Most smartphone cameras do a miserable job of capturing the night, either introducing excessive noise or stripping away detail altogether. To address this, Samsung introduced Nightography a few years ago. With the Galaxy S26 Ultra, the company has delivered some significant refinements.
The three cameras on the back comprise a 200MP wide lens (2x optical-quality zoom, OIS, f/1.4), a 50MP telephoto (10x optical-quality zoom, 5x optical zoom, OIS, f/2.9) and a 50MP ultra-wide (f/1.9). The main camera now captures up to 47 per cent more light compared with last year’s model, while the telephoto lens takes in up to 37 per cent more light than before. There are no physical changes to the ultra-wide camera, but its image processing has been upgraded.
The new setup delivers clearer shots in the dark, even from a distance. One persistent problem with night photography has been softness. Zoom in and matters usually deteriorate further. Nightography aims to fix that. Even at 10x or 20x, lines appear sharper and better defined. Enhanced Nightography Video also keeps footage clearer and more vibrant in dim scenes, whether you are filming an indoor concert or recording moments around a campfire after sunset.
Video capture is further strengthened by upgraded Super Steady capabilities, now featuring a horizontal lock option for greater stability and more consistent framing.
Artificial intelligence plays a central role through Samsung’s AI ISP, which improves low-light processing. The enhancements extend to the selfie camera, delivering more natural skin tones and finer detail in mixed lighting conditions.
The S26 Ultra is also the first Galaxy device to support APV, a new professional video standard and codec designed to deliver efficient compression for high-quality production workflows.
APV, short for Advanced Professional Video, is built for capturing professional-grade footage. Despite its pro credentials, it is relatively light on resources. It compresses files intelligently while requiring minimal computational power — a balance that makes it particularly well suited to smartphones. For creators who take mobile videography seriously, this opens the door to visually lossless quality that holds up even after repeated editing.