Photojournalists from The Straits Times will use the Samsung Galaxy Note10+ to capture moments from the National Day Parade today, in the first such collaboration between the newspaper and Samsung.
Seven photojournalists will use the latest smartphone model launched by the South Korean tech giant yesterday in lieu of the usual digital single-lens reflex (DSLR) cameras to shoot highlights of the parade.
One of them is Mr Kua Chee Siong, who has covered the parade more than 10 times and will use a smartphone to take snapshots of the event for the first time in his 19-year career.
Mr Kua, 45, said using a mobile phone to photograph the parade was "refreshing" and a new challenge for him.
He said the limitation of a smartphone is its built-in camera lens. A DSLR allows the photographer to switch lenses and get different focal lengths.
"However, with some creative image compositions, I'm able to get great shots too," he said.
"The automatic mode is quite accurate so most of the time, I just let the camera select all the settings so I can concentrate on getting the right composition and moment."
One advantage a smartphone has over a DSLR is weight, he said, adding that the digital camera might be less convenient for someone like him, who has to be highly mobile to take snapshots of the parade.
A smartphone is also "less intrusive" for a subject who would otherwise be more self-conscious when faced with a DSLR, making it easier for the photographer to take different angles of a profile, he said.
As for taking photos at night, he said the smartphone's night mode feature was able to give realistic colours and tones to an otherwise dull scene.
The colours still look natural even though they have been enhanced, he added.
The veteran photojournalist had a tip for the layman using a smartphone to photograph the parade - you should play around with the camera's functions beforehand to be familiar with the different features and thus be able to execute the desired shot quickly and easily.
"This way, even seemingly difficult shots, like capturing quick moving objects like fighter planes, would not be a problem," he said.
