Bird Breakfast

As my wife and I walked along Panorama Drive in San Diego neighborhood University Heights, she pointed out mourning doves gathered to feed. I stopped, pulled out Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra, and captured the Featured Image. Vitals: f/4.9, ISO 50, 1/640 sec, 230mm (film equivalent); 9:27 a.m. PST, today.

The shot demonstrates some of the benefits and limitations of the smartphone’s 10x-optical zoom lens. Having such capability and reach in a device carried in the pocket is amazingly convenient. That said, image quality is nothing close to what a real camera produces. So, please, no pixel-peeping. You will be disappointed.

Samsung is expected to launch the Galaxy S24 Ultra sometime during the next few weeks. I hope the rumors about default 24-megapixels versus the current 12MP are true. In examining 5x zoom 24MP shots coming from iPhone 15 Pro Max, that combination delivers more appealing photos than 10x at 12MP.