Initial impressions Huawei P10 Plus

I had the chance to get this unit earlier than expected and so here we are. I'll put it through its paces next week but for now here's what I think..

I got this unit over the weekend and didn't think about using it 'til yesterday thinking how a chore it was going to be acclimatizing myself out of my iPhone. I should've played with it as sooner!

I had fun playing with this unit, the kind of fun that I didn't really expect to have with a cam phone. And yes, I didn't feel this kind of fun when I got my iPhone.

Is it better than the iPhone? I don't want to get into an iOS vs android discussion as I am more interested about the camera as a companion to the Leica M. So far it's ticking off the right boxes mainly in the "I want to use this camera all the time" category. Fun, fun, fun.

Lighter, slightly smaller and consequently better balanced in the hand, physical handling is better than the iPhone (yes, I had my geeky office mates handle it and they all agreed) and goes head to head in the premium feel department. I also like the fact that the back is flat smooth. The lenses are flushed and don't protrude.

I have yet to download DNG files so I can't really say how malleable the RAW file is versus an M file for example. The DNG file is 20MB but isn't accessible when shooting at wide apertures. Not sure why but it restricts you to 12MP jpegs.

For those of us used to wonderful bokehs, this one doesn't really disappoint considering that these teeny weeny lenses can only really do so much. Struggles to blur well at f/0.95 but becomes better at f/4. A lot of it depends on how cluttered your background is. I can only assume that it employs a mask/unmask/layer type process using some sort of Gaussian Blur algorithm. Huawei told me it's software from f/1.8 down although I have my doubts. I'll get a better sense of it next week. But I think it's just a matter of time before they can approximate Leica bokeh. After all, it's all just mathematics.

With all that being said, I wouldn't hesitate to recommend the P10 Plus over the iPhone. Truth be told, if I didn't know any better and needed upgrade to something a bit more premium, I'd easily choose this over that fruity alternative.

Now, if they can just work on the non-cam side of things...

Echi

PS apologies re watermark. It was on default so... :-(

I take that to be a positive first look...

By: cshimokita : April 5th, 2017-02:51

waiting to get your thoughts after some detail testing, but good to read that / thus far / it was clicking the right boxes ; ) Nice Seiko, lovely night photo... monochrom[e]-ish image

Thanks, Casey..

By: Echi : April 5th, 2017-02:59

Still something to be said about iPhone image quality. I just need to verify Huawei DNG files and see if there\'s anything special. But for street and travel snaps, this is quite enjoyable to use. And way good enough for social media. Of course, at some p...

Photography