Asus ZenFone 8 camera setup - is it any good?

Few days after the Asus ZenFone 8 unboxing we test its cameras - 8k video performance and sample photos

We had the Asus ZenFone 8 for couple of days now and we decided it is time for a full camera test - front selfie and rear dual-camera setup. We will share with you video samples in Full HD, 4k and 8k, as well as some sample photos. 

 

But before we proceed, here are the main details about all of the ZenFone 8 cameras:

Asus ZenFone 8 cameras - main specifications

Rear (main) camera specs

Main Camera : Sony® flagship IMX686 64 MP image sensor - 1/1.73” large sensor size, 0.8 µm pixel size. F1.8 aperture.

Main Camera:

Sony® flagship IMX686 64 MP image sensor - 1/1.7" large sensor size, 0.8 µm pixel size

Quad Bayer technology - 16 MP, 1.6 µm large effective pixel size

F1.8 aperture

26.6 mm equivalent focal length in 35 mm film camera

78.3° field of view

2x1 On-chip-lens phase detection autofocus

4-axis, optical image stabilization

LED flash

Instant cameras switching

Ultrawide Camera:

Sony® flagship IMX363 12 MP dual pixel image sensor - 1/2.55" sensor size, 1.4 µm pixel size

F2.2 aperture

Dual PD autofocus

Real-time distortion correction

14.3 mm equivalent focal length in 35 mm film camera

Supports 4 cm macro shot

Ultrawide Camera : Sony® flagship IMX363 12 MP dual pixel image sensor - 1/2.55” sensor size, 1.4 µm pixel size. F2.2 aperture

Rear camera modes:

Photo, Portrait, Pro (RAW file support, up to 32 seconds long exposure), Panorama, Night

Front selfie camera specs

Sony® flagship IMX663 12 MP dual pixel image sensor

1.22µm pixel size

Dual PD autofocus

Front camera modes:

Photo, Portrait

As you can see there is some pretty serious hardware on board with the premium sensors. Some consumers may be disappointed by the fact that there is only a dual-camera setup in the rear. 

On the other hand the 4-axis image stabilization is a big plus for videographers. 

Asus ZenFone 8 Full HD video test

Now lets check the first video test that we have prepared for you - Full HD video from the main rear camera:

As you can see, even the lower Full HD resolution shows very good detail and the video is perfectly usable. It is also very stable thanks to the 4-axis optical image stabilization. Overall, very good results in artificial light in Full HD by the ZenFone 8.

Asus ZenFone 8 4k video test

Now it is time for the resolution that will probably be used most of the time, video in 4k:

Just like in Full HD the test in 4k showed that ZenFone 8 has a lot of potential in terms of videography. The video has enough detail and autofocus works relatively well but we will need to test it with multiple moving objects and see how it performs in such more complicated scenarios. 

Asus ZenFone 8 8k video test (max resolution)

This clip was kind of hard to render and playback on the devices we tested. To be honest we weren't blown away by the quality of the 8k video but that might be due to the fact that we don't have a monitor that currently supports 8k resolution to see the real benefits of this mode. We are not sure if many of the ZenFone 8 owners will really use the 8k video mode or it is there more for marketing purposes.

Now lets take a closer look at the sample images that we took with both the selfie and the main rear camera.

Asus ZenFone 8 cameras - sample photos

First of all lets check how the main dual camera performed outdoors in the dark part of the day (not night though):

Here we see big issues related to proper focusing. This image was taken with the main 64MP rear camera. As you can see from this image the cat is totally out of focus while leaf and grass is on focus with high detail. Now lets see another one with the flash turned on: 

On this one the cat is already in good focus but not sure if that is related to the flash at all or just the camera interface detected the main object better.

Now lets take a look at an indoor image, on bright artificial light taken with the main 64MP sensor:

On this image the Sony sensor really shows its good qualities - good detail, nicely focused and natural colors are all present in this image.

And now lets take a closer look at the selfie camera performance:

Again, the images are made in bright artificial light and results are good but I wouldn't put them among the best in class.

These are most of the sample images and videos we did with the ZenFone 8 these days. We will definitely test the cameras in more situations and different conditions and of course share the results.

Asus ZenFone 8 - unboxing and first impressions