How can I make the camera quality better on the A16?

[squrb647]

How do I make the camera quality really good on the a16?

[meself]

I would use the 50mp and night mode should be automatic

[Mogay]

take picture with your desired resolution and ratio then edit it with Lightroom

[maird]

Look for the specs of each camera for your device, an AI search engine like Google Gemini or equivaleent is usually accurate. You particulary want to to know the focal length, optical zoom range, field of view and sensor resolution of each camera/lens.

Always shoot within only the optical zoom range defined for the camera (for example, 2 of cameras of the S25 Ultra have no optical zoom so are best used with no zoom to get maximum sensor resolution images - usually best for cropping).

Do your own cropping of subject images from any scene rather than using zoom on the phone app that goes beyond the optical zoom range. The Photos app is usually sufficient for cropping, always use any option to save your cropped image as a copy rather than save over the original.

Always prefer the sensor with the highest resolution while considering the following points.

Treat lenses with a focal length (from the AI query I suggested first) between about 24mm and 50mm as equivalent to SLR standard lenses but only if the field of view is less than 100 degrees. Get close to your subject when shooting, often no more than two to ten feet. Crop your preferred subject/scene from the frame scene.

Treat cameras/lenses with 100 degrees or more field of view and focal length 30mm or lower as wide angle lenses and only shoot long range, wide view subjects such as landscapes. They can work as an alternative to a standard lens but they tend to have optical distortion that works better for long distance scenes such as landscapes.

Any cameras/lenses with a focal length longer than 50mm treat as a telephoto, use the one with the largest sensor resolution and stay within the optical zoom range then do your own cropping of preferred subject/scene in another app, the Photos app is probably sufficient.

A camera/lens intended for "macro" use should generally be used for very close subjects, a few inches or less.

NB: These aren't "rules" for the "only" way to use the cameras. They are just a decent starting point for considering the scene you want to shoot.

[squrb647]

Should I enable scene optimizer on the 12mp

[meself]

Choose minimum

[maird]

I agree with minimal settings if using the scene optimizer. Be the artist yourself instead. IOW, you optimize the scene based on your intentions. The device's automated approach has no awareness of your goals and will have rather a lot of corner cases where it will damage the frames that are your goals. It will do you good to experiment with it and learn it's limits but until you know them minimal use is best on your real shots. Plus even cropping out of a 50MP sensor frame will often leave you with better results than from a 12MP sensor anyway.

[maird]

I'll add that if you care enough to want to get the best from your device cameras then it will do a lot of good to start learning the skills, art and techniques of photography in general. I'm not suggesting you "study" hard but if you consider some of the terms and behaviors I mentioned in the general post about choosing and using your device cameras well then it can do no harm to explore what those terms really mean and see where it takes you, as your time permits.