How to manage Samsung Galaxy S8 Camera Settings, configure shooting modes, take screenshots [Tutorials]

Your Samsung Galaxy S8 has a 12-megapixel primary camera that, by default, already captures standard quality pictures. New and average users don’t need to change settings to be able to take good pictures but if you are one of the people who have a little or advanced photography background, there are settings you can manipulate to take even better images.

In this post, I will walk you through on how to take pictures with your Galaxy S8 camera and use other features. I’ve also tackled the shooting modes you can use and how to manage the settings of the camera. Read on to learn more about your phone’s camera.

If, however, you found this post while looking for a solution for a problem you’re currently experiencing, visit our Galaxy S8 troubleshooting page as we’ve already addressed some of the most common problems with this phone. Find issues that are similar with yours and use the solutions we suggested. If they don’t work for you or if you need more help, then fill up our questionnaire and hit submit to contact us.

How to take pictures using your Galaxy S8 Camera

Taking pictures with your Galaxy S8 must be one of the most common things you can do if you own a phone with an impressive camera. Just like any other smartphones, it’s easy to manipulate the camera to take really good pictures. But if you’re new to the phone and still learning how to use it, here’s how you take pictures with it:

From the home screen, swipe up to access Apps.
Find and tap the Camera icon to open the app.
Use the display as the viewfinder and aim the camera at the subject. You may use the following options to enhance the picture:
1. To focus the shot, tap the screen. When you tap the screen, a brightness scale is displayed. Slide the light bulb up or down to adjust the brightness.
2. To add an effects filter, swipe to the left and tap a preview filter to apply it to the screen.
3. To add a shooting mode, swipe to the right and select a mode.
4. To quickly switch between the front and rear cameras, swipe the screen up or down.
Tap the capture icon to take a picture.

There are times when you have to quickly open the camera to take important pictures but unlocking your phone, swiping up to access Apps and tapping on the camera icon take time. You can actually use the Power key of your phone to immediately open the camera and this is how you set it:

From the home screen, swipe up to access Apps.
Find and tap Settings.
Tap Advanced features and then Quick launch camera.
Now tap the switch to toggle it On.

After setting this, you can now double press the Power key to open the camera. You can also take advantage of the camera and the new Bixby Vision. If turned on, you can point your camera at an object or location to search for products online, discover new places nearby, or translate text. To do so, follow these steps:

From home, swipe up to access Apps.
Tap Camera > Bixby Vision and follow the prompts.

Additional Information

The following options can be found in your camera’s viewfinder and here’s how they work:

Animated filters and Beauty: Adjust skin tone of faces. Add animated effects to live self-videos.
Gallery: View your picture or video in the Gallery application.
Capture picture: Take a picture.
Record video: Begin recording video.
Bixby Vision: Use Bixby Vision to search or shop for similar images on the Internet.
Modes, camera, or effects: Swipe right to change the shooting mode. Swipe left to add an effects filter.
Switch cameras: Switch between the rear camera and the front camera.
HDR (Rich tone): Enables the light sensitivity and color depth features of the device to produce a brighter and richer picture.
Flash: Activate or deactivate the flash. Toggle through flash options—on, auto, or off (rear camera only).
Camera settings: Opens the camera settings menu and lets you change additional camera settings.

How to configure Galaxy S8 Camera shooting mode

The default setting for your camera’s shooting modes are already good and if you only have a limited idea how to configure the shooting mode in your phone but still want to produce moderately good pictures, then leave everything as is. But for those who are curious enough and want to try a thing or two, the following information might help you:

From the home screen, tap Apps.
Find and tap Camera.
Swipe to the right for the Mode options and then feel free to use them with these information in mind:

Primary Camera (rear)

Auto: Allow the camera to evaluate the surroundings and determine the ideal mode for the picture.
Pro: Manually adjust the ISO sensitivity, exposure value, white balance, and color tone while taking pictures.
Panorama: Create a linear image by taking pictures in either a horizontal or vertical direction.
Slow motion: Record videos at a high frame rate for viewing in slow motion. You can play a specific section of each video in slow motion after recording it.
Hyperlapse: Create your own time lapse video by recording at various frame rates. The frame rate is automatically adjusted depending on the scene being recorded and the movement of the device.
Food: Take pictures that emphasize the vivid colors of food.

Secondary Camera (front)

Selfie: Take selfie shots and apply various effects, such as an airbrushed effect.
Wide selfie: Take wide-angle selfie shots to fit more people into your pictures.

Common to both cameras

Selective focus: Change the focus of pictures after they have been taken. You can focus on subjects near to the camera, far away from the camera, or both.
Virtual shot: Create multi-directional views of objects.
Download: Download additional shooting modes from the Galaxy Apps store.
More options: See more options for the camera modes.

How to manage Galaxy S8 Camera settings

Your phone’s camera has already been configured so that users could just point it at the subject and shoot and produce standard quality pictures. For most of the owners, the default configuration is enough but for those who have advanced knowledge in photography, you can try manipulating the settings of the camera. Here are the available options for you:

Primary Camera (rear)

Picture size: Select a resolution. Use higher resolution for higher quality. Higher resolution pictures take up more memory.
Video size: Select a resolution. Use higher resolution for higher quality. Higher resolution videos take up more memory.
Tracking AF: Focus on and track a subject selected on the preview screen.
Shape correction: Correct distortion in pictures automatically.
Timer: Take time-delayed pictures or videos.

Secondary Camera (front)

Picture size: Select a resolution. Use higher resolution for higher quality. Higher resolution pictures take up more memory.
Video size: Select a resolution. Use higher resolution for higher quality. Higher resolution videos take up more memory.
Save pictures as previewed: Save the self-portrait or self-recording as viewed on the camera screen, not as flipped images.
Ways to take pictures: Tap screen (tap the screen to take selfies) and Show palm (hold your hand out with your palm facing the camera to have your picture taken in a few seconds).
Tap heart rate sensor: Once your face has been recognized, tap the heart rate sensor to take a selfie.
Timer: Take time-delayed pictures or videos.

Common to both cameras

Motion photo: Create a short video by taking pictures.
Video stabilization: Activate anti-shake. Anti-shake helps to keep the focus steady when the camera is moving.
Grid lines: Display viewfinder grid lines to help composition when selecting subjects.
Volume key function: Use the Volume key as the camera key, the record key, a zoom key, or for system volume.
Location tags: Attach a GPS location tag to the picture.
Review pictures: Set to show pictures after taking them.
Quick launch: Open camera by pressing the Power key twice in quick succession.
Storage location: Select the memory location for storage. This option only appears if an optional memory card (not included) is installed.
Voice control: Take pictures by saying “Smile,” “Cheese,” “Capture,” or “Shoot,” or record videos by saying “Record video.”
Floating Camera button: Add an extra camera button that you can move anywhere on the screen in Auto and Selfie modes.
Reset settings: Reset the camera settings.

How to change default camera storage in Galaxy S8

It might be just one of the options or settings you can find in your phone but it’s actually very important to many owners especially those who love taking pictures and recording videos. Your phone has enough storage space to handle your most important files, data and even apps. But 40GB of usable storage isn’t enough to hold thousands of pictures and videos and that’s the reason why Samsung included an SD card slot in the S8 to make its storage expandable. Once you have inserted your SD card, here’s how you change the settings so that your phone will automatically save pictures or videos into it:

From the Home screen, swipe up on an empty spot to open the Apps tray.
Tap Camera.
Tap the Settings icon in the top right.
Tap Storage location.
Tap one of the following options:
- Device
- SD card

How to delete pictures and videos from your Galaxy S8

Deleting the pictures or videos that don’t look good always depends on you but if you really want to discard some of them, please note that you could no longer retrieve them:

From the Home screen, swipe up on an empty spot to open the Apps tray.
Tap Gallery.
Tap the 3 dots icon.
Tap Edit.
Tap each picture (or album, if applicable) to be deleted.
Tap DELETE.
Tap DELETE.

How to take screenshots with your Galaxy S8

There are actually two options you can use if you want to take a screenshot with your phone. Here’s the first method:

Navigate to the desired screen.
At the same time, press and hold the Power key and the Volume down key.
When the white border appears around the edge of the screen, release the keys. The screenshot has been captured.
Screenshots are saved in the main Gallery application folder or inside the Screenshots album.

And this is the second one, which I think is a lot easier than the first one:

Navigate to the desired screen.
Place the edge or your hand flush and perpendicular against the left side of the screen.
Swipe right until the white border appears around the edge of the screen. The screenshot has been captured.
Screenshots are saved in the main Gallery application folder or inside the Screenshots album.

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