Inside Look: Crafting the User-Friendly Galaxy S25 Camera

In recent years, the prevalence of DSLR cameras at popular tourist destinations has significantly diminished. Just a short while ago, they were a common sight, but now, they have been largely replaced by smartphones. The convenience and capability of smartphones have made it possible for users to capture, edit, and share high-quality images all from the palm of their hand. This shift in consumer behavior highlights the advancement in smartphone technology, particularly in the realm of photography.

Samsung Electronics has been at the forefront of this evolution, especially with their Galaxy series. Their development strategy for the Galaxy camera has focused on three primary goals: providing excellent picture quality for everyone, everywhere, and at any time; offering features that even professional users would find satisfactory; and ensuring that content creation and editing remain easy and intuitive.

The debut of the Galaxy S25 series represents the culmination of these efforts. This series delivers a camera experience that pushes the boundaries of what is possible with smartphones. It integrates high-pixel sensors, robust application processors (APs), and powerful artificial intelligence models to enhance the overall photography experience.

To understand how Samsung achieved these breakthroughs, we delved into a discussion with the developers from the Visual Solution Team at Samsung’s Mobile eXperience (MX) Business division.

### Capturing Every Detail, From Landscapes to Portraits

The Galaxy S25 Ultra stands out with its 50MP ultra-wide-angle camera, a first for the Galaxy series. Wonchul Choi, who spearheaded the camera quality development, explains, “This feature allows for photos with a wide angle of view to be taken with more clarity and detail.” The team optimized both the hardware, such as the high-pixel sensors and lenses, and the software, by creating a system where AI models function cohesively. For users eager to make the most of this capability, Choi advises using the ultra-wide-angle camera not just for sweeping landscapes but also for close-up shots to achieve a distinctive depth effect.

Moreover, the ProVisual Engine, which is underpinned by AI-powered technology, has seen significant advancements. The team conducted comprehensive analyses of various skin tones and user preferences to ensure that the AI technology offers a wide array of options for users. They even involved developers of different age groups to take portraits in diverse environments for better results. Choi elaborates, “AI recognition and processing technologies assess components like the person, clothing, and background in a photo, optimizing each to enhance finer details, such as hair texture and pupils.”

The series also brings improvements to the Nightography feature, designed for low-light conditions. “For the Galaxy S25’s Nightography, we concentrated on video shooting,” Choi mentions. The introduction of 10-bit High Dynamic Range (HDR) video as a default setting enhances the realism and richness of the video quality. Furthermore, an innovative solution separates the subject from the background and analyzes movement to precisely eliminate noise.

### Professional-Quality Shooting and Editing With a Smartphone

Can a smartphone camera match the quality of a DSLR? With the Galaxy S25 series, the answer is increasingly yes. The introduction of the Virtual Aperture feature in the Expert RAW app allows for the creation of depth and aperture effects similar to those achieved with a DSLR camera. This feature delivers high-quality results that appear professionally shot.

Pyojae Kim, who led the Virtual Aperture development, shares, “We designed an interface that mimics the effect of changing a DSLR camera lens aperture, enabling users to choose between deep or shallow depths of field flexibly.” This AI-driven innovation addresses the physical limitations typically associated with smartphones.

Achieving these DSLR-like effects was a complex process. The training image database comprises over 200,000 photos taken simultaneously with both Galaxy and DSLR cameras. Kim recounts the challenges they faced, such as manually controlling DSLR camera settings and dealing with the disappointment of discarding photos due to focus or exposure errors. This process underscored the difficulty of obtaining reliable data.

While photos can achieve a DSLR-like quality, the series also introduces Log Video mode, a feature usually found in professional digital cameras. Log Video is a recording format that simplifies color correction in post-production, allowing for high-quality video creation. To make this accessible to everyday users, the Galaxy S25 series includes a Color Correction feature in the Gallery app, offering easy video footage correction with a simple tap.

### Effortless AI Editing With Minimal Effort

Building on the Generative Edit feature first introduced in the Galaxy S24 series, the Galaxy S25 series sees substantial enhancements. Jihye Kim explains, “We focused on boosting the fun and functionality that only generative AI can provide.” The AI models have been improved to recognize photo areas accurately with just a touch, enabling seamless erasure or addition to these areas. Each component technology involved in generative editing has seen improvements.

The development of these AI models involved continuous collaboration with Google. Kim shares her experience of traveling to Google’s San Francisco Campus and staying up late to brainstorm ideas for model enhancements. Generative AI, which yields different results each time, posed unique challenges in development. “We constantly deliberated on how to quantitatively evaluate the results in a situation where they change every time,” Kim notes.

A new feature in the Galaxy S25 series is Best Face, which selects the best facial expressions of up to five people from multiple Motion Photos and combines them into a single, ideal group shot. Kim shares a personal anecdote about her mother often closing her eyes in family photos, highlighting the feature’s usefulness in such scenarios.

### Unique AI Filters for Personalized Expression

The Galaxy S25 series offers a variety of filters that intuitively capture each user’s unique aesthetic. Yunju Bae, responsible for developing Filters, explains, “We enhanced the AI-powered feature to make it easier for anyone to capture the color or mood of their favorite photos.” The development involved meticulous tuning and evaluations to balance technological and aesthetic aspects for optimal filter quality.

Filters allow users to choose a favorite photo, and the AI analyzes the color and style to produce a personalized filter. Bae shares, “I often see a photo and think, ‘I want to recreate this vibe,’ so we aimed to simplify the process of achieving the desired style without complex editing.”

New film-style filters capture the unique aesthetic of analog film. Bae discusses the challenges of quantifying the subjective nature of analog film for digital reproduction. Through rigorous experimentation and collaboration with Samsung Research, they achieved meaningful progress in accurately representing the analog film aesthetic.

### The Future of the Galaxy Camera Experience

The Galaxy S25 series sets a new standard for mobile cameras, but the Visual Solution Team’s innovations are far from over. Developers are actively working on future advancements to redefine smartphone imaging.

Looking ahead, Wonchul Choi shares, “Our aim is to further enhance the camera’s fundamental picture quality while maximizing convenience and accessibility, ensuring top performance anytime, anywhere.”

Pyojae Kim adds, “We plan to assess market feedback on Virtual Aperture and incorporate it into Portrait mode. By expanding these features, we’ll ensure that the photo quality of the best DSLR cameras can be experienced on mobile devices.”

Jihye Kim emphasizes their commitment to continuous quality improvement and new generative AI features, aiming to make these features more accessible for users.

Yunju Bae concludes with ambitious aspirations, stating, “We want to extend the shooting experience where artistic sensibilities and technology blend seamlessly through AI. Our goal is to offer an experience that can replace various types of hardware.”

Smartphone cameras have evolved beyond mere technical features; they are now essential tools for capturing and sharing life’s stories. The Galaxy camera continues to evolve, making it easier for users to create high-quality photos and videos and personalize their content. As technology advances, so will the ways users capture, share, and preserve moments that matter most.
For more Information, Refer to this article.