Shenzhen and Beijing have two things in common: they are endless and both have been the perfect setting for two mobile presentations that have photography in the spotlight. He Vivo X300 Pro hit first, betting on a very long zoom to capture every last detail of the highest roof. The Realme GT8 Pro arrived later with a contrary argument: “Take me out on the street and start taking photos.”. Realme’s new high-end has been an open secret for weeks and I’ve already had it in my hands for a few days. But with one condition: I can’t talk about the phone, only its main camera. The reason? They have not presented the mobilebut an agreement with a striking camera brand: RICOH. And below I’ll tell you my first impressions of the Realme GT8 Pro camera. Technical specifications of the Realme GT8 Pro? Maybe they are the strangest first impressions I have ever made because… I can’t tell you about the cell phone. In fact, any detail is extremely generic: screen that occupies the entire front, an imitation of the Dynamic Island of the iPhone that Realme has been implementing for some time in its models and a design with flat sides. Photo: Xataka There was a rule: you cannot remove the case, you cannot remove the sticker that covers the camera module. Because I can’t, I can’t even tell you what hardware it has because the characteristics in ‘Settings’ are falsified. What I can tell you is that it has a periscopic telephoto, a wide angle and a main camera. And I’m going to get into it now because it is the jewel in the crown (beyond a power and battery that, if they follow in the wake of the Realme GT7 Prowill be rubbing shoulders with the best mobile phones of 2025). Realme GT8 Pro: a mobile phone made for the street “The collaboration with RICOH to create the Realme GT8 Pro goes beyond a union of brands.” Also about specifications: RICOH has overseen all aspects of the camera’s hardware and software. In the presentation of the agreement (because the mobile phone has not yet been officially presented), the Chinese company made it clear that the differentiating point of the new terminal is the main camera. Photo: Xataka It has a wide angle, it has a telephoto, it will surely mount the latest from Qualcomm, but the protagonist is the result of a very close collaboration between the Chinese and Japanese brands. Megapixels? Why do you want to know that (it’s not official). Focal? 23mm. Opening? 1.8. Does that matter? Not the slightest. Let me explain. Entering the Realme GT8 Pro camera app is like doing so in any mobile camera app: a carousel of options that are overwhelming in some cases and processing that feels excessive in some aspects. However, the secret is if we slide our finger down on the shutter button: this way we access the RICOH GR mode very, very quickly. Photo: Xataka To give some context, RICOH is a company that makes very compact cameras, ideal for street photography. They have specialized in fast focus cameras, silent shooting and ‘stealth’ modes to go unnoticed in the urban jungle. Also by 28 mm or 40 mm fixed focal lengths, depending on the model. Entering that GR mode directly activates the 28mmbut it is not a real focal length: it is a small cutout of the sensor to go from the native 23 mm to that RICOH-type focal length. It is not the only one: we also have a 40 mm (which would be a 1.8x crop of the sensor) and if we tap on the 28 mm and 40 mm icons, two more distances are added. That is, in practice the main camera is: 23mm in normal mode 28mm in GR mode 35mm in GR mode 40mm in GR mode 50mm, or 2x, in GR mode I imagine at least the 50mm or 2x will also be available in the regular camera app, but it wasn’t available on my test unit. As soon as you enter GR mode, the shutter changes to mimic that of a RICOH and the 28mm and 40mm crops are activated. Photo: Xataka The use is very intuitive and there are other things that change a lot in this GR mode. To start, the colors. We have several filters typical RICOH tonal variations. As in its day with Apple ringtones, It’s not about filters. In fact, from Realme they commented that “People are tired of filters that make all photos look the same”. What they have done is work with RICOH to apply their color science to photo processing. Auto mode. The defendant wants everything to look “good” in the photo. Photo: Xataka GR mode. More (coughs and fixes his bow tie) cinematic. Photo: Xataka Thus, there are tones that vary slightly, opting for a more bluish tone in elements such as shadows, but in addition the processing does not enhance the shadows to the extreme nor does it apply aggressive HDR (in normal mode, yes). And we have five default color profiles that are based on the technical characteristics that RICOH has set. GR mode profiles. Photo: Xataka Within each “color recipe”, we can create our own, modifying parameters such as tone, contrast, exposure or black level to create a unique profile that adapts to what we like. And they stay stored, something that I loved. Apart from the color profiles and focal lengths, the GR mode allows you to save in the usual JPG, JPG+RAW and RAW, but something else: modify the focus point to leave it fixed. Within each profile, we can customize parameters. Photo: Xataka We have several options here and, basically, it is about making the mobile even faster in its point & shoot function. A practical example: if I am shooting at everything in front of me, be it close-ups or panoramic shots, I can leave the focus on auto so that the phone … Read more
