5 Ways to Use the Samsung Galaxy Note 9 AI Camera

One of the most notable features of the Note 9 camera is the Artificial Intelligence (AI) capabilities that allow for unique scene detection. When using either the front or rear-facing cameras with Scene Optimization, the camera will automatically sample the subject and environment to determine the best settings for the picture. It adjusts those settings – things like exposure, contrast, brightness, and white balance – to help capture the best pictures possible.

While many of the features mentioned in this article were introduced in the Samsung Galaxy S9 phones, the AI addition that comes with Scene Optimization is new with the Note 9 camera array. 

Scene Optimization has 20 different modes, allowing the camera to accurately adjust color, temperature, white balance, and other settings so you get the best picture possible every time. Those modes include:

• Portrait
• Flowers
• Indoors
• Animals
• Landscape
• Greenery
• Trees
• Skies
• Mountains
• Beaches
• Sunrises
• Sunsets
• Watersides (flowing water)
• Street
• Night
• Snow
• Birds
• Waterfalls
• Text

 To  enable or disable Scene Optimization:

1. Open the camera app and tap the Settings gear icon.
2. Tap Scene Optimization to toggle it on or off. Blue is on; gray is off.

Once turned on, when you're taking pictures in Auto mode, you'll notice an icon appears in the middle at the bottom of the image. This indicates what type of Scene the camera lens has detected.

Don't you hate it when you think you got the perfect shot, only to realize someone blinked or the image is a little blurry? Samsung's Flaw Detection capability helps alert you to the kind of flaws capable of ruining an otherwise perfect picture. 

With Flaw Detection turned on, when you snap a picture and if something is a little off, you'll receive a notification so you can retake the picture before you lose the perfect shot.

To enable Flaw Detection:

1. Open the camera app and tap the Settings gear icon.
2. In Camera Settings scroll down to the Common section.
3. Tap Flaw detection to toggle it on or off. Blue is on; gray is off.

The Note 9 camera setup also includes some useful mode options. Notable among those options are:

• Pro: Allows for manual adjustment of settings including ISO, f-stop, White balance, and more.
• Super Slow-mo: Designates an on-screen frame to capture a subject in super slow-mo when it enters that frame.
• Slow-motion: Automatically captures video in slow motion.
• Hyper-lapse: Creates a time-lapse video of longer duration action scenes.
• AR Emoji: Allows you to create an animated emoji from a selfie. You can then use the emoji when taking selfies.

As with most Note 9 camera features, you can enable or disable these Camera Modes in your camera settings.

1. Open the camera and tap the Settings gear icon.
2. Scroll to the Common section and tap Edit camera modes.
3. Tap Rear camera to edit the mode options for the rear camera, or tap Front camera to edit the mode options for the front camera.
4. When you find an option you want to enable, tap the circle to the left of the mode name and a blue checkmark should appear in the circle. This indicates the feature is On. Tap it again to remove the checkmark and turn the option Off.
5. You can also arrange the order in which the Scene Modes appear on your camera. Tap, hold, and drag any option up or down the screen to change its order.

Note: Editing the Camera mode options will not disable that scene for the Scene Optimization option. The different scenes in Scene Optimization cannot be enabled or disabled.

Once you have your camera modes set the way you want them, switching between options is as simple as tapping the camera mode on the top of the screen when you have your camera open. 

Super Slow-mo is a feature available on other Samsung Galaxy phones, but it's still a fun feature to use. When enabled, a highlighted box appears on your camera screen. When a subject or object moves into the box, a short clip of Super slow-mo video is captured. The full video clip is very short – only about 14 seconds long – and the super slow motion part of the clip is only 2-4 seconds long, but it's a fun option for catching a few seconds of entertaining video.

You can also turn those super slow-mo videos into GIFs that Loop, play in Reverse, or Swing. To adjust these settings:

1. Open the video in the Gallery.
2. Tap the three-dot menu in the upper right corner, then tap Details.
3. Choose the desired option and then tap Save.
4. You're prompted to save it as a GIF or an MP4 file. Choose the desired option and the video is saved.

Another feature of the Samsung smartphone camera is the Slow Motion option. Similar to Super Slow-mo, this option lets you take slow motion video. The differences are that in the slow-motion option, the entire video is shot in slow motion, you can record up to 30 minutes of video, and you can choose the section of the video you want to appear in slow motion.

Note: In both Super Slow-mo and Slow Motion, you can capture still images from the video. During playback, tap the screen to see the editing controls. When you want to take a picture, tap the image icon in the upper left corner of the image screen.