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The National Geographic chooses the Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra as the first smartphone to film an underwater expedition

The Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra cuts a convincing figure in National Geographic's video. (Image source: NotebookCheck)
The Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra cuts a convincing figure in National Geographic's video. (Image source: NotebookCheck)
A new video published by National Geographic and Samsung has shown how far smartphones cameras have come on in the last few years. The Galaxy S21 Ultra is the first smartphone to be used to photograph and video an underwater expedition.

Samsung India and National Geographic have combined to carry out what they claim is the first underwater expedition filmed with a smartphone. Unsurprisingly, the pair used Samsung's current flagship smartphone, the Galaxy S21 Ultra. Not only can the handset record 8K videos at 24 FPS, but it also has a 108 MP primary camera that has a 1/1.33-inch sensor and an f/1.8 aperture.

The Galaxy S21 Ultra may be IP68 certified, but it is not waterproof enough to withstand an underwater expedition shown below. Nonetheless, the smartphone should withstand being submerged in up to 1.5 metres of water for 30 minutes, albeit only in freshwater. Saltwater is a different matter altogether, though. Unsurprisingly, National Geographic put the Galaxy S21 Ultra in a special underwater case for the expedition, although Samsung has not confirmed if this case is available to purchase.

(Image source: Samsung)
(Image source: Samsung)
(Image source: Samsung)
(Image source: Samsung)

Since Samsung financed this expedition, you should keep in mind that this is advertising. Nevertheless, the photos and videos that Malaika Vaz took are impressive, not least because Vaz shot them from within an underwater case. We should also stress that the photos were captured from an 8K video, which corresponds to a 33 MP resolution.

In our opinion, the stills do not do the video below justice. However, it is unclear if Samsung has professionally edited the video in post-production. Ultimately, this collaboration reminds us that one does not need specialist equipment to shoot in challenging circumstances.

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> Expert Reviews and News on Laptops, Smartphones and Tech Innovations > News > News Archive > Newsarchive 2021 07 > The National Geographic chooses the Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra as the first smartphone to film an underwater expedition
Alex Alderson, 2021-07- 3 (Update: 2021-07- 3)