It’s the ultimate test: can the Huawei P9’s Leica-made dual camera setup dethrone the DSLR? We take the two head to head!
For many years now, smartphones have promised to utterly destroy the camera industry. We’ve lived through the colossal battles between iPhones and DSLRS, and even weirder moments where companies have converted their flagships into optical camera hybrids. Still, the DSLR remains atop the hill.
The latest device to attempt to rebel against the dominance of DSLRs and bridge cameras comes from China. It’s called the Huawei P9; you may or may not have heard of it. We’ve previously given our thoughts on the P9, and even pitted it against the iPhone. Yet, there’s a question we haven’t answered – can it actually defeat a fully-fledged DSLR?
Read: Huawei P9 Review: Breaking new ground
Get ready to rumble
Let’s weigh up our contenders. On the right, we’ve got the Huawei P9. The P9 is the result of a partnership between Huawei and iconic imaging brand Leica; the phone sports two main 12 million pixel BSI CMOS sensors; each lens is equipped with a f/2.2 aperture lens, while one is set to RGB colour and the other is monochrome.
The intention with the setup is to capture more light and balance highlights and shadows, and as we’ve noted before, it works. The P9 is capable of stunning imagery that outclasses many of its rivals.
On the left, we’ve my own steadfast DSLR, a Nikon D5100. To be clear, this isn’t the camera I use in creative projects; I rent a Canon 5D. Yet, this is the camera I swear by and the one I take on all my adventures. I’ve chosen it as my sworn sword in this showdown not simply for that reason, but because, when equipped with essential equipment, it totals a price similar to the P9.
My Nikon D5100 has its SB-400 (now discontinued) flash equipped perennially, as well as a 40mm macro f/1.8 lens attached. Further, I make use of a series of 16GB SD cards I swap out when necessary.
The D5100 makes use of a (single) 16.2 million pixel CMOS sensor, and is naturally modular to the point that lenses can be traded with ease.
That kit lists for a rough figure of R13,000; a similar price point to the P9’s retail value of R11,999 ZAR. The question beckons, then: is it time to retire the D5100 for a Huawei P9?
The Huawei P9 isn’t for sissies. After living with this phone for over two weeks, I’ve openly come to love its imaging capabilities. I even mentioned in Bandwidth Blog On Air that I’ve been placed in crisis while realising that I could live happily with the device and eschew using my DSLR camera altogether.
However, let’s get empirical and place the two side-by-side.
The Huawei P9 comes equipped with many “pro” features, the quality of which we’ve only really seen on the LG G4 before it. The P9 accommodates manual controls; users can toggle the focus mode, shutter speed from 1/4000 of a second all the way to 30 seconds, ISO up to 3200, EV balance, and colour balance. Apart from the lack of aperture control, that’s a nicely rounded set of specs. The device can further shoot in .DNG RAW, a nice advent for those (like me) who enjoy tweaking their pictures. Software features, which allows users to re-focus their shots after capture, replaces traditional aperture control.
The Nikon D5100 sports autofocus with AF-S and AF-I lenses, and similarly posts shutter speed control from 1/4000 of a second all the way to 30 seconds. ISO can reach a boosted figure of 12,800, with natural support ending at 6400. EV balance and colour balance are configurable as well, while aperture control varies on the lens equipped. Usually, AF-S Nikon lenses end at f/1.2.
The Battle Begins: Aperture control
The first thing one needs to take into account when placing the P9 and D5100 side-by-side is differences in aperture control; this in itself requires a mental change in gear when constructing shots.
Traditionally, aboard a DSLR, one selects an aperture to limit or extend depth of field in a photograph and adjusts ISO and shutter speed to compensate accordingly. That’s been the way things have been done for years.
With the Huawei P9 and its dual-lens cameras, depth of field is very much an afterthought; one’s goal is to expose one’s subject accordingly, after which, when using depth of field effects, an aperture can be simulated through software. Using this doesn’t actually change the exposure of the image; it simply alters how much is visible past a selected focus point.
This gives the Huawei P9 an enormous edge in terms of creativity; one can upload multiple variants of the same image to social media whereas a DSLR would limit one to a single shot.
While this isn’t perfect – decreasing the depth of field can often place a blurry hue over the edge of one’s subject – it does make for neat creative effect. There’s no denying that the results can indeed be beautiful. One could easily make the same mistake when using a DSLR.
However, DSLRs retain the edge here on the basis that – where one trying to capture a spontaneous or fleeting moment – one would need to manually toggle the P9’s depth-of-field mode on and hope that a subject is still enough so as to process the image effectively later. A DSLR gives its user surety that – thanks to balancing between shutter speed and ISO – faster objects can be more easily focussed on.
Shutter speeds and long exposures
On the note of shutter speed, one doesn’t derive the full benefit of the P9’s minimum shutter speed of 1/4000, as aperture can’t be controlled manually. In this regard, one looses the ability to capture wide images in bright light as one could do quite precisely with a DSLR.
Among other Android smartphones, the P9 stands tall for its ability to create long exposures; something Huawei previously touted as a key function with the Mate line. Whereas one can easily become lost attempting to balance a worthwhile aperture and ISO reading to extend capture to 30 seconds on a DSLR, the P9 does this quite automatically thanks to the absence of aperture controls. One would, however, need a good tripod for both.
ISO and low-light images
For the uninitiated, an ISO reading technically refers to the amount of brightening a camera’s sensor employs to compensate for a dark subject. Too much ISO can result in a grainy image (think of Jane’s club selfies) while too little can leave an image dark and dull.
A photographer’s task, then, is to use ISO without rendering their capture grainy. Smartphones, thanks to their small sensors, often do a terrible job of this, rendering most evening images an assorted blizzard of pixels (again – think of Jane’s club selfies).
DSLRs can compensate through this by having a fast (low-numerical) aperture, such as f/.18, as well as the ability to adjust their shutter speed to compensate. A smartphone, however, is reliant on a tiny sensor to accommodate this task and is usually more reliant on ISO than it would be its shutter speed or maximum aperture.
Lucky us, then – because the Huawei P9 has two such sensors. While the P9 is great with long exposures, it suffers when attempting to take regular shots in dark detail. In this regard, the monochrome black-and-white lens tends to overpower its counterpart and leave many regular shots looking dull.
A DSLR such as the D5100 can compensate through this either through a flash (we’ll come to that later) or through, once again, balancing both its aperture and shutter speed. Thanks to the larger sensors used on DSLRs, images are far less likely to be grainy in low light as the camera can rely on the strength of its widest aperture and shutter speed to capture more light than a smartphone could.
However, there’s a converse conundrum to consider; in broad daylight, DSLRS can often be overwhelmed with an influx of light and can occasionally overexpose, leaving images a mess of black shadows and white highlights. All too often, saving these images through software tweaks is a fruitless endeavour.
However, this is precisely what the Huawei P9’s dual-camera setup was designed for. The device’s secondary monochrome lens is designed to capture shadows and highlights and balance it against what is captured on the colour lens; in this regard, the P9 benefits from two sensors performing work whereas a conventional DSLR has one.
This means that the P9 isn’t phased by daylight; mid-day shots look clear while highlights don’t overexpose. Shadows retain their detail and refrain from becoming overbearing; a unique feature not found on many conventional cameras.
Lastly, colour retains its accuracy and doesn’t wash out under the strength of the sun. This leaves the P9 placed in a better overall position to function in broad daylight than a conventional DSLR is.
Let there be light: Flash
Usually, DSLRs come equipped with god-awful flash modules that merely pop-up and illuminate whichever poor soul’s eyes lie directly in front of its lens. That’s why, for my personal setup, I use a discontinued SB-400 flash. Cheap and effective, this flash fills up a room with light when pointed upwards.
Smartphones don’t have this luxury; unless you’re toting something like the modular LG G5 (which itself doesn’t have a flash accessory) you’re quite stuck with either your smartphone’s built-in flash or an alternative light source.
Whereas a DSLR can effectively light up a room, a smartphone can only make use of the small light it can use to illuminate what’s directly in front of it. In this regard, this is a lopsided competition.
However, for close-up imagery, the P9 has a trick up its sleeve; a two-tone flash. One white light and one amber light enables the P9 to read the temperature of a scene and adjust its lighting accordingly; only expensive DSLR setups-rival this.
While the modular capabilities of a DSLR is indeed a strength, it comes with the quite literal cost of purchasing components such as an extra flash. While I traditionally use my SB-400 flash as a jack of all trades, the P9’s two-tone flash is excellent at precise, close-up shots and amicably matches the temperature of its environment. Take a look through our video review to see what I mean:
Strengths and weaknesses
The Huawei P9 has a number of strengths over a traditional DSLR setup. Notably, you’re getting twice the lenses and sensors (one can handle black and white exposure on its own, natch) and further images can be recomposed on the fly later should depth-of-field functionality be used.
Altogether, the Huawei P9 is undoubtedly a great camera. Where it truly excels, however, is a niche area; you’ll want to buy this for its excellent macro/close-up capabilities, and its ability to refocus makes this a natural choice for those who enjoy creative effects.
The P9 falls short, however, in a few additional areas. The lack of manual aperture control in addition to murky low-light performance leaves this short of what a DSLR could achieve in the same role. Listen to episode 50 of Bandwidth Blog On Air to hear our verdict:
Conclusion
All-in-all, this is really a perfect phone for kings and queens of Instagram. DSLRs are quickly becoming a thing of the past in the sense that no manufacturer has yet established an effective means of connecting their devices to a variety of image platforms on the web. The Huawei P9 can achieve this by the virtue of running Android 6.0 Marshmallow.
Presently, the core strength DSLRs possess over smartphones such as the Huawei P9 is their modular construction. Lenses, flashes, memory cards, and even batteries can be exchanged at the drop of a hat; smartphones, unfortunately, aren’t so lucky.
However, the P9 chalks up major victories. Its raw image quality, control over shadows and highlights, as well as macro smarts make this an excellent contender to challenge DSLRs everywhere. Unfortunately, it falls short of that key ruggedness and adaptability to truly conquer its rivals. This is a swordsman which stops short of the killing blow and gracefully walks away.
To answer the question I posed earlier, could one do away with their DSLR? The answer is, mostly, yes. The P9 is a rallying cry for smartphones to invest themselves in photographic progeny and up-end an increasingly expensive camera industry. The fact that a smartphone is capable of capturing images in the same breadth as a DSLR with a much larger sensor does should be enough to give anyone pause.
However, I don’t believe anyone should throw away their DSLR just yet. We’re a-ways off from a solution that can topple the likes of Nikon and Canon, but we’re not too far away. For intermediate and beginner photographers, the Huawei P9 is really a watershed device which I’ve come to love. While it’s not the outcome we foresaw in receiving the unit, devices such as the P9 could effectively spell the end of budget consumer cameras and bridge cameras altogether.
Watch: Huawei P9 Video Review: One Great Leap
Have your say!
What are your thoughts on the Huawei P9? Be sure to let us know in the comments below!
Follow Bryan Smith on Twitter: @bryansmithSA
