Gadgetory

here it is folks the most complete most formidable mobile video production platform available today you will find no better combination of hardware and software to produce high quality moving images happily what makes the phone so strong for video also translates into producing some great stills and in one generation LG has migrated from mid-pack lens performance to one of the sharpest we've ever reviewed this camera shines as soon as the user guides the phone just a little adjusting exposure white balance or even audio output improves dramatically for all the excitement seeing LG addressed some long criticized pain points the v30 will still probably disappoint those who only shoot full auto better than its predecessor but competitors are likely to deliver juicier more crowd pleasing Auto HDR shots not to mention this phone has one of the poorest selfie shooters we've handled on a flagship this year but you really won't want to ever use that front camera when the rear cameras are so stinking good do you want to see how we arrived at this conclusion well here's our in-depth examination LG v 30 real camera review the v30 carries on in the tradition of the g6 before it using a smaller main image sensor than the v20 but increasing the aperture and now bragging about a new glass lens element to improve light transmission and clarity the second sensor boasts an ultra wide field of view instead of a zoom it's a more flexible arrangement especially when capturing landscape shots but omits the fancy image processing background blur modes found on competitors looking at exposure and saturation the v30 is a capable performer in auto mode though LG's main aesthetic tends towards a lighter touch on saturation images might land a bit duller than some folks are used to in a climate where HDR modes rule even Apple is adding a bit more color to the iPhone 8 LG feels a step behind consumer trends happily the exposure works hand-in-hand with the restraint saturation to prevent blowing out colors in brighter conditions especially reds and pinks and direct sun we're only seeing saturation clipping in the brightest patches and tiny details are very well retained ditto a white flower in direct Sun look at all that wonderful petal texture even with the camera slightly over exposing on Auto this is very well done this output is an absolute joy to work with for those folks who don't mind a little editing or like to apply some filters the white balance in Auto plays nicely with warm California afternoon light just enough of an adjustment to reflect the scene but stopping short of altering color too far sidewalks for example are not looking orange so the phone is still trying to maintain a more accurate sense of object color with just a hint of information from the lighting it's a competent balance though personally I prefer weighting lighting information more than object information on finish' JPEGs but of course your tastes will vary and digging into a raw file purposely overexposed to stops as the phone meters we can rescue a lot of information walking it back to into third stops though we can't quite recover the texture of this wall this is about par for the course on flagships this year and users can expect a healthy safety net when editing RAW images and those RAW files become even more impressive examining LG's claims over lens quality this glass is gorgeous compared to the v20 it's almost like we're using some kind of structure and contrast filter on all shots only that detail exists for real it's sharp it's clear and there's less flaring at night just look at those crisp lines of light coming off street lamps this is excellent performance we were concerned seeing the sensor size shrink but the lens and aperture work together to match top flagship performance background blur almost just matches the Galaxy s8 and note eight elements in the background are nice to leave blurred and on a personal note I do like the slightly softer bouquet balls from the V 30 compared to the iPhone 8 which uses the same sized sensor LG walks away with a victory in isolating a close-up subject the super wide aperture can create some issues for macro shots however like Samsung's cameras this year the depth of field is so shallow and focus falls off so fast that your subject will likely look soft or ghosty around the edges the inevitable trade-off with such a wide aperture now looking at the zoom the V 30 is easily the most versatile shooter of the year the ultra wide is pulled from the g6 which we also praised and remember when we could make the horizon smile on the V 20 yeah that doesn't happen anymore there is still some barrel distortion to be sure but it tends to lend a dramatic flair to your image instead of making your shots feel stretched or warped not having a zoom sensor just doesn't feel like much of a compromise matching the field of view of the note 8 zoom sensor at two times zoom images look comparable and at the farthest end of each phone zoom Samsung wins but not by much Plus at night both phones will resort to using the main sensor for zoom so you won't find much benefit in lower light conditions and speaking of low-light shots we mostly see improvements with a few frustrating compromises when in normal mode LG's image processing still delivers some terrible edgy almost wormy noise a new noise reduction filter improves output dramatically but the scanning process will increase the time you need to hold still it's not difficult getting good night shots out of this camera but it certainly doesn't come off as effortlessly as a pixel while it's not my favorite candidate shooter in low-light again I have to point to the lens quality delivering a texture and look for photos which is really compelling taking a quick look in autofocus LG has well improved focus speed no longer has the smooth rolling rack focus effect but will likely please consumers for feeling more responsive just nipping at the heels of Samsung's dual pixel shooters likewise LG's HDR performance has improved over the v20 but the capture method still feels slow compared to the top image processors of the year shadows are nicely boosted without wrecking highlights in most scenarios but moving objects can often create a little ghosting or blurring panorama image stitching is well better than average still some small stutters in a really busy environment but pieced together excellently even down to these power lines which have frustrated numerous other phones but now we get to the huge weak link of the phone as a camera the selfie shooter is one of the worst we've reviewed on a flagship phone this year the auto exposure is frustrating the output is dull and lifeless the video isn't much better we'd highly highly recommend learning how to shoot your selfies from the rear camera I've done a lot of vlogging from the v30 it's way better from the back cameras trust me switching over to video that's what this phone excels at looking at the high bitrate 2160p with full control over every aspect of the exposure the same philosophy for photos is employed where exposure and saturation are generally reined in for auto mode shots it looks very good on its own but this kind of image processing is handy for folks who might need to edit or blend footage from other sources it really is good this idea has pushed LG to a new high by including their own sin a log file this is a flat image which looks pretty bad out of the camera but is intended for editors to color correct and apply their own filters in contrast we've never seen anything like this from a phone manufacturer and while I'm absolutely terrible at color grading on more of an audio guy this kind of feature can really come in handy for folks who care about nailing a specific look or feel and looking at low-light shots I'm happy to see LG's restraint that the camera produces video that more closely resembles the scene than trying to impress users with overexposed bright vibrant images a little graininess can look good too much grain because you wanted to boost the brightness will wreak a night video we can also take a closer look at image stabilization LG has done a great job reining in some of the jello of the v20 videos still have a little busyness and a few shots where I'm trying to hold still got ugly jittery but on the whole this is a nice improvement shifting down to 1080p enables a software stabilization but I still don't like this combo the lens is moving warping the scene and the software tries to crop to match the frame so the final output is worse in my opinion then only hardware or software stabilization case in point the wide-angle lens is not Hardware stabilized and only using software by itself this looks pretty good good video is made all the better bike good audio and this is another area where LG has made significant improvements over a very short period of time the V 30 loses the ability to tune microphone direction but retains gain low-cut filtering and leveling in addition to high AOP microphones the receiver as mic feature turns the top earpiece into another microphone for loud environments like a busy beer garden in Germany or when you shove your phone into your studio monitors at maximum gain I had to wear ear plugs this was way too loud in a world where iPhones and pixels record mono audio this is another area where LG delivers top-tier performance and professional control a slow motion is a fun feature to play with but it's only modestly improved over previous LG's so it's fine but if you really enjoy high frame rates you'll be better served by a pixel iPhone or a Sony lastly looking at the app while this is an incredibly feature complete performer losing the ticker display from the v10 and 20 means the app has to hide more settings in software the app layout is more cluttered and some choices are a bit frustrating modes now slide over in one big menu but even though we have plenty of real estate for color filters and a switch for the selfie camera which is duplicated with a gesture LG still hides the HDR toggle under the app settings like Samsung this year I think that's a mistake also LG has followed Samsung and adding a zoom rocker to the shutter button I hate this the feel is super finicky and like my experiences on the note and s8 I missed numerous shots because my finger might slide slightly instead of a great burst of photos that I can turn into a cool jiff I assume and no shots are taken lame this is super lame that said it is worth reiterating that this is the best layout for manual controls we've ever used the quick reset for exposure is better implemented and performance on the snapdragon 835 is generally snappier than last year's phone though still with a bit of lag on starting a video in all its fantastically functional but like a lot of LG software we wish it were just a little cleaner to navigate there you have it folks the v-series are absolute monsters and the v30 continues a tradition of manual mode excellent pair it up with a video editing app and you have the absolute best mobile production device available today happily we do see improvements to auto modes and consumer friendly features but folks who only want to interact with a shutter button will probably be better served elsewhere that said if you wanted to learn a little about improving your photos and videos the V 30 would be a killer platform to use as always thanks so much for watching be sure to subscribe to this channel for more reviews like these and help us out with a share on your favorite social networks for pocket now I'm Juan Carlos bag now some gadget guy on Twitter and Instagram and I will catch you all on the next review