I turned my phone into a camera and I don’t want to go back

DT English journalist Andy Boxall reviewed the phototypeset, which can be purchased for Xiaomi 14 Ultra and here he leaves us a very interesting chronicle.

The Xiaomi 14 Ultra has one of the best cameras I’ve ever used on a mobile phone, but Xiaomi also sells something that could make it even better. It’s called the Photography Kit, and it’s an expensive set of accessories that further enhances your phone’s camera.

I used it and although I felt disappointed at first, I soon discovered one thing that makes this photography kit unique, exciting and amazing. In fact, it’s so different that it will change the way I think about phone camera accessories in the future.

A unique accessory for your phone

Photography kit Xiaomi It consists of a phone case, a handle that attaches to one end and connects to a USB-C port, and a pair of rings surrounding the massive camera module. Inside the grip is a 1500 mAh battery, a two-stage physical shutter release, a zoom level switch, a video shortcut button, and an adjustment wheel. There is a lock on the side that prevents the handle from accidentally slipping off the phone.

At first, this seems like a way to increase the size and weight of an already massive phone, as it suddenly becomes at least three times thicker and the weight jumps from 220 grams to 340 grams. The two-stage shutter is a little interesting as it helps determine what the camera is focusing on, but I didn’t encounter a situation where it wasn’t focusing correctly. The zoom dial is set to increase by 0.2 with each rotation, so from 1.0 to 1.2x, 1.4x, 1.6x and so on. It’s a bit slow, and given the 3.2x and 5x optical zoom, it takes a long time to get there.

I like the quick access to the camera when pressing the shutter button, and the 1500mAh battery is very useful. I was taking photos and using my phone for several hours in one day and my phone battery died. further charge me more when I got home than when I left.

But none of these things are transformative. I could use any battery to keep the battery charged while I’m taking photos, and double-pressing the power button on the phone already quickly launches the camera app.

How much does it cost?

The Xiaomi photography kit costs £180, or about $227, and that’s on top of the already expensive Xiaomi 14 Ultra, which costs the same as the Xiaomi model. Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra in the United Kingdom. That’s a lot of money spent on a glorified case, a couple of buttons, a very small battery and quite a bit of extra girth. It doesn’t make the photos any better either.

It got better when I looked at the camera’s capture settings. You can change the zoom focus dial to switch between 1x, 2x, 3.2x and 5x, which makes it much more useful. The adjustment wheel changes EV by default, but can be changed to aperture, shutter speed, ISO, white balance, bokeh and, interestingly, focus. These things help tailor the camera experience to suit your preferences, making it more useful.

But I started to feel that it wouldn’t improve the already fantastic camera of the Xiaomi 14 Ultra in any significant way. It didn’t change the photography or the creative process, just the workflow. But using physical buttons instead of a touchscreen and sliders comes at the expense of portability and convenience. I was wondering if the Xiaomi 14 Ultra camera has reached its peak and the photography kit is nothing more than a fancy case for it. But he was about to find out how wrong he was.

Filter forever

The photo kit contains two rings that screw into the frame of the camera module of the body. One is decorative, and the second is an adapter for a 67 mm filter, designed for installing full-size cameras on it. These glass or plastic discs change the way light enters and interacts with the camera and are commonly used in DSLR cameras. But they are not at all typical for smartphones, where the word “filter” means something completely different.

Smartphones really introduced me to the joys of photography, and although I knew about camera lens filters, I never had much experience with them. Intrigued, I bought a simple polarizing filter that helps better control reflections, contrast and color in difficult lighting and tried it out. I found that in the right situation it can make a dramatic difference to photos taken with the Xiaomi 14 Ultra.

This was the transformative feature I was looking for in phototypesetting. I realize that what follows next will sound like “Man discovered a polarizing filter and was impressed,” which is not surprising to any experienced photographer who has used one in the past. But for anyone who’s only ever dabbled in mobile photography, the changes will seem dramatic and the prospect of using a filter will be creatively appealing.

The photos speak for themselves

It’s almost hard to believe that the following photos were taken with the same smartphone camera, one after the other, on the same day, and I didn’t edit the images or apply any digital filters to them. You’re looking at photos taken straight from the Xiaomi 14 Ultra, except one of them was taken with a physical polarizing filter in front of the lenses.

A photograph of a lake instantly reveals the benefits of a polarizing filter: richer, brighter, more natural colors, as well as a different level of exposure that makes the clouds more saturated and the water clearer. The second photo, showing the car’s steering wheel, helps the camera better cope with the conditions, exposing the frame in a way that makes colors appear more natural and captures more detail.

Because a polarizer helps minimize reflections, it is ideal for photographing reflective surfaces such as the body of a car. Watch as harsh body reflections are removed, revealing depth of color, interior color through the windshield, and even the iridescent effect of the headlight cover.

This is not always successful and it is necessary to experiment and understand where the polarizer works best, as the final image shows. The original photo is much better, while the polarized photo is blurry and has unrealistic colors, making it look like it was taken with a different, much worse camera. A filter isn’t something you can leave on your camera and expect it to enhance every photo, but if done correctly the results can be fantastic.

After this I want more

Again, I understand how this sounds to anyone who has a regular camera and is familiar with filters. But on a smartphone, it’s a unique and interesting alternative to software filters and editing. My short time using the filters with the Xiaomi photography kit left me wanting more, and I’m wondering if something like Ulanzi’s MagSafe Filter Adapter Ring for iPhone would work in the same way. I would also like to see other manufacturers pushing camera features to find creative ways to implement filters in the future.

The buttons and battery of the Xiaomi Photography Kit are not sufficient reasons to buy it, but the adapter ring is. No other major smartphone manufacturer today gives you the option to use standard lens filters on top of the camera, but by doing this, Xiaomi is enhancing what’s so good about the Xiaomi 14 Ultra’s camera in the first place: its ability to encourage creativity through versatility and features . This is the reason why I think this is one of the best camera phones I have ever used.