When it comes to camera performance, OnePlus has often been criticized for its mediocre camera performance. This year, the company has taken some good steps towards improving the camera experience by collaborating with Hasselblad. With the Snapdragon 888 chipset, the OnePlus 9 and OnePlus 9 Pro promise excellent overall performance.
But as we all know, hardware isn’t the most important thing when it comes to clicking great pictures. Software and all the hidden features play an equally big role in getting the most out of a flagship camera.
So, in this post, we’ve compiled some of the best OnePlus 9 and OnePlus 9 Pro camera tips and tricks to help you achieve its maximum potential.
OnePlus 9 Pro
Check out the OnePlus 9 Pro if you haven’t already
1. Fun with Filters
One of the interesting things about the camera app on the OnePlus 9 is that you can use the built-in filters on all lenses. So you can change the look and feel of the picture with different lenses.
And enabling it is pretty simple. Go to photo mode, tap the filter icon in the bottom right corner and you will see all the filters neatly lined up at the bottom.
Just pick one and add a new twist to your shots.
2. Shoot Super Macro
But what if the OnePlus 9 Pro doesn’t have a dedicated macro lens? You can still take great macro photos with this. The phone comes with an ultra-wide sensor that lets you see all the tiny details that are otherwise hidden by taking close-up shots of flowers and grains.
In the Camera app, tap the little Flower-shaped icon at the top as shown in the screenshot below.
However, if you often take macro photos and don’t want to change the mode manually, it’s time to enable Auto macro toggle under Settings. Once complete, the camera will automatically switch to super macro mode when a possible object is detected.
3. Take High Resolution Photos
As previously mentioned, the OnePlus 9 has a 48-megapixel primary shooter. However, photos are saved in 12-megapixel shots with pixel binning by default. But if you want to take full resolution photos for printing, you can. The best part is that you don’t need to enable Pro mode for this. It can be done directly from Photo mode.
To do this, tap the three-dot icon in the upper right corner. When done, tap on High Definition and that’s it.
4. Try Tilt-Shift Photography
Do you like to take dramatic photos? If your answer is yes, you might love the tilt-shift feature on the OnePlus 9. Using it, you can add a creative twist to everyday photos, especially if you like to shoot large crowds of people or beautiful landscapes.
It’s a fairly simple filter where the middle part of the picture stays sharp, while the top and bottom parts are out of focus. And when used correctly, it gives the impression of a miniature photograph.
To find the Tilt-Shift mode, navigate between modes by swiping left on the modes strip.
Also, you can adjust the degree of bokeh to your liking. Tap the circular icon on the left and slowly drag the slider to the left (or right) as shown in the screenshot above.
The orientation of the frame changes automatically when you switch from landscape to portrait.
5. Capture Spectacular Time-Lapse
Time is an important factor in time-lapse photography. You also need to consider the issue to determine the correct speed. For example, you won’t like to stare at a time-lapse video of a sunset forever just to see the sun set. However, if you add too much speed, the resulting video may appear to be skipped. Luckily, this new OnePlus phone has nifty speed management for capturing great time-lapse videos.
You can choose between 5x and 120x. The former is used for relatively fast objects such as people walking on the street, while the latter can be used to capture sunsets and sunrises.
To enable said modes, swipe right in Photo mode until you see Timelapse. Then tap on one of the speed options and start recording. And while you’re here, change the video resolution to 4K (top right corner).
A camera tripod is one of the most important camera accessories when it comes to fluid time-lapse photography. Videos shot without one often look shaky.
6. Take Stunning Low-Light Photos
Over the past few years, Night mode on phones has improved drastically. OnePlus adds some extra mods to keep things interesting. The first mode is Tripod mode. This allows you to take well-lit shots. When clicked, it opens the shutter for about 8-30 seconds, allowing the lens to capture more light. You will need a tripod to hold the phone steady to get a perfect shot.
To activate it, go to Nightscape mode and tap the little tripod icon at the top.
Then there’s the Starburst mode. When enabled, the phone displays a star shape that radiates when pointed at a bright source.
Cool Tip: OnePlus also lets you rearrange and hide some camera modes. Go to Settings and scroll down until you see the Custom modes option. Then drag and drop mods.
7. Capture 12-Bit RAW Images
If you’ve always been worried about switching from shooting in JPG to RAW photography, this is the right opportunity for you. OnePlus 9 lets you shoot 12-bit RAW images to gather as much detail as possible about light and colors. This ensures that your photos are not easily distorted during post-processing. Also, since compression algorithms preserve more original data compared to 8-bit RAW, you’ll have more data to work with.
Go to Pro mode in the camera app and change the image format to RAW as shown in the screenshot below.
After that you can take pictures in 12-bit RAW mode.
Cheese too
Apart from the above, the new OnePlus 9 and OnePlus 9 Pro offer a few exciting features to tinker with. We especially like the Video Portrait mode, which adds a soft bokeh to the background. The best part is that it happens in real time. Then there’s Dynamic HDR. While some phones handle HDR after you finish recording, this OnePlus phone lets you see HDR results in real time. Is not it beautiful?
OnePlus 9 Pro
Check out the OnePlus 9 Pro if you haven’t already
