Samsung Galaxy A52 "Camera Rewiew"
Familiar quad camera setup, now complete with OIS
"Familiar" might just be a bit of an exaggeration here since, despite our best snooping, the Galaxy A52 refused to give up any usable hardware identifiers for its actual camera modules. Even so, its quad-camera setup is still familiar in the sense that most every modern mid-ranger that's worth its salt is rocking a main+ultrawide+macro+depth camera arrangement these days.
Credit where credit is due, though, Samsung opted for a higher-res 64MP Quad Bayer main cam instead of a 48MP unit. One that has a fairly bright aperture of f/1.8 and a sensor size somewhere in the 1/1.7X" neighborhood. The ultrawide unit is also a higher-res option at 12MP, f/2.2, instead of an 8MP one. Same goes for the dedicated macro and depth sensors, which are 5MP, f/2.4, instead of the popular 2MP units.
Like we said, we aren't quite sure of the exact hardware modules in use here. However, the Galaxy A52's camera setup does look suspiciously similar to that of the popular Galaxy M51. If that is indeed where Samsung borrowed the sensors from, we are looking at a Sony IMX 682 for the main cam and Samsung S5K3L6 for the ultrawide. The 32MP Quad Bayer selfie cam on the A52 is also likely the same Sony IMX 616 as on the Galaxy M51.
There is one notable upgrade on the A52, though - the addition of OIS to the main camera. It's not an insignificant one either, offering a tangible reduction in blurry photos due to shaky hands. Alongside the resolution increase on the sensor itself, the main camera on the A52 constitutes a nice upgrade over the 48MP unit on last year's Galaxy A51. Though, the ultra-wide and two 5MP extra cams and the 32MP selfie cam appear to be carried forward.
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Camera UI
If there is one aspect of the Galaxy A52's camera that is truly familiar, it is definitely the Samsung camera UI. Aside from some incremental polish and an extra feature here and there, it has remained consistent for quite some time. Shutter and a mode carousel on the right, along with toggles for cameras and zoom levels (in the case of the A52 - 0.5x, 1x, 2x, 4x and 10x), as well as a Scene optimizer indicator/toggle in the corner. The A52 can distinguish between 30 scenes automatically. On the opposite side - resolution and aspect, timer, flash controls and some color filters.
Samsung did not skimp on the available modes either. In no particular order, users get to enjoy things like AR DOODLE, FOOD mode, as well as SINGLE TAKE. The latter instantly captures a few different shots and even short clips with a single press of the shutter key and is a perfect example of a feature that originally debuted a while back on flagship Galaxy devices and has successfully made its way to the mid-range.
Speaking of added-value features, FUN MODE is a new addition to the mix, prominently featured in PR materials for the Galaxy A52 and A72. It is basically a collaboration with Snapchat that puts some of that app's fun AR filters in the native Samsung camera app. It's just a bit of extra trendy "flare" to have around.
FUN MODE works for both photos and videos (captured by long-pressing the shutter key). The filter selection consists of 7 "basic" lenses, one of which gets changed-out daily, as well as an additional menu of 9 more effects that also get "changed regularly".
FUN MODE requires an active network connection to work, which makes sense, considering all the "swapping" that's going on. Seeing how the filter selection is constantly subject to change, you can't exactly pick your favorites and use them regularly. Hence, the whole feature is more of a promotional one than anything else, meant to ultimately grab your attention and direct you to the Snapchat app for the full experience. We don't particularly might that, even if the lack of a static filter selection is a bit annoying.
Circling back to the main part of the camera app and its settings, in particular, we find some nifty additional options, like HEIF for images and HEVC for videos. Also, a floating shutter and extensive voice commands and a palm shot shortcut. Nothing out of the ordinary, though. It is worth noting that the options change depending on whether you enter settings from a photo or video come. The latter is where you will find a toggle for the always-on by default video stabilization, in case you want to do some tripod shooting.
There is naturally a Pro mode included, as well. It is fairly in-depth, offering ISO from 50 to 4000, shutter speed from 1/6000 to 10 seconds, white balance from 2300K to 1000K, as well as exposure compensation and the ability to set different spot metering for the expose and autofocus.
Video capture mode is just slightly different from the main photo one, with most controls in their familiar places. The zoom level and camera selection on the Galaxy A52 stays the same with video capture. The ultrawide can even do 4K recording itself. But, more on that in the video section.
There is also a Pro Video Mode with pretty-much the same adjustments available as the Pro Photo one. Not too shabby.
Daylight image quality
Daylight photos from the main camera on the Galaxy A52 are quite decent, even if mostly unremarkable. Dynamic range is wide for what we're used to in the midrange, though a higher-end phone will still get you better developed tonal extremes.
Colors are lively without going overboard. Detail is plenty. The only real issue we see here is the slightly-higher levels of noise and noise-suppression artefacts left in the shots. This is not something we typically associate with Samsung processing.
Samsung's Scene optimizer doesn't really make a huge difference in most shots, but when it does, it can still come through and save the occasional still. While at times a bit sluggish, its detection never actually tripped up and ruined a shot for us, so there is no benefit in turning it off. The same goes for the Auto HDR mode.
While the main 64MP camera on the Galaxy A52 is meant to shoot in a binned 16MP mode by default, there is a 64MP option in the camera UI. We were honestly rather impressed with how much extra detail it brought into shots. Even the HDR seems to look a bit better at 64MP than at 16MP for some od reason. The A52 does struggle a bit and is kind of slow to capture these stills, but we would say the wait is well worth it.
The Galaxy A52 lacks a proper telephoto camera - that one is reserved for the A72. Still, we have seen 64MP Quad Bayer shooters do a pretty good job of cropping and demosaicing for some strong 2x results. Though we can't say for sure whether the A52 is going that route or upscaling 16MP shots and then cropping instead, we are willing to give the 2x photos a soft pass. Pun intended since the extra softness is instantly visible. At least the algorithm didn't go overboard with sharpening in an attempt of overcompensating.
The Galaxy A52 has toggles in the UI for 4x and 10x zoom, as well. Of course, you can get any zoom level in between by pinching. Still, if Samsung deemed these to be "official" zoom levels, we felt kind of compelled to try them. While not so bad as to call them "throwaway", both 4x and 10x shots are unimpressive, with plenty of softness and even more sharpening artefacts.
The ultrawide camera on the Galaxy A52 captures respectable 12MP stills as well. Sure, there is extra softness, especially around the edges of the frame, and Samsung didn't manage to get the color science quite right and consistent with the main snapper. Colors seem less saturated and lively, and the overall pallet is a bit colder.
Even so, none of these is a dealbreaker, and the ultrawide delivers solid performance for its class.
As with all recent Samsungs, there's software distortion correction enabled on the Galaxy A52. It's only marginally detrimental to image quality in the corners, while the geometric benefits are huge, and we'd keep it on unless the barrel distortion look is what you're after in particular.
Low-light image quality
Low-light photos from the Galaxy A52 are what we would consider a bit above average for a mid-ranger. There is a good amount of detail preserved, though noise, as expected from the slightly noisier daylight shots, is an even bigger issue with low-light images. A hint of desaturation can be spotted, but colors are generally not bad, and the dynamic range is wider than most.
Night mode brings notable improvements in the highlights where it restores a lot of details otherwise lost in photo mode. However, we do not see dramatic improvements in the shadows, and the dark areas remain quite dark. Night mode on the main cam produces 12MP stills, instead of 16MP.
As you can imagine, zooming at night without a dedicated telephoto is not the best idea. We would call 2x usable, but not much else.
Low-light photos from the ultra-wide aren't as good, and with such a wide frame, there's inevitably going to be a lot of super dark areas unless you pick your scenes carefully. If presented with evenly lit scenes, the A52's ultra-wide will create usable images with decent detail, saturated colors, and a wide dynamic range.
Rounding the main camera section off, we have the Galaxy A52 at both its default 16MP and 64MP in our extensive Photo compare database. You can pixel-peep to your heart's content.
Portrait mode
Portrait mode, also sometimes referred to as Live focus in Samsung "slang" on the Galaxy A52 is good, but not overly impressive. The bokeh effect itself is natural and convincing. The intensity slider is gradual and never really goes overboard.
Subject detection and separation, however, left is wanting from time to time. Of course, usually with more complex backgrounds or messy hair. While not dramatic and experience-ruining in any way, we still expected a bit more out of a phone with a dedicated 5MP depth sensor.
Macro shots
Speaking of dedicated 5MP snappers, the macro one on the Galaxy A52 is quite impressive. It has a forgivingly-wide focus plane, and you don't have to get all that physically close to the subject.
Shots come out nice and detailed. Generally, a lot better than what you get from the alternative 2MP macro snappers floating around in the mid-ranger space.
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