Xiaomi 11 Ultra Camera Test

Xiaomi 11 Ultra Camera Test – Xiaomi 11 Ultra Camera has a triple camera system with a 50-megapixel wide angle main camera. It has a massive 1/1.12” sensor, f/1.95 aperture, optical image stabilization, and laser focus. There’s also a 48-megapixel ultra-wide camera with an f/2.2 aperture, which doubles as a macro camera, and a 48-megapixel telephoto camera with f/4.1 aperture and 5x optical zoom. All three cameras support 8K video recording and Xiaomi’s night mode.

While the telephoto camera itself has a 5x zoom, the primary unit can capture images at a reasonable 2x zoom. Color fringing around contrasted borders is noticeable, and detail is not as fine as in 1x photos, but these are leagues ahead of what you would get from a Note20 Ultra or S21 Ultra at 2x.

The periscope 5x zoom camera also takes excellent photographs. It has good micro contrast and captures outstanding detail in bright sunlight. It’s not as clear as the primary camera, and there are some minor specks of luminance noise visible up close, but they’re generally insignificant.

The dynamic range on this camera is arguably the best you can get on a zoom, and the exposure was better than what we observed on the main unit. Colors are also an excellent match for the reproduction of the primary unit.

When it comes to the ultrawide, we’re seeing class-leading performance once again. Detail is plentiful, sharpness is moderate, and noise is absent. There are no issues here because the dynamic range is once again great and the exposure is accurate.

On the other hand, there is also an issue like all the other phones. Even after the software correction is applied, images do keep an obvious amount of barrel distortion and have a bump to the horizons. Straight lines won’t be straight with this one. That’s probably an unavoidable consequence of having one of the widest lenses on a smartphone associated with a large sensor.

Mi 11 ULTRAwide’s autofocusing capability lets you focus on near objects to spot them in context and enhance perspective. It cannot absolutely focus all that close to justify the ‘macro’ mode, so if extreme close-ups are your aspect, the Mi 11 Ultra Camera cannot quite deliver.

Only the main camera takes 50MP images among the three cameras having Quad Bayer/Tetra Pixel sensors. The other two are at 48MP, but it is almost the same.

Xiaomi 11 Ultra Camera does not have a hike in noise when shooting in the full-res modes. There is some softness and a decrease in contrast. A marginal modification in resolved detail can be identified in the right subjects. 

Mi 11 Ultra Camera Pros & Cons

Image Source: https://www.dxomark.com/xiaomi-mi-11-ultra-camera-review-large-sensor-power/

PROS

• Excellent texture/noise tradeoff for photo and video
• Fast and accurate autofocus in photo and smooth tracking in video
• Good exposure and dynamic range in daylight, indoor and night shots
• Good detail at the center of the frame in tele shots
• Wide field of view and good detail with ultra-wide camera
• Accurate white balance and color rendering in video

CONS

• Limited dynamic range in low light
• casts, especially in daylight and indoors
• Occasional lack of detail on moving subjects in extreme HDR conditions and lower light scenes
• Occasional autofocus failures in video
• Video footage shows artifacts, including flare and moiré

The Mi 11 Ultra does very well for exposure overall. Target exposure is good in pretty much all conditions and dynamic range is wide at all light levels except for very low light. In this backlit portrait, the Xiaomi retains a lot of detail in both the bright sky and the dark clothing of the subject. Contrast is a little low, though, especially in the shadows.

The Huawei Mate 40 Pro+ does similarly well in this scene but achieves slightly better contrast on the subject. The Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra 5G exposes the subject well but blows out a large portion of the blue sky.

Source: Xiaomi 11 Ultra Camera Pros & Cons (https://www.dxomark.com/xiaomi-mi-11-ultra-camera-review-large-sensor-power/)

Image Quality

Image Source: https://www.notebookcheck.net/The-Mi-11-Ultra-comes-out-ahead-of-the-Galaxy-S21-Ultra-in-early-camera-tests-but-the-Huawei-Mate-40-Pro-Plus-is-a-worthy-opponent.531421.0.html

1. Main Camera

The Samsung GN2 sensor is the Mi 11 Ultra’s trump card and is something no other phone has. The rest of the Mi 11 Ultra’s camera specification is really no different from many other top smartphones and is actually outgunned by the Galaxy S21 Ultra. The Mi 11 Ultra’s 50MP camera really has to be something special, so is it?

It’s a fantastic all-rounder that can really surprise with its ability, but also has one frustrating issue.

Starting with the general positives, it’s very consistent and has a lovely natural tone, with strong vibrant colors and excellent dynamic range. If anything, I could live with it producing slightly more saturated photos, which is a better position to be in than the other way around.

I’ve not been disappointed by any of the photos the camera has taken in normal situations, and in almost all environments too. It gives me the confidence that it’ll take great photos. The size of the sensor means it has an incredibly deep natural depth of focus, blurring backgrounds very effectively and in a way no other smartphone camera can. There is almost no need for the artificial bokeh mode at all, it looks so fantastic.

However, this leads to the Mi 11 Ultra’s main downside — focus up close. It’s very haphazard, and will often not focus at all on something that’s only moderately close to the camera lens. Other cameras I use do not have the same problem, and it has resulted in various ruined photos because the subject is not in focus. This is also an issue with the app, as even by trying to force focus by tapping, the app does not indicate if all is well.

It’s unfortunate because the natural bokeh tempts you to get in close to some subjects, but the final photo never quite turns out how you hoped. When you and it get the distance and focus right, the results can be stunning. I’ve worked my way around this problem, but I definitely shouldn’t have to. However, it’s really the only downside to this fantastically capable camera.

2. Wide-Angle

Xiaomi has done a great job maintaining color and balance consistency across the main and wide-angle cameras. It’s not at the same level as the Oppo Find X3 Pro, but it’s not far off. The importance of this can’t be overstated. There’s nothing worse than an expertly balanced standard photo, followed by a wide-angle with poor dynamic range, over-saturated colors, and too much edge distortion.

The Mi 11 Ultra avoids most of this. It copes well with shadow, produces natural-looking colors, and although there is some edge distortion it’s not distracting in most situations. The wide-angle shot of the tower shows the similarity in tones of the stone work and the dry ground, and the consistency of the blue sky color too.

I haven’t chosen the wide-angle camera over the standard camera — as there’s still some variation between shots — and while the main camera can be spectacular, the wide-angle is just very good. Perhaps this doesn’t sound like ringing praise, but it actually is, due to failings seen on other wide-angle cameras.

3. Zoom

The periscope telephoto camera provides a 5x optical zoom, and it’s very good indeed. The 5x zoom shot of the tower below shows masses of detail in the stone around the window, with reflections in the glass appearing naturally too. There’s little evidence of edge enhancement at the top of the tower with the bright blue sky as a background.

Above 5x and the same problems occur, and I usually settled with a 5x zoom shot, although as this can get very close to a subject it can limit opportunities. The Xiaomi app only provides a quick access 5x zoom option, making it awkward to pinch-and-zoom to other levels, and indicating it would rather you just used the optical zoom.

The module’s branding shouts about it having the ability to reach a 120x zoom level. While it can, you probably won’t bother. As expected, the results are very pixelated. Yes it can do it, and yes the subject is generally recognizable — you can see it’s a pheasant in the 120x photo, for example — but it’s not something you’d ever want to share

4. Portrait Mode

It’s going to depend on the situation which you choose, though. Pictures of people and animals sometimes worked better with portrait mode than with the main camera, so no-one should abandon it completely. However, it’s far less important for generating a pretty blurred background on the Mi 11 Ultra than it is on other smartphones.

The other advantage to portrait mode is in editing. The Xiaomi Gallery app lets you play with the depth of focus, and adjust it to your liking, something that’s not possible if the photo was taken with the main camera. There are some other editing features where you can add unusual lighting effects to portrait shots too, but I never found a situation where these looked good.

5. Night Mode

Night mode activates automatically when the camera understands there’s not enough light for it to take a normal photo. It also assesses how long the shutter should remain open, varying in my experience between one and three seconds. The photo here was taken with a one second shutter in a dark room, and it has reproduced the colors very well, without artificially brightening the shot to an unnatural level.

While there’s plenty of detail, the focusing is a little out, a common theme with the Mi 11 Ultra when you’re taking photos indoors or of anything close up, and this includes food.

Source: Image Quality (https://petapixel.com/2021/04/28/xiaomi-mi-11-ultra-review-really-big-phone-really-big-camera/)

Also read about

Mi 11 Ultra Camera Module