Smartphones keep getting smarter

YOU DON’T need to be an expert statistician or industry analyst to see how smartphones have seriously dented camera sales. Shipments of cameras with interchangeable lenses peaked at 121.5 million units in 2010 but slumped to 25 million in 2017 according to the Camera & Imaging Products Association (CIPA), and phones are behind much of this.

There’s hope that the brace of exciting full-frame mirrorless camera releases this year may help digital camera sales to bottom out, but at the same time, some seriously powerful smartphone cameras have been released over the past 12 months.

Chinese maker Huawei is on an extraordinary run of form, with its P20 Pro in particular impressing our testing team with its 16mm ultra-wideangle lens, 27mm standard lens and 80mm optically stabilised telephoto lens, alongside its effective special shooting modes and well- designed app.

Huawei’s meteoric rise has seen it jump from virtually unknown just a couple of years ago to claiming second place in global smartphone sales, despite being effectively locked out of the huge US market.

Google is also piling on the pressure to the conventional camera market with its excellent Pixel 3 XL, featuring a stabilised 12.2MP f/1.8 rear camera capable of delivering outstanding images, high-resolution screen and outstanding image processing.

Then there’s Samsung. August saw the release of the Galaxy Note 9, sporting a scene-optimiser feature that works out the optimal white balance and colour based on a 20-subject database; you can also take pictures using the supplied S Pen stylus. While Apple may be having to work harder, the iPhone’s popularity shouldn’t be underestimated. The iPhone XS, released in September, features a powerful dual 12MP camera and outstanding ease of use.

However well received their mirrorless cameras, Canon, Nikon, Fujifilm and others cannot afford to rest on their laurels in 2019.

Huawei is pushing its smartphones hard in Europe, and getting good PR from its partnership with Leica