Samsung Galaxy A12 Camera Deep Dive
Samsung Galaxy A12 is one of the sub-10K smartphones that exhibits impressive camera performance. In fact, in our review, Emman said that you’d get good levels of sharpness, dynamic range, and details regardless of lighting scenarios.
Today, we’re taking a deep dive into Samsung Galaxy A12’s array of rear and front cameras and how I think it’s an excellent option for consumers who are looking for a great camera smartphone option. I have to disclose that I am not an expert in mobile photography, so take this with the thought that I’m explaining everything as a consumer.
Camera Specifications
| Purpose | Aperture, FOV | Megapixels | |
| Rear Camera | Main (Wide) | f/2.0,26mm equivalent | 48 MP |
| Ultra-wide | f/2.2, 123˚ | 5 MP | |
| Depth | f/2.4 | 2 MP | |
| Macro | f/2.4 | 2 MP | |
| Front Camera | Main | f/2.2 | 8 MP |
The Samsung Galaxy A12 has a fantastic set of cameras at its price point. It uses Samsung ISOCELLGM2 (S5KGM2) sensor that supports tetra cell technology and is detailed with a wide dynamic range.
While people might find its Depth and Macro lens dismissible, each has its purpose of complementing its the 48MP and 5MP wide-angle lenses.
The front camera can also be beneficial not only for content creation but also for online meetings or classes.
Aperture Check
Looking at the Samsung Galaxy A12’s camera specs, I can see that all lenses have aperture stops that do not go higher than f/2.4. Aperture stops affect the amount of light that reaches the sensor. The lower the number, the lower the limitation of light that reaches the sensor. Conversely, the lower the number, the more light can reach its sensor.
Moreover, aperture stops incredibly affects depth of field created around the focused subject. This is the reason why when you’re taking a portrait photo of a subject at f/2.4 aperture; the photo will appear to have a more blurry depth of field around the subject than a photo taken with an f/4 aperture.
Samsung Galaxy A12 utilizes this very well, as seen in the photos Emman and I took. Photos we took at center-weighted metering create a circular focus and gradually progress with a higher depth of field from 60% onwards.
If you want to be more creative, you can also put additional blur/bokeh effects if you use Live Focus.
Having a set of lenses with variable aperture (that starts at f/2.0 up) works best when taking portrait, toy, or plant photography, even at automatic mode.
True Colors
Taking photos with a good amount of DOF or bokeh is not the only sign of having a good camera smartphone. The camera should be able to capture the right color and process it without diluting reality.
I like how the Samsung Galaxy A12 presents colors and saturation without overprocessing. Quality is not sacrificed too even when taking photos in low-light scenarios. This further proves Emman’s point that it “holds up even in low-light, which is unexpected for a device at this price point.”
Wide Angle without sacrificing quality
One of the lenses that I enjoyed the most is the Samsung Galaxy A12’s ultra-wide angle. Despite shooting 123˚ maximum angle, I do not find major issues on barrel distortion and sharpness. Emman and I took the photos below, and the phone managed to exceed our expectations.
Selfies
If you’re into taking selfies, Samsung Galaxy A12’s front camera does not disappoint. Since it’s a wide-angle lens, you’re given options to take selfies at cropped or wide FOVs.
Photos I took show minimal noise and good color reproduction. Photos are best taken in a well-lit environment if you wish to minimize noise. In extreme cases that you need to take a photo in a dark place, the screen-flash is very helpful.
You can also take selfies using Live Focus mode if you want to add more blur background effect.
How about shooting videos?
The Samsung Galaxy A12 can also shoot at Full HD capped at 30fps. The frame rate limitation is totally understandable, and does not diminish its capability to let you create contents for Facebook, Youtube or even TikToks. There are various ways to maximize this especially now that applications such as CapCut, Instagram and TikTok can let you edit at post or prior to sharing your video.
Oh, since we’re talking about videos and Tiktok, let me take this opportunity to tell you that Samsung will be holding a TikTok Challenge starting April 2and currently holding a promo that can give you a chance to win e-vouchers, limited edition SB19 photocards or an opportunity to join an online meet & greet with SB19 and get signed photocards!! All you need to do is do the following on TikTok:
- Use the #AwesomePosesUnleased Branded Effect and show us your fire poses. Pay attention to visual instructions so you know what to do throughout the recording.
- Upload your content with the hashtags #AwesomePosesUnleashed #WithGalaxy
- Lucky raffle winners get to meet & greet with SB19 online or receive awesome prizes!
Software – Useful and has room for growth
Samsung tried as much as it can to bring flagship-level experience to the camera software of the Samsung Galaxy A12.
When you fire up the camera up, the software offers plenty of features: Live Focus, Photo, Video, Pro, Panorama, Macro and Food. While all these features are useful, my personal favorites are Live Focus, Photo and Pro Mode.
Live Focus is perfect for portrait photography and takes photos with bokeh effects. Photo Mode is your usual automatic mode, which takes advantage of ISOCELL Bright GM2 sensor. In this mode, you have control over FOV, photo ratio and HDR. If you want to break away from auto, you can switch to Pro Mode, which offers a variety of options to adjust specific parameters manually. Adjustable parameters include ISO, white balance and exposure value. Unfortunately, there is no way to manually adjust aperture settings since the said mode only uses the primary 48MP lens with f/2.0. If there’s anything that I would love Samsung to push in their next update for Galaxy A12, it would be enhancing Pro Mode.
Sulit for less than PhP10,000 SRP
With all the camera features and benefits you can get from the Samsung Galaxy A12, this is an easy suggestion for my friends and family. While this has a whopping 48MP at bay, the little and specific things it offers in the camera department like good color reproduction and sharpness make this an amazing option for those looking for an affordable smartphone.
Read more about our take on the Samsung Galaxy A12 in our full review.
Giancarlo Viterbo is a Filipino Technology Journalist, blogger and Editor of gadgetpilipinas.net, He is also a Geek, Dad and a Husband. He knows a lot about washing the dishes, doing some errands and following instructions from his boss on his day job. Follow him on twitter: @gianviterbo and @gadgetpilipinas.
