The ASUS Transformer Infinity surprised me in several ways. I was pleasantly surprised by the weight, the styling and the features, as highlighted in previous posts, and I have been delighted by photography as well. The rear 8MP camera has a much faster aperture than previous models along with some tweaks and fine tuning that deliver decent images for photography on the go.
Ever since I saw a professional photographer friend of mine take astonishingly good shots on their smartphone, I have believed that it is possible to achieve photographic greatness regardless of the device you’re using. The true power lies in the subject and in the eye of the photographing beholder. While the ASUS Transformer Infinity weighs more than a smartphone and is, let’s face it, more unwieldy, the photography is quick and sharp.
The 8MP rear camera boasts a faster F2.2 aperture – up from the F2.4 of previous models – and dynamic auto-focus as well as a wider field of view. The latter was increased by 16% and both the CMOS sensor and flash LED have undergone some fine tuning too.
So, I hear you ask, what does this actually mean? To start with let’s look at the aperture speed of F2.2 on the ASUS Transformer Infinity. The aperture is the pupil of the camera, it reacts to the light and adjust accordingly and the larger the aperture, the shallower your depth of field. In the case of the Infinity, you have a large aperture with a shallow depth of field so you do need to work with that to create good shots. This type of shot will isolate a subject and make it stand out against a blurred background, for example, making it brilliant for subject shots or portrait shots.
Check out this shot that I took on the ASUS Transformer Infinity using the Instagram app. It came out like a complete and utter dream.
I have found that the ASUS Transformer Infinity camera is easy to use, responsive and one of the best on a tablet in the current market. I find the responsiveness to be a key feature here as well as the fact that the Infinity takes shots comfortably both in sun and shade. Other tablets have delivered excessively dark shots in shaded areas or over-exposed shots in the sun whereas the Transformer Infinity tends to grab these distinctions well for decent shots that don’t need too much work. This is largely due to the improved CMOS that reduces grain and improves image clarity in low-light environments.
The shots are not perfect and you won’t get the calibre of the latest digital giant and it’s thousands of settings, but as a device that can grab shots of landmarks and special moments without rendering them too dark or bright, this is a winner. In fact, as I staggered across London, trying to avoid one Olympic dead end after another, the built-in map and the quick instant camera snap saved the day…
Mrs Mario
Mrs.Mario is a freelance journalist who loves to write about anything and everything. She accidentally fell into the cauldron of technology about eight years ago and has been slowly simmering in there ever since. She’s a geek but still has tons to learn about the wonderful world of technology. She also suffers from a rare disease known as “need to game” that demands it’s sufferers play at least one videogame a week. So far, she’s been coping with her ailment admirably.