In pictures, Motorola has chosen a triple photo sensor consisting of a 50 Mpx wide-angle module, the lens of which opens at f/1.8. It is accompanied by a 50 Mpx ultra wide angle (f / 2.2) and a depth sensor of 2 Mpx (f / 2.4). A configuration very similar to the Nothing Phone (1).
Main module: 50 MP, f/1.8
The main photo module in the Edge 30 surprises. It focuses very clearly on the accentuation of details, especially visible on the cartography and the outlines of the book. The result lacks softness and naturalness, especially since the textures for some are instead smoothed out. This is the case on the cover of the book. We also notice a tendency to overexposure and a colorimetry that lacks accuracy: if some patterns show very bright colors, others are particularly desaturated. The Nothing Phone (1), which we placed the device next to, gives a result that is certainly less contrasty, but overall much fairer.
The highlighting of the contours combined with smoothing is even more significant in low light. Readability is favored at the expense of textures, which almost completely disappear. The set suffers from an unfortunately artificial reproduction.
50 MP mode
By default, the Edge 30 shoots in 12.5 megapixels thanks to the technology for pixel binding. It is of course possible to take pictures in full definition, i.e. 50 megapixels, by selecting the dedicated mode in the application interface.
During the day there is a small gain in detail, but above all better control of colorimetry. In the full picture, we see that the previously very desaturated patterns have been given beautiful colors here. It’s much less obvious in the dark, where this mode will only be used to resize images.
Ultra-wide-angle module: 50 Mpx, f/2.2
The smartphone’s ultra-wide-angle module follows the same path as the main module. Understand that the smartphone tends to greatly highlight the contours of large elements, although slightly less than the wide-angle module. It smooths out textures more and provides better controlled exposure. As is often the case, a slight distortion occurs in the corners of an image, which unfortunately has difficulty matching the reproduction offered by the phone (1).
The picture speaks for itself. In low light, the software processing delivers solid colors mixed with digital noise. They eliminate most of the details in the image, which is not very useful as a whole.
It is also possible to take pictures in 50 megapixels in the dedicated mode. The information collected lacks detail, day and night: it is better to be satisfied with pixel binding.
Front module, portrait and video mode
A 32 Mpx sensor whose lens opens at f / 2.3 is placed in front. Selfies are convincing and quite detailed, provided you have enough light. It gets more complicated again at night, although night mode can really help in some cases.
The smartphone is capable of filming in 4K at 30 frames per second. The result is convincing and the sharpness very good. Those used to the saturated colors of the competition may bemoan an overall colorimetry that lacks a little intensity. The microphone for video recording on the Edge 20 has unfortunately disappeared.