OPINION: The Xiaomi 13 Professional is a top-end performer not solely when it comes to velocity however pictures, with a fundamental rear digicam backed by an enormous 1-inch sensor – one among only a few in the marketplace in 2023. Nonetheless, it’s not the primary lens that has impressed me most; that might be the telephoto lens.
When the Xiaomi 13 Professional was revealed alongside the Xiaomi 13 at MWC 2023, the corporate primarily targeted on showcasing the primary 50MP rear digicam – and it’s clear to see why. It boasts spectacular tech together with a 1-inch IMX989 sensor bigger than many of the competitors, together with the Galaxy S23 Extremely, together with a good f/1.9 aperture, massive 1.8um pixels and the power to shoot in Dolby Imaginative and prescient HDR at as much as [email protected] – a beloved function of latest iPhones.
It’s not arduous to see why folks had been excited concerning the tech both; the primary digicam is actually succesful in quite a lot of lighting situations, although I did discover that it didn’t suck in fairly as a lot gentle as I’d like, particularly in comparison with the Vivo X90 Professional’s 1-inch digicam sensor.
Nonetheless, it was a lot quicker at capturing evening photographs than many of the competitors, and there’s one thing to be mentioned for the true-to-life look of the outcomes.
For most individuals, that would be the go-to digicam when out and about – however I discovered extra pleasure from utilizing the 50MP telephoto lens, and that’s not one thing I’ve discovered with any telephone I’ve reviewed lately, if ever.
Often, it’s the primary sensor that will get all the eye, with extra lenses serving extra area of interest functions, however that’s merely not the case with the Xiaomi 13 Professional. Possibly that Leica partnership is greater than a gimmick in spite of everything…
The three.2x telephoto lens boasts a 50MP decision, which is pretty excessive for a telephoto lens and permits it to make use of pixel-binning tech to enhance element and light-weight, however that’s not what makes it so spectacular. It’s all the way down to Leica’s OIS-powered floating telephoto digicam tech which primarily permits the digicam module to maneuver round to regulate focus and ensure your topic is all the time sharp and clear.
Which means, in addition to offering a narrower 75mm equal lens perfect for portrait pictures, the telephoto lens is simply as succesful when used as a macro lens. In reality, it takes a number of the finest macro photographs I’ve seen from a smartphone, with beautiful quantities of element and a pure DSLR-like bokeh impact.
The usage of the floating digicam system meant that photographs had been all the time in focus with only a few, if any, must re-shoot close-ups upon inspection. It really works with topics as shut as 10cm away, which is admittedly slightly farther than some devoted macro lenses, however the elevated 3.2x zoom means there’s parity with the competitors.
For the primary time, I actively seemed out for probably attention-grabbing topics to shoot up shut as a result of I knew the outcomes would look nice. It’s such a stark distinction to utilizing a low-res macro lens or a crop of the ultra-wide digicam, as many options are inclined to do.
It’s simply as performative when capturing portrait pictures. Other than the best 75mm crop for portrait photographs, the Xiaomi 13 Professional’s ProFocus tech doesn’t simply detect faces however eyes specifically, with on-screen monitoring to let you recognize that it has recognised the topic’s eyes. This permits the telephone to completely deal with the eyes of the topic for max impression.
It additionally has a number of the finest edge detection tech I’ve seen from a portrait lens with only a few, if any, errors, even on the subject of hairlines and glasses. Bundle in a pure DLSR-like bokeh and Leica’s Genuine pictures model that delivers true-to-life color copy and also you’ve bought a succesful portrait lens.
Don’t get me flawed, it’s not essentially the most expansive telephoto lens round, sporting a quite brief 3.2x zoom in comparison with different top-end 2023 telephones just like the Samsung Galaxy S23 Extremely and its 10x zoom, however when it comes to general high quality and sheer versatility, I feel Xiaomi’s telephoto lens is unsurpassed.
