HUAWEI P20 SERIES: FULL CAMERA REVIEW
PART 4: LOW LIGHT
Everybody wants great low light photos. Landscapes, cityscapes, the beach, mountains and views behind office building windows is definitely one thing. Sunsets, people enjoying clouds and the incredible colors of dusk is another. Still, there are those who wait patiently at the footbridge, the sidewalks, overpass or any place where the city traffic looks great when captured.
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Before the introduction of the Manual/Pro mode in smartphones, these options for low light and long exposure shots were limited to digital cameras, or full featured cameras in general. Nowadays, if your smartphone has a pro or manual mode function, then one way or another you can do long exposure. This might require practice and getting used to but eventually you'll get the hang of it.
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The P20 and P20 Pro phones have excellent low light lenses capable of capturing enough light and information to help you when shooting in low light. With f1.6 and f1.8 aperture lenses, you can definitely shoot in "Auto Mode". The P20 Lite may not have the same configuration at f2.0 but the software is able to compensate aside for the fact that you can shoot using PRO MODE available in the more section of the camera.
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Aside for shooting in auto. Huawei still has their Light Painting mode available. These preset modes are available in all Huawei smartphones. We have Tail Lights (for cars at night usually), Light Graffiti (drawing objects in the air usually with a flashlight), Star Trails (a VERY LONG exposure mode due to the amount of time required to make stars make lines) and Silky Water (for making any body of water look like "silk", usually waterfalls and rivers are the best).
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With the new P20 and P20 Pro, they've upgraded the Night Shot mode. The Night Shot function is available in all Huawei phones by the way but usually we need to use a tripod or simply have it stable enough to perform long exposure. For the new P20 series, when set to auto, it works like a "super" night mode. No tripods needed. Just handheld. Point. Shoot. Wait for the 4 second timer to expire. Hold the phone as steady as you can and be amazed by the results afterwards. Now you can get outstanding photos even in very low light. HANDHELD.
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Check out TCR's shots below and see for youselves.