdeokgung Palace in Jongno-gu, Seoul. Shadows fell across the right side of the model's face and collarbone as she stood beneath the traditional eaves. The virtual reflector function on the Galaxy Z Fold8 Ultra camera was enabled. As the direction of the reflector on the screen was rotated back and forth, light appeared on the model’s face, brightening her skin tone.

Next, the virtual aperture feature was applied, which softly blurred the intricate palace background while making the model's face stand out in sharp relief. It was as if the large reflectors and precision apertures of a DSLR from the real world had been transformed into an easy software function inside the camera app. For the reporter—accustomed to using an iPhone, which lacks similar features—this was an unfamiliar but impressive shooting experience.

A portrait mode photo taken with the telephoto lens of the Galaxy Z Fold8 Ultra. Samsung Electronics.

That day, Samsung Electronics held a Galaxy Z Fold8 Ultra camera briefing to introduce these features. The Galaxy Z Fold8 Ultra extends the conventional virtual aperture engine into portrait mode, delivering precise depiction of background blur (bokeh) and light orbs according to the distance from the subject.

The Galaxy Z Fold8 is equipped with a total of three cameras: a 200-megapixel wide-angle camera that provides detailed imagery and supports optical zoom; a 50-megapixel ultra-wide camera with a larger aperture for bright and vivid low-light shooting; and a 10-megapixel telephoto camera with 3x optical zoom, designed to minimize quality loss during magnified shots.

The core of the camera is that it runs on artificial intelligence (AI) based on the ProVisual Engine. The AI automatically analyzes light, distance, movement, and subject, then adjusts photos to reflect actual colors and brightness. Even in settings where bright and dark areas blend in a single frame—such as under the palace eaves and in sunlit courtyards at Changdeokgung Palace—the camera maintained natural skin tones. Samsung Electronics explained that, through AI-powered image processing, the Galaxy Z Fold8 Ultra has doubled resolution compared to its predecessor, the Galaxy Z Fold7, and improved skin representation by 30% in varied lighting conditions.

The macro photography capability using the 50-megapixel ultra-wide camera also stood out. When the camera lens was brought close to a leaf inside the palace, it automatically switched to macro mode. The shot captured not only spots and veins on the leaf but also its textured, bumpy surface. Thanks to the newly implemented 50-megapixel ultra-wide camera, it is now possible to capture the texture of a subject. This results in notably better detail reproduction compared to the previous 12-megapixel ultra-wide camera.

Images taken at 24 megapixels did not lose clarity or break up, even when enlarged or edited. When the detailed designs painted beneath the eaves at Changdeokgung Palace were photographed at this resolution, enlarging the image revealed that the roof tile patterns and colors remained crisp. The technology synthesizes several 12-megapixel and 50-megapixel photos to create a 24-megapixel image with enhanced brightness, sharpness, and detail. By adding a shooting option in photo mode through the Camera Assistant's high-resolution option, users can access this without a dedicated pro shooting mode.

At the briefing held on the 3rd, Byungkwon Ko, Head of the Camera Strategy Part of the Visual Solution Team at Samsung Electronics' MX Division, explained the camera technology of the Galaxy Z Fold8 Ultra. Samsung Electronics.

Byungkwon Ko, Head of the Camera Strategy Part of the Visual Solution Team at Samsung Electronics, stated, "We design our cameras with the philosophy that every shot we create becomes the language of users' lives," adding, "No matter when, where, or what kind of photo is taken, our goal is to deliver the best possible shot."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.